Here chickie, chickie!

Ta!Da! The big reveal here.... we got chickens!! The thing we were building is their brooder. Unfortunately it's waaay too big to fit through the door into the finished part of the basement so the babies will be hanging out in a Rubbermaid container until they're a little bigger.

We got only 3 to start. We're expecting 5 more in a week or so(Buff Orpingtons for you chicken lovers out there). These 3 are a Sex-Link/Rhode Island Red mix.

I've been thinking about getting chickens for nearly a year. I would read a little here and there, talk to Bill (who declared me nuts), and decide to wait. I visited my friend Natalie's chickens and realized it really isn't rocket science in spite of what all the "Chickens For Dummies" book said.

So these little beauties should be laying farm fresh eggs for us in about 20 weeks. Now the trick is to keep them out from under Lester and Blu's noses!

I told the kids we had to name them 'food' names because we'll butcher and eat them eventually and who could eat a chicken named Cuddles??

So without further ado! Meet FlapJack, Strawberry and Stew!