All My Peeps Are In the House!

Man did they get here fast! They were supposed to be shipped on Tuesday, so I wasn't expecting to get them until Wednesday or Thursday. So imagine my surprise when, just before noon on Tuesday, I suddenly hear LOUD peeping sounds coming from the reception area in my office. I ran out into the hallway in time to see the postal delivery woman leaving HR's office. I think she was happy to be rid of them, because they were LOUD. The HR woman came out holding the box...I think she was as excited as I was. About 6 other people heard the peeping and came out to investigate. I took the box into my office, grabbed some scissors to cut the ties and opened the lid to find....FOUR. FOUR PEEPS! I was extremely surprised, since I had only ordered 3. I knew that often in larger shipments the hatchery will include 1-2 extra (in case one doesn't make it. I know.), but that's usually on shipments of like 25 or more. I really didn't expect an "extra" for such a small order!

The chicks clearly didn't like being in their cold box so after letting everyone in the office have a quick peek, I ran them home and got them into their new brooder (Kylie's dog crate). Thank heavens the replacement heat lamp had just arrived the day before, or I could have really been in trouble. It took some experimenting with the position of the lamp before they were comfortable..its hilarious how quickly they respond to the lamp being moved a bit! Just a couple of inches too far away and they all immediately run to the front of the crate to be closer to it.

It didn't take them long at all to find their food and water and soon they were happily scampering about. I put a couple of bricks in there with them and they immediately started climbing up on them. They are incredibly inquisitive little babies! In total I have 1 Rhode Island Red, 1 Black Star, and 2 Barred Rocks. Here's just a few pics.