We have a baby!!!!

[cameragirl]

Okay, okay...it isn't OUR baby. I did incubate and watch the little bugger hatch, though. This one is a partridge Silkie. We've got two more that have pipped (made their first hole in the shell), and 11 other eggs that we're waiting on. We have Barred Rocks and Hamburgs for eggs, but my little girl wanted Silkies and Showgirls because she's starting 4-H this year.

I'm sitting on my hands and trying to wait patiently, because I really want to hold the little fluff ball. I think we're going to name this one Pippin.

[bcblondie]

awwww!!!

[biffer]

So cute!

[cameragirl]

We have another one that is almost out, and a couple working on it. So tiny and so cute.

[cameragirl]

We ended up only getting three...probably because we were hatching shipped eggs. Shipped eggs can be a gamble. Here are the babies. We're trying to think up names. DD wanted to name the partridge silkies Pot Pie and Pie Face...but I dunno about that.

baby no. 1 - a partridge silkie

IMG_0198 by JJordanPhotography, on Flickr

baby no. 2 - another partridge silkie

IMG_0195 by JJordanPhotography, on Flickr

baby no. 3 - a cuckoo silkie

IMG_0191 by JJordanPhotography, on Flickr

[lilkat]

The newborn pics didn't do much for me, but the fluffy ones made me squeak! SO. CUTE!

[Milk8shake]

Originally Posted by cameragirl 

We ended up only getting three...probably because we were hatching shipped eggs. Shipped eggs can be a gamble. Here are the babies. We're trying to think up names. DD wanted to name the partridge silkies Pot Pie and Pie Face...but I dunno about that.

baby no. 1 - a partridge silkie

IMG_0198 by JJordanPhotography, on Flickr

baby no. 2 - another partridge silkie

IMG_0195 by JJordanPhotography, on Flickr

baby no. 3 - a cuckoo silkie

IMG_0191 by JJordanPhotography, on Flickr

  They are super cute. 

Years and years ago, a friend of my Mum's let my younger brother name her two budgies.  He named them Jock and Strap....

[cameragirl]

We've got seven laying hens, and we let her help naming those. They're named Millie, Minnie, Jelly Roll, Nugget, Bennie (short for Eggs Benedict), Snow Flake, and Sprinkles.

[biffer]

Wow they are adorable. Silkies are so cool, they really make my parent's americuna and australorps look so boring.

[Cellist]

Pretty!  I LOVE chickens.  Your girls are going to LOVE raising those silkies. :) :)

We had chickens in our city backyard for about a year, but then when we were having baby #1 it was too much to take care of (we couldn't have a great set up like you can have on a farm or farmette).  We had one Delaware, one Americauna, and one hmmm....it was mostly just white.  Can't remember what kind.  We also had a really pretty brown one that laid dark brown eggs, but something killed it. :(

biffer - americaunas are so cool for their colored eggs, though!

[biffer]

biffer - americaunas are so cool for their colored eggs, though!

Yeah, they are very cool. It is the weirdest thing when my parent's girls slow down and I have to buy eggs and I open up the carton and they are all the same size, shape and color. The store bought yolks are also way lighter than my parent's eggs

[cameragirl]

I made cupcakes for DD's birthday yesterday, and the yolks from our eggs turned the cake orange! So much for yellow cake recipes.

[Cellist]

I LOVE that about the "homegrown eggs" - they have the most beautiful (and more nutritious) yolks.  My co-worker showed me one from an egg she bought at the store the other day - the YOLK was almost white.  CREEPY!

[cameragirl]

It figures that healthy, happy chickens produce the healthiest eggs. Mother Earth News has a great article about how letting chickens free range or have access to grass/pasture in a coop makes their eggs have higher levels of nutrients than conventional eggs. We prefer the local organic feed over Purina because it Purina does not list ANY of their ingredients. I want to know what my chickens are eating, because in the end, I'm eating it as well.

"In the past, we’ve found that eggs from hens raised on pasture, as compared to those commercially raised factory farm eggs, contain:

• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
Plus 4-6x more vitamin D"


Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Relish/Pastured-Eggs-Vitamin-D-Content.aspx

[Cellist]

Wooo hoo for organically raised eggs!!  Part of the nutritional diversity is also from all those good bugs and worms and stuff they eat out there, too. :)

[loveandlight33]

Those little chicks are so cute! We are getting chickens once we get our act together & build a coop, can't wait! Thanks for sharing.