It Ain't a Real Farm Without CHICKENS!!!

They came! They finally came!

My long awaited little peeping puffballs of down are here at last! Last month, after getting approval from my immediate neighbors, I ordered a batch of chicks, and this morning the Post Office called to tell me they had arrived! After dropping Megan off at school, my dad and I drove down and picked them up.

Here they are in their shipping box, cold and hungry and thirsty, and chirping their displeasure LOUDLY. Included in the shipment: four Golden Comet pullets (golden orange colored in the upper left corner of the box); eight Cornish Cross meat birds (the light yellow ones); and five extra male chicks of unidentified breed added to help keep the others warm during shipment - they're the dark yellow ones with black stripes down their backs. I guess they'll get raised with the meat birds, cuz they'll be on the table before they start to crow!


Getting acquainted with their new home - huddling under the light to get warmed up. They also found the metal staples in the corner of the box very attractive and jostled one another for the opportunity to peck at them. Did I mention that chickens are dumb?

Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen!?! He won't stay this way for long - in a week he'll start growing out wing feathers and will become progressively uglier until he's fully feathered out, at which point he'll be a fat white nondescript bird like the one below. Kinda ugly, huh? Easy to butcher an ugly bird, right?


These Golden Comet chicks


will grow up to look something like this:
And at about 20 weeks of age, they'll begin laying nearly an egg per day each. If you've never eaten a homegrown egg, come visit me in October and you'll get a real treat. I'll fry you up a beautiful golden yolked egg on homemade whole wheat toast, served with fresh raw jersey cow milk. Mmmmm- Mmm! Yummy!

So - I need your help. We need names for these birds. They'll be in two categories: the hens will be pets, and the names we pick with your help will be permanent for the two years or so that they live with us. The meat birds, however, are only temporary residents (7-9 weeks), so the individuals won't be assigned names. But still, I thought it would be fun to think of food-themed names for them as well, even though I'll probably end up calling all of them "Dinner".

So tell your friends and family to sign on here and help us name our new babies! The winning entries will be awarded praise and honor, and the opportunity to come and help slaughter the bird you named, if you're sick enough to actually want to do that.

Hit me with your best shot.