Chickens!!!!!!!!

That's right... we have CHICKENS again! After a several-month hiatus, the coop was finally almost ready as of last weekend. Some of the improvements included completely fencing in the area beneath our upstairs balcony and adding a gate, and raising the coop itself up off the ground to give the chickens more space in their run. Bonus: we can now reach the nesting box out of our dining room window, which will be great for collecting eggs during the winter months!

Anyway, it was all set last weekend, except that Gus wanted to get about 2.5 cubic yards of sand to put in the area. Which, by the way, translates to about FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS of sand. Which really isn't THAT much-- sand is just really heavy. And he found a place not too far from here that was very cheap-- he just had to make two trips. The two of us ended up shoveling all that sand out of the bed of the truck, into the chicken run, and then spreading it out (which was basically like shoveling it a second time). It was EXHAUSTING. But we did it, and were officially ready for chickens!!! Meanwhile, Maya found a frog in our yard and shocked us by just picking it up. This child really loves ALL critters. She even got Niko to hold it... eventually. haha!

Anyway... Gus had already arranged for us to meet a chicken farmer who lived about 45 minutes away, because he had Marans chickens for sale. Marans chickens are known for their dark brown ("chocolate") eggs. I really wanted one. And this guy ended up being an exclusive Marans producer! He keeps about 1,000 chickens at any time, but has WAY more than that because he sells them. He's retired, and was eager to show us all (especially the kids) his whole operation. We saw hundreds and hundreds of the cutest little chicks! But we weren't there for chicks-- we needed a chicken who already had its feathers and could go outside. So he took us down to the shed where he kept those, and we got to watch him catch one for us. Meet Cookie, the 8-week-old Blue Marans chicken!

A funny story... Maya really wanted to have another chicken exactly like her beloved Hanky. We were actually having a tough time finding one for sale. She also planned to name her new chicken Hanky. Not Hanky Jr. or Hanky #2. Just Hanky. We were trying to talk her into getting a different type of chicken, or at least choosing a different name! But she wouldn't budge. Until, of course, she laid eyes on Cookie and announced that she was the cutest chicken in the world. And she came up with the name all on her own. So it all worked out!

Anyway, both kids ADORE Cookie. She's so tiny that she is easy to hold and snuggle, and they aren't the slightest bit afraid of her. She's also so tiny that she can actually squeeze out of the fencing. Yeah, that was a fun surprise! She won't be able to do it much longer, but she can get right out! I fastened some bird netting around the outside of the fencing, and it helped. But Cookie is quite a little Houdini! And the kids can't get enough of her. They spent HOURS outside today, just taking turns holding Cookie. We had to make them STOP so the poor thing could catch a break! Cookie is very loved, to say the least.

This morning, we planned to get at least two more chickens. Gus had found a lady on CraigsList who had ordered the "Rainbow Layers" variety pack of chicks from a reputable online hatchery. What this means is that they sent her 15 unidentified chicks, guaranteed to be from at least 5 different species and also guaranteed to lay a variety of different egg colors. She told us she was fairly certain she had some Ameraucanas for sale, as well as a few types that laid white eggs. True Ameraucana chickens lay BLUE eggs... I wanted one really badly! Anyway, I'm not entirely convinced that what we got was an Ameraucana, but she should lay interesting eggs nonetheless. And since we were there, we picked up a really pretty Silver Spangled Hamburg hen, who will lay white eggs. Introducing Attila the Hen (the all-white "Ameraucana") and Harriet Potter (the Hamburg)!

These ladies are about 6 weeks older than Cookie, and are a LOT bigger. But they all got along just fine! And, bonus: Attila and Harriet can't walk through the fencing, haha!

We still want to get one more chicken, but we're waiting for the right variety to come up for sale on CraigsList. Or we could end up getting one from the fair in a few weeks-- we'll see! But our flock is three-quarters of the way there!