Feeders: $7.75
Heat lamp and bulb: $12.90
Guinea pig cage: $54.99
Corn cob bedding: $7.49
Hatchlings: $12
Spending the next two months turning six adorable little balls of fluff into cold-blooded killers capable of annihilating slugs, grubs, caterpillars, and weed seeds, all while spreading manure, tilling it into the soil, and producing enough eggs to keep us in frittatas all summer: Priceless
Chickens deserve a whole lot more respect than they get. They might not have the dazzling feathers of a hyacinth macaw or the mellifluous voice of a canary, but they’re a heckuva lot cheaper, and their work ethic beats anything you’ll find in a pet store.
Incidentally, that one in the middle that’s lying flat on the floor isn’t dead. She’d just decided to get down and streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch her legs out.
We bought two Araucanas (the kind that lay blue-green eggs), a brown leghorn, a barred Rock, a buff Orpington, and a silver Wyandotte. The little black ones are the Araucanas. I lost track of which was which on the others, but they’re all cute. One of the Araucanas is extremely vocal. She has a high-pitched little peep and appears to have an opinion about everything. Funny little bird. The little yellow one seems to be the bravest of the bunch — she was the first to come up and eat out of my hand when I was putting some food on the floor of the cage to help them find their feeder.
Cute, cute, cute. I wish I could stay home and play with them all day, but my lunch hour is over, and I’m sure they’re ready for a nap (moving day is always SO exhausting, isn’t it?) … so I guess I’d better head back to the office and let my fuzzy little girls get back to their scratching and snuggling.
Emily
Red Fork Hippie 
Your little fuzzies are indeed cute and hold much promise. When they grow up and live out in back, be sure they are safe from the pretty red foxes we always delight in seeing.
…and the neighborhood cat population. Your chicken tractor will probably be tested rigorously. Good luck. I’ll be watching closely because we still talk about doing the same thing. They’d have 4 acres to play in here. I still want to have Guineas, but your dad says no. Rats.
I am so jealous, Emily! Every spring I think of you when the Peeps come out with the rest of the Easter candy, and now you have actual, real, live peeps. SOOOOO cute!
They’re hilarious. They’ve gotten into this slam-dancing thing, where they half-leap, half-fly across the cage and deliberately crash into each other. One of them will start it, and the next thing you know, it looks like they’ve got a Black Flag concert going on in there. Not sure what that’s about, but they seem to enjoy it a lot. Then they get tired and go to sleep in a little pile with their heads resting on each other. Naptime lasts until somebody decides to be a smart aleck and peck the girl next to her, at which point all hell breaks loose.
The little yellow one, which I believe is my buff Orpington, seems to have the most personality of the bunch. She let me carry her all over the house tonight. She let the dogs sniff her and everything, and nothing seemed to worry her. I put her back in the cage, and she just sat in my hand for a long time, like she didn’t especially care whether she rejoined the other chicks or not. Adorable.