Chicks of all sorts

We got a mother load of baby chicks from McMurray Hatchery! So much about this experience has amazed me, maybe nothing more than the phone call we got on a SUNDAY night before a post office holiday to let us know they had just flown in (via aircraft, not stork) and were available anytime, 24 hours a day at the Rancho Penasquitos distribution center. Oh, and they were being kept in the office since the warehouse was chilly. Say WHAT???? Yes, good ol' USPS was in rare form!

We'd ordered 30 chicks (25 in an Ornamental Layer assortment plus 4 I picked expressly, plus one "free exotic chick" was added at checkout) with plans to give most away to neighboring coops. When we opened the box, there were 47 beauties staring up at us like some Miss World of Chicks pageant. Black, Buff, Mottled, Brown -- you name it they were all there in fluffy perfection. Introducing a few of our keepers:

This is Lil Shrimp. Evie named her. It fits. She is scarcely bigger than a pingpong ball and much much smaller than her feathery friends. We think she is a Golden Penciled Hamburg.


Here is Kitty Soft Paws. She is demure, exquisitely fluffy and downy, and has that far off gaze ala Bridget Bardot. You never can tell if she's actually looking at you or not.


This is Taylor Swift. I'm sure she's belting out some Cinderella tune here.


This is UGGS. She is a Buff Cochin, or so we guess. She's named for her very lamby limbs.


This one is Brown Fuzzball. We don't have a permanent name or any clue what she is, but she is the only one like this in the bunch. She'll obviously have great gams.


This is Jimmy Hendrix. There are two Jimmys and we couldn't part with either of them. I special ordered these two. They will definitely be Silver Polishes.


This is Two Dot. She deserves a better name. Maybe you can help her out by suggesting one. She will be a Mottled Houdan. I special ordered this one, she has a 5th toe (as does Kitty Soft Paws) and will have a crested head like Jimmy Hendrix. She'll lay white eggs.


This is little Penguin. We aren't sure what she is because her looks could turn out to be many types as far as we can tell from our research. She's a cutie, though.


Finally, we have Fancy. She is by far our biggest chick, so she sinks into the wheat grass here.
Evelyn asked me today, "What's her middle name?" To which I replied, "Pants."
She will be a Silver Laced Wyandotte. This is one I ordered especially, too. They lay through the winter.