Our Family’s New Love: City Chicks

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Our latest edition to our family pet menagerie? THREE baby Silkie CHICKENS! 

We got them from a local farm supply store just in time, as this was their last order of chicks until Spring. 

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Here they are at one day old! ???

Our chicks were shipped to the farm supply store from Conroe, TX just after hatching.  At this point, they still have their yolk sac for nourishment, which can sustain them for about three days. 

Silkie chickens are considered to be the LAP CAT of the poultry world.  They have FIVE toes and black skin and bones.  These are called straight run, which means you have no idea if you’re getting hens or roosters. 

I’ve been told roosters are not allowed to be kept within the city limit.  Fingers crossed that these three are HENS.  We won’t know for several more months if we’re going to get delicious fresh eggs or if we’ll need to find a new home for a rooster or roosters!

They’re OH so cute and growing OH so fast.  We’ve had them for about three weeks and they’re starting to get their “big girl/boy” feathers.  ???

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Why did I want chickens? In my mind, I saw my children learning the valuable lesson of caring for animals and waking up at the crack of dawn to retrieve fresh eggs so mom can make wholesome BREAKFAST sandwiches, YES!!!!  I’ll let ya’ll know in a few more months. 

We also decided to keep a MEALWORM farm ?.  If you didn’t know, chickens LOVE LOVE LOVE mealworms.  They go BONKERS running around trying to keep their worm from the others, and it’s pure craziness!  We witnessed a case of mistaken identity the other day… chicken toes slightly resemble mealworms. I’m sure you can imagine what we saw ?.  I promise that each chick still has all FIVE toes! 

We got 1,000 mealworms from an online retailer, a plastic three drawer cart, 5-minute quick oats, and carrots.  Super simple and cost-effective.  It’s really cool watching and learning about the life cycle of the darkling beetle.  Mealworms aren’t really worms at all… SAY WHAT?  Mealworms are the larval stage of the darkling beetle.  Mealworm larva turn into pupa which turn into darkling beetles which lay eggs which hatch tiny mealworms. Here’s a link to a really fantastic farm… if I had more time and craftiness I’d totally make this one!corpus-christi-mom-blog-chicken-coop

I was crafty enough to put their chicken coop together but they’re still too young and fragile to stay overnight in it.  This is where they’ll be kept safe from predators like our two outdoor cats! 

Does your family keep chickens?  I’d love to hear from you!