The yuckiest job...

This weekend, Savannah had the joy of doing the absolutely nastiest job on the farm... cleaning the chicken coop!  Lucky girl.  Truth is, she is a 'getter done' kinda gal and just dives into tasks like this and it was me being dramatic about all.that.poop! 

 As she explains it... the task is rather straight forward: shovel out old nesting straw and wood chips, pressure wash from top to bottom, let it dry completely, and add fresh bedding.  Done.

The coop gets the hose down once a year, at least, and this year we had some added incentive to get it done... quick!  Cause we were expecting a call from the Post Office early Monday morning.  "Come get your birds," the post man, not so happily, announces at 6:05a.m.  I guess they see no charm in the constant chirping of baby chicks. 

In the past, we have gotten chicks in the early, EARLY spring.  A big pain to keep them warm until the natural temps heat up.  So we took the easier route and waited till our temps were hanging out in the high 90s... humans don't like... but baby chicks do!

We also have a good core group of egg layers for now... so we wanted to get some chicks that were fun!  So ugly their cute would be Savannah's description... I think she has a point.  That little puff ball on the top of the little chicks head above is what is called a 'top hat'.

Common name for these chickens is Top Hatters (photo from catalog).  I think they look like rock stars... see my point?!

We MUST name one of them 'Bowie' as a nod to the amazingly fun 80s!  Ahhhhh, good times, bad hair.

So our plan is to keep them in a smaller cage right in the coop.  Plenty hot enough out there.  Savannah is introducing the new accommodations to the chicks by dipping their beaks into the sugar water... so important they drink TONS in first days of life... and make sure they are eating too.

 My favorite coloring thus far is this little one below... love the shades of grey.  So cute.