Sleepless Nights and Pasty Butts!

                     

                                                     
Week1        

Well, the first week was kind of a blur. Even though we had the warmest weather that I can remember in March (80's), I would wake up worrying that my girls were cold. It was just a flurry of fluffy puffs! I had ordered Buff Orpingtons, Brahmas, Sussexs, Silver laced Wyandottes, and Ameraconas....5 of each. So, I spent a lot of time just watching them, trying to decide which were which.

I also bought every magazine and book on chickens. One of the things all the reading told me to look out for was something called 'Pasty Butt'. Chickens do everything out of one hole. And sometimes their little butts get clogged up with poop. You have to clear the area with some warm water and gentle wiping. We only had 3 cases. And it only happened once. I think we were pretty lucky considering having 25 chicks.

Also interesting, there were days that they seemed to double in size over the course of one day! It truly is amazing. This is a picture of 'Boss Barbie' aka 'Ms. W'. She has the biggest tude in the whole flock. And actually, she may be a he. Not sure, but she looks different that the other Brahma, larger and stands taller. She's always picking a fight with the other chicks! She's also the first to really get a name! I've had lots of folks, especially one Facebook friend over a ton of name ideas. But it's almost impossible for me to tell the chicks apart enough to really name them yet. That will happen in week 3.