I feel like one of those pregnant women who swear up and down that they'll chronicle every moment of their newborn's life, only to get smacked upside the head when Baby arrives and doesn't keep any sort of schedule.
My "babies" arrived on April 23 (6 buff Orpingtons) and April 25 (3 Silkies). As I was driving to Farm & Fleet to pick up the Orpies, my phone kept going off. I had posted something on Facebook that the big day had finally arrived and all my friends posted comments like "PICTURES!!!" So every time someone posted, my phone vibrated. That's not fun when you're fighting morning rush hour traffic.
Finally they handed me a box and the chicks I'd been waiting years to have were finally mine. I got them settled in the front seat of the car and began Facebooking pictures. I got them home, got them fed and watered and had to go to work (sniff). It would be three long hours before my oldest, Logan, got home from school to give me a progress report. Hooray, all 6 were running amok in the brooder! I got a bunch of adorable pictures when I got home and as soon as I figure out how to get them off my phone, I'll post 'em.
Only one of the Orps has a name right now, a big yellow one I named Tweetie. I'm really starting to wonder if Tweetie is really an Orp since she's so much bigger than the others, but the people at Farm & Fleet swore up and down that she's an Orp. Ok then.
I wasn't able to find a place where I could just order a couple of Silkies, so I went in on an order with a friend. Tyler, my youngest, drove out to Cathy's farm with me to pick them up and we only got lost once (for me, that's a record). Unfortunately, it was freezing cold that day so Cathy suggested that I crank up the heater in the car on the way home. Not a problem, except when the hot flash kicked in. So there I was, sweating my brains out in a overly toasty car. Luckily there weren't any cops on the highway because I was kinda speeding. We got the Silkies in with the Orps and there were a few tense moments when Tweetie showed them who's boss but by the next day my little flock was getting along just fine. Only one of the Silkies has a name right now, the black one which Tyler named Buttercup. I suppose it's better than his first choice, Sgt. Bilko. I don't want to know.
I'm feeling a little calmer about the entire experience. I don't feel the need to call my kids from work the minute they get home for a status report. We weathered a couple incidents of "pasty butt". In case you didn't know, that happens sometimes when poop covers a chick's vent (or "exit") and it blocks it up and the chick kind of explodes. Not cool. That's only something you need to worry about for a couple of weeks, which is good since 2 of the little buggers peed on me while I was trying to clean them up. So it's like being a mom, except I won't have to help Tweetie with algebra.
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