(Mis)Adventures on Huckleberry Farm: The chicks are here!

The chicks are finally here. And I've already learned several things.

1. They are kind of bony and flap their wings whenever you get near them which is a bit disconcerting.

2. They poop a lot. And it's very stinky. And runny.

3. Watching them is very entertaining and I can already see it will be a complete time waster.

4. We have no idea what we're doing.

5. They are really, really cute!

The nice lady from the post office called about 11 am and said my "live birds" were there and would I please come get them? Annaliese and I flew over there where we were handed a red box that was chirping away. They sound like little songbirds. Of course we had to take a quick look to make sure they were in there and for me to make sure there weren't any DOA's. All I could really see was a mass of fuzz and when Annaliese asked to hold one, I decided it was time for a quick exit from the post office. All the workers looked thankful.

We arrived home, opened the box and I started to pick them up and put them in the cage. This is when I learned that when you touch them, they start flapping. Picking them up with your hand over their feathers helps. I'm sure I'm doing all the wrong things and I've sent out a request for help! "Thanks for the cute chicks. Now what do I do?" I managed to get them all safe and sound in their new home.

We received our 10 little silkies plus one big ole one. I guess that was a bonus! The big one already has the crest starting on the top of its head. It's really cute although Annaliese definitely prefers the little ones. All have had food and water (this consisted of me trying to get each one and poking their little beak into the water dish... this is not easy when there are several of the same color and they were moving around. I think I got each one!).

Colin's due home from school in an hour and he'll be very excited when he sees they are here. Right now they are all busy chirping away, making a mess and jumping on each other.