I have chickens!

Lots of upcoming posts about our move and new home...but I'm excited to talk about our new pets, so here we go.

For my birthday this year, my awesome in-laws gave me the gift cards I needed to purchase my long-awaited chicken coop and run. With the girls in tow, I ran over to Tractor Supply about a week after we moved in to pick up the kit and other necessary chicken supplies.

Next, I scoured ads (mainly Craigslist) for chickens. Initially I planned on getting new chicks, but none of the local stores carried the breeds I was interested in, and the minimum order from hatcheries is 25- about 22 more chicks than I was able to handle. Additionally, I realized that chicks would take more equipment and care than I really cared for, and it would be several months before they started laying. For these reasons, I decided to purchase older pullets or younger layers.

After a few days, I saw an ad pop up for Ameraucana chickens- exactly what I wanted. Ameraucanas are reputed to be cold and heat hardy, good layers, and handle confinement well. Of course, their most famous characteristic is the fact that they lay blue eggs! Brett made the trip while I took the girls to Mass, and when we arrived home, we met our new hens: Hettie, Bettie, and Nettie.

The breeder told us that our girls were *almost* ready to lay. We were reassured that they like their new home when they started laying a few days later. Right now, we're averaging 2 eggs every-other-day, as two of the three are now laying pretty regularly. I haven't eaten any of the eggs yet, so I will update as soon as I do. So far, I've really enjoyed having them around, and I'm looking forward to starting to give them free-range time in the yard soon.