Thursday, August 11, 2011

They Came in the Mail (peep peep peep)

I got a call from the post office to go pick up this:

50 Cornish Roc X chicks, and one mystery chick - can you spot him (her?) -

Oh mystery chick with your curmudgeonly eye brows.  How cute you are!
Name suggestions, anyone?  
Any guesses as to breed?

Temporary housing - they have a heat lamp under the wooden piece.  Once they are bigger and stronger, they'll move into a chicken tractor.  

Pierce holds a Cornish Roc X.  Don't get too attached now, these guys are meat birds.

The very next day, the Freedom Rangers arrived - 25 of them.
Freedom Rangers are a more natural meat bird, a la old school chickens that people used to eat before all the meat bird crosses were created.  This is our first attempt at raising them.
We're actually going in threesies with the 75 chicks with some friends - so we'll each be keeping 25.

 There isn't much cuter than baby chicks in my book!

47 comments:

Jill said...

My dad used to be a postmaster when I was little. He'd let me pet the chicks through the air wholes and talk to them. Good memories.

Your little odd ball one is especially adorable!

Dianna said...

I agree: totally precious little chicks. I don't know that I could raise them and then eat them, though!

Texan said...

Super cute, baby chicks are just so fun. We haven't had any in a while.

Unknown said...

I bet the boys love them. It may be hard for them to let them go.

TexWisGirl said...

oh, i'm hoping you're keeping the mystery chick! i think it needs to be called "sparrow" as it certainly looks like one!

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

No worries, Tex, we'll definitely be keeping mystery chick! I hope mystery chick is a she :-)

Anonymous said...

Your mystery chick looks like an Aracauna/Ameracauna. Hope it's a hen!

-Mary Jo

Tortoise said...

Amazing! I had no idea you could get chicks in the mail. So adorable!

Gone Country said...

Chicks are so adorable! I love how they already know how to scratch around looking for food and I could listen to their peeping all day!

OurWanderingAdventures said...

Awww that looks like a fun package to get!!

Misty said...

oh my gosh.... they are SOOOOO cute! LOVE them! :)

Valerie Boersma said...

I agree Lisa-there really is nothing much cuter than baby chicks!!

Irish Italian Blessings said...

Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh My GOOOSH!! I LOVE THEM...all of them. Soo cute, the boys must be having so much fun with them!

Paula @ Simply Sandwich said...

Oh my goodness - they are the cutest things. I bet the kids are thrilled with these cuties! :)

Ginny Hartzler said...

So you have chickens for eggs and chickens for eating? Do you sell any of the eggs or the meat chickens, that's an awful lot, unless you would freeze some! So cute, I love the little different chick! Amazing that they can survive in the mail, does it come overnight? Is it a special mail carrier, surely not the post office?

Sandy said...

Yes, chicks are adorable. I only did chickens for eggs. Cleaning fresh chickens is totally gross...not sure if you are aware of that, but you will be...lol.

Melodie said...

How fun! I love getting chicks in the mail! Maybe your mystery chick is an Easter Egger,they have those stripes by their eyes sometimes...

Andrea said...

They came in the mail? OMG! How cute. And OMG, no. Don't tell me they're ... don't tell me. You know I can't handle stuff like that. :?(

Chris said...

Wow, that's an ultra-cute batch of chicks, Lisa.

Sometimes you get one chap with strange markings that just fade away after a while.

He (or she) is lovely though. How's about 'Rusty'...

Mary said...

The cuteness is overwhelming! I wish I could hold one of those little guys :)

Michaele said...

I have never heard of Freedom Rangers. Do you know what breed they are that I might recognize or are they hybrids/

Amy said...

So we've been caring for the neighbors 4 chicks. All we can have in city limits. No roosters. I have an odd questions maybe you can answer!! Can you still get eggs from the hens with no rooster? Someone told me no and the neighbors are hoping for eggs at some point. My husband is now talking about wanting his own 4 chickens. We'd want them for the egss though. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

My friend has me enter the facebook contest each month for free chicks. I could deal with a dozen (maybe a half dozen)but when you order usually a min is 25 or more. So many more people are getting into the backyard chicken phase. I wouldn't mind, except for our super cold winters.

May you enjoy and they prosper.

Anonymous said...

My mother would buy 200 chicks and I remember the fun we had scooping them out of the boxes and loved the smell of them and there soft downy feel. They were raised in a brooder house. We would get the whole family together and prepare them for the freezer in assembly line fashion. Those were the days! I am happy for all the life experiences you are having on your farm with your family.

Anonymous said...

Oh, that was me Carol that just posted. I think I forgot to sign my name.

Michelle said...

I love baby chicks. When ours arrived in the mail, the post lady had them at the office and had already given them some water.

Sonya @ Under the Desert Sky said...

So cute! That cracks me up that they went through the mail! By the way, we saw some chicks and some spectacular looking poultry at the Iowa State Fair today!

Sonya @ Under the Desert Sky said...

Oh, and that chick's eyebrows remind me of Christopher Lloyd's eyebrows! ;)

Samantha said...

Good for you guys raising your own meat birds!

Debbie @ Swampbilly Ranch said...

Oh I just love baby chicks! Do you have someone there that will butcher and clean for you? I have looked everywhere here and can't find anyone.

Chatty Crone said...

You mean those cute little chicks just came in the regular mail!?

Michaele said...

How wonderful! They all look so fluffy and healthy.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

How neat, Lisa... Those 3 little boys will love those chicks... I love the 'oddball'... How cute!!!!
Hugs,
Betsy

Rambling said...

How fun! Good luck chicken ranching.

Unknown said...

wow. my mom has chickens, but she cries when they die, so I think perhaps you guys are on different pages.

camp and cottage living said...

Lisa
I bet the boys will love these little ones!
My FIL raised meat chicken one year and there is no comparison to the taste of homegrown chicken to the store boughten.
I won't go into the gorey details of what a commercial farm is like.
Hope the friends are going to help when the time comes for slaughtering and plucking!

Jenny @ Practically Perfect... said...

Awww, so cute! A friend of mine raised chickens for eggs - it always sounded pretty intimidating to me!

Anonymous said...

So, ummm, they are SO cute you are going to EAT them??? LOL

I could never do it. Im too squeamish.

Joy @ Joy Of Desserts said...

That's great. So much healthier and a great education for your boys.

Crow said...

Much better than junk mail! Frida Kahlo should be the name of that lil' chickie.

le Chef said...

GAH!!! Babies! You know how cruel this is, right? I mean, I can't get any baby chickies any time soon.

Tom Jones. You should call him Tom Jones.
Dark and swarthy - that's him all right. I don't care if it's a girl. Odd ball is odd ball.

BTW: I've lost a box of chickies, if you find it could you please send it to me? ;)

I actually began to pet the computer screen on the second to last pic.
That's how pathetic I've become.

How do you keep the critters away?

Grumpy Grateful Mom said...

Oh, I love those little chicks. We can't have chickens where we live or I would look into it.

I think the brown one kind of looks like an owl, so I would name him Harry Potter. Mostly because I think that would be a funny name for a chick. Though I'm guessing your chicks are all female so, maybe not. :)

OneMommy said...

Baby chicks! I love each spring when they arrive at our Tractor Supply store. In fact, my little girl just ran over to see them on the computer screen. I think I'll skip talking about how they are meat chicks! lol.

Laura @ Green Legacy Farm said...

How cute! I hope they all do well, and I'm very curious to hear how the Freedom Rangers taste as opposed to the Cornish X. REALLY hoping your mystery chick isn't a mean little sucker like ours was!

warren said...

Jealous in WV...

Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan Too said...

Okay, that is cute overload! Best mail ever!

Clint Baker said...

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