Look

The people who owned the house before us built a chicken coop. A nice one, really, with 6 nesting boxes, a roost, a cute exterior that matches the cedar siding of our blue house, and a little penned in area in the back yard.

So, we had to get chickens.

And we did. Today.

I wanted to order heritage breeds and do the research and make some unique choices. And then I took a look around me - at the mess of my house, at the papers piling up, at the three kids of my own and the many others that spend time here from the neighborhood. And I decided to drive over to Belmont Feed & Seed.

Now, they had some fancier breeds, some more unique birds, but they were unsexed - meaning, as I found out today, that they weren't sure yet if they were male or female.

I'm not an asshole. At least not all the time. I couldn't risk walking out of there with a box full of roosters. So we got the sexed ones, the hens, the proven layers. They're hybrids, bred to lay, really.

We plan to build a second chicken coop later for a second flock. The Isa Browns we got don't tend to do well with other breeds, so maybe on our second time around we'll get fancy.

Until then...

3 Isa Browns; 3 Amber Links

Oh good lord the girls are so excited.

And in case you thought we only went and bought two... Don't worry. There are six!