:::new arrivals

:: sleeping by the food
::two of them seem to huddle together more,
i think they might be sisters. did you know chickens are able to
recognize their siblings and chicks they've been raised with at 3 days old?

Chickens! i picked up three lovely little hens today at Bonnie's Hatchery in Elmira.

This hatchery is awesome! such friendly service, and fast too! This family operated business has been around since 1941.

I've wanted backyard chickens ever since we thought about buying a home! and now here we are, a year and a bit after purchasing our home, and not even a year of living in this house, (and after a long time convincing jan that backyard chickens will be a great idea... and after his realization on how serious i was about it!!) and i've got 'em! i couldn't be more excited!! I have two barred rock chicks and one black sex link.

chickens are great for so many reasons, other than the obvious of fresh, eggs. chickens will start laying at approximately 17-20 weeks old, and can lay anywhere betwen 1-2 eggs a day! which means these lil girls at only 4 days old, will start laying aroud november-december. when colder weather comes, hens don't lay as many eggs, so we won't truly start seeing many eggs until the spring time, where we could get as many as 30 or more eggs a week from just three hens!!

that means our friends & neighbours will surely also be able to enjoy fresh eggs! and also plenty more things to bake in the kitchen!

chickens also do wonders for the garden, eating pests and fertilizing too.

many thanks to my wonderful aunt carolyn, friend leah, and karin of little city farm see their blog here! http://www.littlecityfarm.blogspot.com/, for their advice and answers to my questions as i researched backyard chickens for a long time! and of course wonderful thanks to our dear friends who are helping us to construct the backyard coop!
the number of ppl with backyard chickens in steadily increasing in the KW region!
it's also helps with those trying to eat a local diet.

so far, these lil ladies have quite the personalities; one likes to jump in and out of the water dish, another loves to sleep with her legs stretched out, and the third gal, with the longest legs, is a bit fiesty! she nipped at the camera when i tried to get some close up photos of them! im reading a wonderful bok right now entitled "The inner world of farm animals" by Amy Hatkoff with a foreword by Jane Goodall. It's all about farm animals and their social, intellectual, and emotional capacities. it's a very sweet book and very informative! and honestly making me very much look at what i eat...

im sure these hens will acquire names once i get to know them a little better. i was a little hesitant to name them, due to my fear of predators getting them once they are outside.

but.. with the help of my dear friends we are going to build a wonderful coop to protect them!

for now the chicks will stay inside as they grow until about 5-6 weeks, or when they have their feathers.

more about the chicks later.... for now, i must go clean the house for a goodbye party being held here tomorrow with my coworkers in honour of my dear supervisor who had to leave us :(