Chicken in The Mail

If you live under a red light all of the time can you even see the color red?

Well, a few weeks ago we went on the Seattle Tilth Urban Farm Tour. Can you guess where this is going?

Pretty soon I was looking at MyPetChicken.com and next thing I knew I had ordered some chicks. I went with bantams as they require less space, less food, and may be less destructive in the garden. The whole decision process was not well thought out, so I may not have done a good job selecting breeds, but we went for a Golden Sebright, a Silkie, an Easter Egger (not a true breed, but a hybrid chicken that makes green shelled eggs), and two "assorted bantams."

I have mixed feelings about getting chicks through the mail...They overnight them, so it's not really a good environmental choice over getting chicks at the feed store. But you can get just the breeds that you want, and there is some guarantee of getting hens, so we hopefully avoid the trauma of getting chicks and then having to find somewhere that we can unload a rooster or several roosters. Another choice would have been to go with older chickens that are already proven to be hens, but I was hoping that by starting early I could train them to be sweet and friendly pets. And baby chicks are so darn cute!

Right now they are about 3 weeks old and living in a brooder in the basement. In a few weeks when they are all feathered out I will move them to the coop. Look for a post soon on building the coop!