Welcome to the Curious Chick!

Hi, and welcome to my blog! I'm Ada*, living with my husband in the southeastern United States. We've decided to expand our family somewhat untraditionally... through chickens, ducks, and goats!

We are brand-new "farmers", since it was only yesterday that we became the proud parents of seven chicks and three ducks. I wanted to keep a photo journal of their growth, and this is the best way I know how. So without further ado, meet the newest 10 members of our family!

First up we have 3 lovely--not ugly!--ducklings. The yellow one is the largest and obviously a little older than the grayish-green and black ducks. (We think those two are only a couple days old at best.) The grayish-green duck is not spraddle-legged, I think he was just not quite steady on his feet after being picked up in this picture.







Our next two babies are actually the first two we bought yesterday. They are two week old Cochin/Ameracauna/Rhode Island Red mixes that came from a lovely family that we met at a sale at the Tractor Supply Company yesterday morning. The larger of the two is on the left; he likes to fly around, although he can only go about a foot or so! (I say "he" but none of our peeps have been sexed yet so we have no way of knowing what we've got.) He also likes to perch on my outstretched hand and is quite curious. The smaller one isn't quite so sure of her flying ability yet, so she mainly just hops around. If you look closely you can see the feathers on her legs, that's the cochin in her. These two are definitely the leaders in my little flock so far, probably due to their size and "advanced age." Ha! And can I say, it just cracks me up that they're pecking around in my carpet in this picture!



The next little guy is a fluffy little Rhode Island Red (I think) that has the most perfect little peep. My nine year old brother picked him out at Tractor Supply and named him Pecos Bill, which I think is an awesome name. Hopefully he will stay a he so that no renaming is necessary!



The final four are little teensy bantams, although I have absolutely no idea what breed. My brother, niece, and two nephews each picked out one of these guys. In order of appearance, their names are Luke, Dora, Max (or Maxine if she's a girl), and DevonKing. That last one is pronounced all as one word, by the way. We had a little scare yesterday with DevonKing; we weren't sure he was going to make it as he seemed much more lethargic than the others. Luckily though he is up and pecky and perky this morning!






Aren't all my little guys just precious? I can't wait to watch them grow up! My husband will be building a coop soon, since we will also be picking up a few started pullets. Pullets are young hens, and a started pullet is one who will be laying soon. Stay tuned as we add a milk goat or two. Backyard farming, here we come!


*In the interest of privacy, I'll not be using real names on this blog. Ada is both the name of a favorite teacher, as well as that of the heroine in one of my favorite novels, "Cold Mountain."