I'm a mommy! [pic of course]

[Squeaksmyalias]

Yea I was an Vo-Ag kid so we were set up to raise them, Bob alone was easy, we had issues with a group we try to raise...it wasn't pretty. We had to show up very early in the morning before the freshman showed up to clean up dead bodies. Lesson learned, they need a LOT more space then we expected. Also I'm pretty much convinced there was a chicken killer among them and it was the last fat hen left...I didn't trust her.

That's great you bring them into a school, makes me sad when kids have never been near farm animals.

[AccountingDrone]

Yea I was an Vo-Ag kid so we were set up to raise them, Bob alone was easy, we had issues with a group we try to raise...it wasn't pretty. We had to show up very early in the morning before the freshman showed up to clean up dead bodies. Lesson learned, they need a LOT more space then we expected. Also I'm pretty much convinced there was a chicken killer among them and it was the last fat hen left...I didn't trust her.

That's great you bring them into a school, makes me sad when kids have never been near farm animals.

When I had sheep I would run lamb over now and then, with a tarp for the droppings and a few flakes of hay for snack and atmosphere =)

[Green_Fairy]

omg so cute!!

My batch of 25 mixed rare/unusual chicks just arrived!

so...what makes them rare/unusual?

[Squeaksmyalias]

* hugs AccountingDrone* you are my kinda gal, BTW I forgot to mention we are neighbors

[Exaspera]

It is sort of like having a bunch of kindergardeners in feathers around here.

What a cute, clever way to put it.

[AccountingDrone]

Neighbors? Where do you live?

And they are rare for a few reasons - they are bantams - not great egg layers and half or less the size of most common chooks. They are actually what many of the modern egg layers or broilers are bread up from.

They are almost all varieties of cochins - originally from china, really only made it to the US about 200 years ago, with an old european type, and one bred here in the US.

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/day_..._chickens.html
we got Sultan which i an americanization of a turkish bird, Golden Laced, Birchen Cochins, White Frizzle and Red Pyle [which are a european bantam]

Banties are not common because they are purely hobbyist birds - not enough eggs nor enough meat for commercial success.

[tropicsgoddess]

Awww!!They're soooo CUTE!

[MaggieTheCat]

Very cute! <3 I remember one time, back when I worked at the pet warehouse, I was walking into work one day around mid-morning and saw one of the managers pull into the parking lot next to me after having been out to get the mail...she asked if I could help her with something then gestured me over to her car and said "listen to this..." As I got closer I heard, peep peep peep! Turns out one of the owners had ordered a box of little chicks! They were soooo cute.

[AccountingDrone]

Chicks really are adorable little bundles of shit production They eat their weight in chick mash every day and what goes in must come out the other end ... They are now upstairs in the barn - my roomie broods them in her studio, as she has cockatiels and keeps the barn way warmer than we like to be.

And we have about a week until the purple guinea fowls arrive ... all 30 of them =)

We like to sit out on the deck and watch the poultry in the evenings.

We have geese also, and they are like a gaggle of kindergardeners =)