First adventure out of the coop — Astra took the new baby guy for a walk. She showed it how to scratch at the ground and peck up some tiny stones. Then they wandered around in the grass.

Our first baby chick hatched today — a cross between our Green Queen an the Bresse rooster. There was an egg that pipped earlier, but that chick didn’t make it (one of the small, first eggs laid by one of the Bresse hens). This one, however, hatched overnight!

Anya keeps telling me that chickens grow up so fast … which is both true and so funny coming from the Anya who also seems to grow up really fast. The little balls of fluff are half feathers now, and getting bigger (and more chicken-like) every day. We had our first escape yesterday. I’d clipped a mesh over the top of the brooder when they first started fluttering. But one of the dark-feathered birds was roosting on top of the chicken toaster and pushed her way out of the cover. Now we’ve got more clips, and it seems to be secure.

And they love going outside to play. We’ve had a few really busy days and haven’t been able to take them out. Tomorrow looks a little cool, but the weekend and the first few days next week look like perfect chicken playing weather.

Our little balls of fluff are growing feathers … Joyce’s white feathers are coming in on her wings and tail.

Sunshine’s feathers are coming in on her wings and just starting on her tail.

Lots of little feathers!

Our little girls had their first adventure outdoors. One advantage of getting chicks late in the year like this ? 90 degree days. Plenty warm enough for these little ones to enjoy exploring. We’ve got a fence around the hazelnut bushes, so Anya brought them into that grassy area. At first, they stayed close to one of “their people”.

But, as they spent a little time checking out grass and dirt near us, they started venturing around the yard.

We picked up our little babies yesterday — had a little confusion because the order hadn’t gotten marked as ready for pickup, and the office staff is working from home so they couldn’t just pop out to the hatchery and see. But they eventually confirmed all five little guys were hatched and ready to come home.

We’ve got Sunshine, the Buff Orpington, who is undoubtedly Anya’s fav.

We’ve got Joyce, the Austra White, who Anya says is Sunshine’s best friend (and she is).

And Moonlight, the Black Jersey Giant … well, I’m about 90% sure about that. She’s got dark legs

And then we’ve got … well, I don’t know. And totally understand why they put leg bands on the ‘rare breed’ birds. There are a whole lot of gray and yellow balls of fluff. I think this is the Green Queen, Queenington.

Which would make this our Columbian Wyandotte, Tilly. Anya says we cannot call them by their names until their feathers come in and we actually know who is who. Which makes sense — I’d be awfully confused if I was called one name for a few years and then my family randomly started calling me some other name.