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| Our nameless Americauna chick, suggestions? |
I think the title of this post pretty much sums up what I am going to say :) Today Deirdre and I took a mommy-daughter day trip to West Point. The local tack and feed store there was hosting a poultry swap and we wanted to go check it out! After learning a little bit more about chicken's pecking order and seeing how unhappy Snow White was, we wanted to get her a little friend close to her age.
Chickens, especially young ones, are social flock animals. When one is isolated, it causes undue stress and weight loss. I tried 'look but don't touch' with Snow White and my other chickens, but it did not work and they continued to peck her badly. So we have to wait to introduce her once she is full grown and can peck back. In the meantime however she was not happy,and since we want her to be happy and lay eggs, we needed to get her a friend chick close to her age. After learning that the feed store where we got Snow White had no more chicks this season, we started looking elsewhere for a friend. Then this swap popped up, so off we went!
It only took about an hour to get to West Point. It was just so beautiful there. Deirdre aptly commented "Mommy its so beautiful here. God did a really good job on this one". Sadly I forgot to take photos! I was just so enamored with all of the animals.
The store was easy enough to find and it was packed! It was at the first stall, yeah that's right I did not make it past the first stall, where I saw the Americauna chicks. My mind was made up then and there. You see while I now have Dominique hens, we at first wanted Easter Eggers. Our Hatchery however did not have any left when it came time for me to order. Plus I was very happy with my Dominiques, they are so sweet!
So instead of leaving with one Americauna chick, we got A pair of geese, a pair of ducks, a new doe meat rabbit, and our one Americauna chick. Craig had been commenting on how he wanted a turkey or goose to raise for Christmas, and he even tried to catch a baby duck at work. So when I brought these babies home, he wasn't shocked. He was actually pleasantly surprised, especially by the sweet geese and meat rabbit. Well, heck he liked them all. So now we are making plans for all of our new editions! Right now they are playing in our baby pool on the back porch and loving it!
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| From left to right: Raspberry, Strawberry, Petunia, and Charles |
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| Laying her head in my hand sweetly! |
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| Snow White: the white leghorn |
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| Brownie: the New Zealand doe |
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| Duffy: The Dutch Doe and my nemesis due to her being an escape artist! |
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| Cicero aka Fluffy: the Lionhead Buck |
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| My big babies! Faline, Nala, and Simba. |
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| And, I finished the Oliver and S bucket hat! |
