New Members of the Familly

We picked up Seven Chicks last night!!   Usually I'm weird about numbers, and need to make them even, or round up the cents at work to make it an even number, but I decided on 7 because I couldn't eliminate one of my breed choices.  And Oldest is Seven.  And it was my father-in-law's favorite number.  I ended up with a Barred Rock, Amerucana, Speckled Sussex, Bluebell, Lemon Orpington, Golden Sex Link, and French Wheaton Marans.  They are all so little!  I'm happy with the place we got them, Cedar Creek Hatchery, they were very easy to work with and treated me really well even though I only bought a small amount of chicks. 

I had one chick with Pasty Butt last night, but she's taken care of and it hasn't come back.  I thought I had two more cases, but it turns out Chicks have umbilical cords!  Who knew?  I was trying to clean it off and it wasn't working.  I hope I didn't stress the chicks out too much, but they seem to be fine now. 

 Unfortunately, we did lose one tonight.  The Marans was very groggy last night and didn't seem to want to eat or drink.  Today I tried to feed her with a syringe a mash of chick feed, cornmeal and sugar water, she took some of it, but shook her head a lot and I'm not sure how much she actually got down.  I was sad she didn't move at all and her breathing seemed labored.  Sure enough, tonight when I went to check on her, she had passed.  The girls are not upset, I made sure they knew it was possible.  Youngest was actually excited to put her in the woods because "maybe a snake would eat her and she's so small it's like a nugget!"  I have a message into the Hatchery, hopefully I can pick up a new chick tomorrow.  If not, I'm sure we'll be getting a couple more next year, they really are so funny!   One thing I am loving is how they will be picking around, walking, eating and then just fall over, asleep.

Our coop is being painted now, good thing they're too little for it yet!  The peeping is adorable, and the GIRLS LOVE Them, now that they all seem to be doing well, we have named them.  Clockwise starting with the black Barred Rock on top - Spicy (She's a stinker!), Speckled Sussesx - Popcorn, Amerucana - Dumpling, Bluebell - Waffles (Oldest's), GSL - Omelet, Lemon Orpington - Orange (Youngest's)

I don't know if I'll be able to sleep again tonight, I'm afraid something will happen to my babies!