Six Little Chicks

Several weeks ago it became apparent that two of the four chicks we'd gotten were roosters, not hens as we were told.  This has happened once before and my chicken lady happily traded us a hen for our accidental rooster but this time she didn't have any hens available.

I got a couple of names from the feed store but they were out of chicks as well so when I heard that Tractor Supply had chicks I took note and thought I might run by at some point. 

All of our chicks were a few months old when we got them and I'd had no interest in day old chicks.  Having to worry about them drowning in their water dish, the heat lamp, it all seemed like way too much work at this point in my life.

So last week SK and I went into Tractor Supply to buy feed.  She was in the basket and we were looking at boots when I said, "I smell something stinky.  Is it you?"

(smelling her own shirt) "I don't think so," she replied, and then, "Oh, Momma!  I hear baby chicks!!!  That's what you smell!  Can we go see them?  Please?" (starts bouncing up and down in the cart)

Well.  You can see where this is going. 

When we got to the chicks we saw that they were 50% off and you know I love a bargain.  That combined with my extra 10% off coupon, SK's excessive but polite pleading, and a super helpful sales associate who told me over and over how easy baby chicks are to care for, lead me to purchase SIX baby chicks (for a total of $9). 

"Thank you, Momma!  Thank you so much for getting us chickens!  They're so cute!" was repeated over and over in SK's trademark just-shy-of-a-yell all the way to the checkout counter.

I will say on that rainy afternoon those six tiny chicks provided three solid hours of entertainment for all three kids who handled them carefully, by the way.  They made a ninja warrior course "to teach the chicks to fly" among other things.

J made a "cuddle tube where the chicks could feel safe and even take a nap" (or maybe hope to wake up anywhere but here).

They did seem sedate.

"And each chick has a window!  See?"

SK was all about hers, too.  And you know what makes a four-year-old double-fisting baby chicks so much cuter than any kid younger doing the same thing?  The fact that she's old enough to know how to hold them gently so there's no squish risk. :)

She brought them in to tell me their names-Treasure Map and Rainbow-and told me at least twice how much "fun these guys were having."  I'm sure they were having the time of their life-Ha!

When the kids came in for baths I went out to check on the chicks.  Two were laid out flat on their side, two were sternal with their head turned sideways lying on the hay, and two were sternal with beaks straight down in the hay.  All twelve eyes were closed.  

I bet they slept well (& may have been disappointed to wake up in the same place).  One week later I am happy to report that they are growing like weeds and all six are still alive.