Chickmunks

As of this morning,

the number of birds in our house

is now equal to the number of humans.

In addition to our two parakeets

(shown here "reveling in the glory of the bath,"

as Anna recently put it) . . .

. . . and our Barred Rock chicks Mary and Martha

(who have grown a bit since last week . . .

. . . but still love nestling under their "mama heating pad brooder") . . .

. . . I brought home two more chicks today.

A four-chicken flock has been my goal all along, but I didn't want them all to be the same breed,

so I've been calling around to see what other breeds the local farm stores have for sale.

Tractor Supply had a hybrid breed called Cinnamon Queens (hatched 4 April 2023), 

which I've read are very friendly and lay lots of eggs.

They sounded like exactly the type of chicken I want to raise,

but I was completely unprepared . . .

. . . for how cute they are!!!

It's like someone combined a fluffy yellow chick

with an adorable chipmunk!

I was a little concerned about how Mary and Martha would react

when I suddenly added two baby roommates to their brooder bin.

I know that larger chickens often pick on smaller ones, 

but I've heard that if you introduce new chicks before the older ones are three weeks old,

they should all get along fine.

When I gently placed the day-old "chickmunks" in our chicken bin,

I watched nervously to see what the Barred Rocks would do.

Martha largely ignored them, but Mary came over and cuddled them to keep them warm.

Awwww!

Bless your little heart, sweet Mary!