Well we finally got the baby chicks we ordered but I didn't know it would be this exciting! Aust has been counting down for days. Terry and I went into the post office to pick them up and you could here them chirping it was echoing through the entire building. The lady behind the counter didn't really want to give them to us, she had kind of grown attached. (They are very cute!) We finally got them home and Aust was so excited he just couldn't wait to hold them. 
The little one above is a Rhode Island White and the one to the left is a Barred Rock.
I just loved to watch Aust hold them so sweetly. He has such a tender heart. The one to the left is a bit of a dare-devil. She'll peel out and speed across the brood box. (Running over the other chicks) So we called her Harley. (Like Harley Davidson) She is always in a hurry to get somewhere... quite a peppy little thing and I think she is Austin's favorite. The little white mark on her head looks like a little mohawk. You can't see her little face in the picture because she is so black but eventually she will have white bars across her feathers.
The yellow one above looks like all the other little yellow ones so I call them all "Miss cuddles" they love to cuddle! They aren't near as feisty as Harley. (None of them are as wild as her and there are 25 of them!) The yellows will eventually turn white. All of them are so soft and fluffy and only just two days old and they have already flown in an airplane!
It took a while to get the lamp to the right height for the correct temperature but as soon as it was, they settled in quite nicely and quieted a bit. They love to eat and drink and peck at anything on the floor. We have them in our unfinished basement bathroom because they are to young to go out side yet. In about six weeks we will put them in a pen outside.
The chicks are Austin's responsibility, he thinks that is pretty neat. He likes to have responsibilities it makes him feel needed and more grown up. He is such a thoughtful and very dependable young man. We are so blessed to be his parents. Well the chirping is getting louder... better go check.......ummm ....don't know what the problem was but Harley was standing in the middle of the feed mash like the "Queen of Bunker Hill". Maybe the other's wernt to happy about that.
I hope chicks sleep at night, otherwise none of us will sleep, their chorus echos loud and clear and it sounds like we have a sea of birds in the house. But how can I complain when they are so very,very cute! :)
These chicks remind me of a poem in the young women's manual. Since I have been put in as the Beehive Advisor I've been thinking a lot about this poem and it's meaning. This is a good place to post it.
Coming Out
Some hatchings hurt. … And the new learning softness is so very tender. It’s frightening to be nothing more than the palest puff that peeps. And so remember, remember clarion call to shelter:“I will gather … as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings …” A place to grow in strength.(Dianne Dibb Forbis, New Era, Dec. 1977, p. 7.)
