The Chicks Have Landed

The chicks are here! We got a call from the post office at about 7am this morning, and my daughter and I were soon cruising into town to pick up the box of little peepers. She excitedly held the box on her lap all the way home, asking such insightful questions as "Why does it say 'live chicks' on the box, Daddy?"

"That's a good question," I replied. "They certainly wouldn't ship a box of dead chicks, would they?"

"So why does it say live? Why not just say 'chicks'?"

I thought for a moment. "Maybe to remind the post office people how important it is to take good care of them, because they are living things and not just some box of stuff?

"Well...," she said, gazing through the air holes in the box, as the chicks continued peeping back at her. "Of course people would want to take care of little chicks that are cute like these."

Indeed. Anyway, we are now the proud owners of 25 Barred Rock pullet chicks (to replace our aging laying flock), 12 mixed gender broiler chicks (wonderful eating in 6-8 weeks), 2 male Silver Leghorn chicks (to replace an absolutely beautiful rooster that was hit by a car a couple of years ago; we got two in case one dies), and the one exotic "mystery" chick that McMurray Hatchery always includes with orders of chicks.

Meanwhile, several deaths later, the turkey poults are doing well. The "dead wood" seems to have been shaken loose, because none have died for a few days now. Hopefully we'll have clear sailing with them from here.