Livestock!

One day old, learning how to eat.

Watch out, the city folk have chickens!  Last winter we decided we wanted to start a small flock of hens for fresh eggs.  Our goal was to have them here in March so we would start getting eggs this month or next.  Apparently we overextended ourselves a bit and they showed up at the end of August.  We are now animal managers to 27 Black Austrolorp hens.  We ordered 25, the other two were a bonus I guess.  They arrived in a small box via USPS and promptly made themselves at home in the stock tank we set up for them.

One day old

When the girls arrived, they fit in the palm of our hand with room to spare and now they have more than doubled in size.  They have started flying around the stock tank, thank goodness we have a cover on it.  It appears that hanging out on the inside of the hanging feeders is also a good place for them and we have had to shoo them out more than once.

Two and a half weeks old

Munchkin likes to go and say good morning and good night to them every day and inform them of her latest goings on.  She asks to hold them, then changes her mind and then asks to pet one.  Her version of a pet is more of a poke, but she is used to them which is good.

What are you sticking in my face?  Food?

The breed we decided on is a heritage breed, meaning they remember how to be a chicken and are hard to kill.  Bonus for us.  We also needed a breed that was cold hardy and relatively docile since we have small children around frequently.  Like their name, they are a black bird.  They currently have white patches, from the adults we have seen, that will go away when they get older.

What they look like as adult.

When they mature and start laying, around four months or so, we will have pretty brown eggs.  This may take a little longer for us since we are raising them out of season.  Hopefully they won't get confused and wait until next summer!