New Chicks!!

This is very exciting news!

Well - if you're into chickens - it's very exciting news.

Last night and this morning - Chucky, my standard silver laced cochin hen hatched out 7 of her 10 eggs.

I am so excited!!!!!

For those of you that have been following.
(I'll fill in the blanks here).

Standard sized silver laced cochins are not all that plentiful around here yet.

Last year, I bought 2 hens from a lady (I shall keep my sources anonymous for selfish reasons).
She had imported them from the United States.

Unfortunately, and a long story - we had an illness hit our coop - and it killed off a great number of my prized hens - including one of the silver laced cochin hens. I was devastated, because these birds are so hard to find in Canada.

So - the search was on for more cochins - no luck. Finally
- after several months, my source called to say she had
found a rooster for me. I purchased him
(named him Romeo) - and immediately
proceeded to let him woo my little Chucky. That's Romeo in the picture.

I was concerned - as Romeo sounded a bit raspy last week. What a tragedy if I should lose him as
well - then what?





But Chucky didn't let me down!



21 days ago (to the day) - Chucky proceeded to set her eggs. Romeo was sent out to the coop to bother the other hens - as I fretted and worried - until last night when I heard the first little peep.

And this morning when I did my chores -
here's what I found:

They are so cute - and Chucky is the best mom.

The chicks all seem quite relaxed - when you go
near - they pop their heads out to see what is
going on. And they aren't in the slightest concerned when you pick them up.

This is going to be so much fun.

Of course - I have several people wanting
chicks in this area (it's going to be very hard to part with any of these little darlings).

But I am so happy - and excited - and much less worried now, as I have at least grown my little flock a bit - and hopefully will have some more silver laced cochin hens to keep the line going.

Stay tuned for more chicken news in the next few weeks - as I am expecting some more new additions to flock (not chicks) - but some much sought after breeds that I am finally able to get.

Until then - try to stay cool in this heat!