Cheep Cheep Cheep

Back in December I decided to pre-order One-Day-Old chicks from a hatchery in Iowa. Believe it or not, live chicks are routinely shipped through the US mail. I first ordered chicks from this same hatchery back in 1995, when I moved to my first little farmette in Wisconsin. I loved watching chickens from my kitchen window. The fact that they laid plenty of amazing eggs was a bonus!

The hatchery won’t ship the chicks until the weather is right. The package is sent the same day they hatch because baby chicks can survive for their first 72 hours while absorbing their yolk sack. However, they need to stay warm. Back in the 90’s I had to purchase 25 chicks. The experts must have improved their process because the minimum I need to buy was 15 little ones. That minimum must be met so that the chicks stay warm by relying on their shared body heat during transport.

These little ones arrived yesterday. Today, I decided to film each chick so that I could track their development. At this time, I’ve only named them based on their markings. I ordered the hatchery’s “Choice Layers.” This includes a wide assortment of standard sized hens that lay white, brown and tinted colored eggs out of their Heavy breeds, Rare breeds and Heritage breeds. For that reason, I don’t really know what breeds I received. I think I will have to wait until they grow in their adult plumage and then try to figure it out!

I have two each of the following colors: “black with yellow heads,” “buff with feathered legs” and “buff with smooth legs.” The rest of the little flock contains a single chick of its kind.

I haven’t had the time, yet, to try to identify the breeds based on the images of the chicks. But, I am going to try!

Black w Yellow Head #1

Black with Yellow Head #2

Brown with Black Back

Brown with Gray Spots

She was being very vocal during her photo shoot!

Buff colored with smooth legs (no feathers) #1

Buff colored with smooth legs (no feathers) #2

Buff color with Feather covered legs #1

Buff color with Feather covered legs #2

Gray with Tan cheeks

Gray and Yellow (feathered legs)

Yellow with Ball Head

Yellow

Compared to taking photos of baby puppies, most of these chicks cooperated while I corralled them in the little shadow box world I created for the job. But, a couple of them were just adamant about making it nearly impossible, even with a simple cell phone camera. They didn’t seem to care when I argued that their photos were going to come out blurry if they didn’t relax and stand still for 1.5 second!

Here’s a picture of my photo “stage.” I painted the interior of a cardboard box with a couple of grassy hills and a big blue sky with a few clouds. I used a small piece of artificial grass turf as the bottom. Finally, I fitted a little light in the top of the box to help illuminate the chicks and used the flash setting on my camera.

I thought that the dried mealworms would keep the chicks occupied, but only one chick evens seemed to notice them!