Yes, of course I bought some. Five little fuzzy black & white ping-pong balls.
These girls are really sweet. They actually like to be held -- one was clinging to the neighbor girl when she tried to put it down. Docile is good, in chickens. The Speckled Sussex still run away and then fight to get free while you hold them; the Ameraucanas are somewhere in the middle.
The Aussies are notoriously heavy layers. I did a quick back of the envelope calculation and figured I'll get roughly 300 eggs per month once the whole flock starts laying. That's 14 pullets at present, unless I have mis-identified chicks. It would be nice to sell enough in the neighborhood & to friends that I don't need to do a farmers' market very often. I see many egg dishes in my future, too. I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up wanting yet more chickens down the road, which will make matters better or worse, depending on how my egg marketing program goes.
I have all but the oldest chicks still in the house, where they can keep warm. I've read that chicks should NOT be kept in the house, and particularly not near food prep areas. Nonetheless, there mine are on the dining table, with a brooder light hanging from the chandelier. Well, Himself was adamant that they not be in the living room. Eventually they will all be outdoors, and I will miss their chatter. Chickens are all about their flock, and they talk to each other constantly, mostly with reassuring babble that comforts people too. With the youngsters, that babble is a quiet but constant peeping and chirping. It's really nice to wake up to.
Update on the waterers: The small one is IN USE, sitting on top of the Specs' brooder bin with the pegs poking through the hardware cloth. They love it. I had to rig up a cross-beam for the outdoor brooder, and then discovered that one of the peg holes in the bucket is leaking. I have it drying out now so I can re-seal it.
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