Wednesday, May 17, 2006

I'm A New Momma!!!


Lookee lookee!!! We got chicks!!! They came two days early! You should have seen the panicked scrambling around here as I ran around (like a chicken with its head cut off) trying to set up the brooder before I went and picked them up. Nobody told me they might come before they were scheduled to!
I got the phone call Tuesday afternoon. "Your chicks arrived two days early. We'd like you to come get them as soon as possible." Whaaaaat?!! Hyperventilating began in earnest as I realized I was not ready for this. I felt like I was in labor. Breathe, breathe. We made a mad dash to the feed store and brought them home in a cardboard box cozily ensconced on Isaac's lap, the heater in the car roaring, chicks chirping merrily - while we were all suffocating. Gasp. Breathe. Breathe. Back at the house finally.
I had set the bin up with pine shavings on the bottom, a layer of newspaper, and a layer of paper towels on top of that. Hey why not try all three? One of them should work, right? Light was clamped to a chair next to the box rather than hanging (because I wasn't ready, remember?). Waterer was full.....water plus some apple cider vinegar (thank you, Christina!) and a dose of probiotics.
Okay, deep breath.......taking the chicks out of the box (oh no, what if I squish one?), I gently tipped each ones beak into the water and set it loose in the bin. Hey! It worked! So far so good. (They must have read the same books I did.) They were so lively, peeping and running about. It seemed as though they were more curious than frightened. As soon as I scattered some feed on the paper they dove onto it, pecking madly. At the food rather than each other, thankfully. Good chickies! Are they not the cutest things you've ever seen? I know they're dense as a tree stump, but for cuteness, you have to give them an A+!
So here we are....and our adventure begins. Today I still have a dozen happy chicks. No casualties so I can't help getting my hopes up despite all the information I've received to the contrary. Honestly, I feel like a new mother. I keep running in to peek at them. Are they poopy? Are they hungry? Are they thirsty? Are they BREATHING? Well, you know the way they flop down to sleep....it looks like they're dead, so I keep checking. Oh, and I think they recognize me. At least when I show my presence they come running to me peeping their little hearts out. Awww.......they think I'm their mommy. This is fun!

12 Comments:

Blogger Lynn Bartlett said...

Congratulations on your new charges! I need to get more involved this year with our chicks when they arrive probably next week. Glad also to hear that you saw the sun today. Our area is badly in need of rain -- what a switch from last year at ths time.

12:17 AM  
Blogger Herrick Kimball said...

Nice post, Emily....getting chicks is always exciting. They so are fun to watch. Best wishes on your new adventure.

5:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, Congratulations on your additions to the family!!! They are so adorable. I remember getting them on the farm, from the eggs that had been laid. Hoping the momma wouldn't sit on the chicks & suffocate them. And boy did they know how to hide their nests so that we wouldn't see the eggs that were soon to be hatched. Always so exciting.

What a joy after all the rain to have the added color of yellow chicks to the beautiful sun of God's creation!

6:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your chicks. I'm so excited for you guys. Keep us poster on how there growing.

12:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Emily!

What an awesome post!!!

Your excitement and amazement came thru your words very clearly! You sounded just like an excited kid at Christmas time!

May the Lord bless your new babies and give them health and strength!!!

Enjoy their A+ 'cuteness' cuz as they get their pin feathers they don't look 'cute' anymore as in C-.

Best wishes and may God bless.............

11:58 PM  
Blogger Christine said...

You're a good momma!! :-)

I haven't heard of apple cider vinegar in the water. Maybe that's why my hens won't lay now...they didn't get the apple cider vinegar!!! :-)

Congratulations! You're on your way!

10:51 AM  
Blogger Emily said...

Lynn,
Thanks! I can't wait to compare notes with you as you raise yours. If I could send some rain your way, trust me, you'd be welcome to it. Hope your plants do well despite the dry weather.

Herrick,
Thank you! Whoever thought these little balls of fluff could be so entertaining?

Jane,
Thank you! I love hearing you reminisce about your life growing up on the farm. How about writing a book for your grandchildren, hm?

PJ,
Thank you! I'm sure I will be posting lots and lots about the new additions with plenty of photos.

Steven,
Thank you! It is exciting to see these little miracles of creation. I can't believe how fast they're growing, and they're doing great so far healthwise. Thanks again for all your advice.

Christine,
Thank you! I got the suggestion about the apple cider vinegar from Christina. She had recommended it to Scott Holtzman as well when his chicks had pasty vent and they were doing a lot of bottom wiping. So far mine are fine, praise God. Can't wait to see a photo of that first egg! You'll have to have an omelet party! :)

2:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Christina got it from Carla Emery of Country Living Encyclopedia. It is a must book for anyone on homesteading. Has everything in it from burying your own dead, birthing at home and much more. I learned to make cheese out of this one.

Congrats Emily. Woo hoo. They are so cute. We take pictures of our new babies. You would think we would get bored of it.

9:20 PM  
Blogger Leslie said...

They're SO CUTE!

We are supposed to get our very-first-ever-in-our-lives chicks a week from today or tomorrow.

I'm nervous as can be. Thank goodness it will be summer break and I'll have help checking on them, their temps, etc.

"Well, you know the way they flop down to sleep...."
NO! I did not know that! I would have freaked. I might anyway. I can't wait :)

11:39 AM  
Blogger Emily said...

Christine,
I have that book! :) And I did read Carla's suggestion about the vinegar, but you had recommended it first, so you get the credit! :) We are enjoying our babies to the utmost, thank you very much!

PrairieMomma,
Thank you! We are having so much fun with our little chicks. And it is so beautiful outside these days, even when it's raining. New life abounds everywhere we look!

Leslie,
I was a basket case when the feed store called, I can tell you. I'm still nervous at times, but really they're doing so well, I'm amazed. Must be that cider vinegar, ha ha. If they don't die from being loved to death we should all be fine. They're a week old today and still breathing! :) Don't worry, you'll do great. Can't wait to see a post on your new chicks next week.

1:55 PM  
Blogger Emily said...

Kelley,
Thanks! Aren't the adorable? I can't resist running in to look at them every five minutes! They get so excited when they know I'm near. Good for the ego! :)

2:35 PM  
Blogger Emily said...

Samantha,
Thanks for stopping by, and you are very welcome. I can relate to your artistic side as I have my own creative instincts that I have to satisfy or I will simply burst. That is a topic for another blog post! We didn't have much of a choice when we ordered our chicks but RI Reds can get broody, or so we've heard. God willing, we will have a self-sustaining flock for eggs and meat! We'll see what happens.

10:42 PM  

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