Expanding Our Nest

I bought five baby chicks on Friday. They live in a cardboard box in our dining room. I know, how appropriate. They sleep in a big heap on top of one another, and sometimes, they fall asleep while standing and their little heads flop over as they nod off. It's pretty funny stuff. They are 1 week old, today, and they arereally really cute.

Let's meet the ladies:

Eleanor (Reese's hen. Named Eleanor because she looks more like one of the Chipettes than a chickie)

We aren't certain, but we think she is an Ameraucana. I hope so, because she will give us blue and green eggs if she is. But, really, we aren't even sure if Eleanor even IS a chicken. There is a very good chance that she's actually a tiny squirrel. I mean, really...look at those cheeks!

Goldilicious (Quincy's hen)

Our Golden Sex Link. Goldie is almost a week older than the other chicks, and they are all aware of it.

If any of our chicks are going to end up being a rooster, I'll bet good money that it's this one. She is naughty. She pecks the other chicks, knocks the water tray, scratched all the food out of the feeder, and this afternoon, was found proudly standing up on top of the feeder. Either we have a rooster, or Goldie is one diva hen.

Henny Penny (Corbin's Hen, but thanks to Quincy, we are now just calling her "Money")

Our Production Red.

She is tiny and timid and loves to be held.

Nugget (as in "chicken nugget", not Denver Nugget)

Our Production Black.

From the photos we have seen online, she will be a very beautiful hen, or a very very ugly one. We'll love her either way, but lil' Nugget might end up looking sort of...special.

and finally, my favorite, Scout (Why yes, as a matter of fact, I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird right now.)

the Barred Rock

(she is totally my fave...I am quite certain Scoutie will be our prize hen)

The girls are still in the newlywed phase and are loving pet owner heaven. Every story that Reese has written for the past 5 days has been about the chicks. Both girls rush to check on them when they wake up in the morning, call them by name, say good night to them, love showing them off to their friends, and are surprisingly diligent about washing their hands after every time they go near the box.

It is impossible to keep this guy away from them.

Today, he gave them a handful of goldfish crackers, a sippy cup, a grape, a Little People, and a toy pillow. He also shouted, "Hot! Hot! NoNo, that's hot!" after he knocked their heat lamp over on top of them. Poor chicks. The box gets moved to our master bathroom to give the chicks a break when Corbin gets a little too Lennie Small on them. I'm counting on Corbin's brute affection to keep the chicks from getting mean.

I cannot wait to show them to my preschoolers.

Anyway, yeah, I have chickens, now.

I'm a chicken farmer.

A Poulterer.

A Poulterette, if you will.

Hopefully, in 20-22 weeks, we'll be collecting eggs. Maybe I should stick one of those lilypie gadgets on my sidebar. Anyone know how to do that?

Bummer

Corbin's little bickies are about to go all natural.

If you had asked me 6 years ago if I would ever consider cloth diapering, I would have laughed in your face and called you a hippie.

Right before Corbin was born, I started to actually consider cloth diapering, but I looked around at the mountainous supply of diapers that I already owned (thank you, wonderful friends of mine), and didn't see a need to purchase diapers, since I had almost 6 months worth of disposables waiting to be used.

Fast forward to when the supply ran out. I considered it again. The upfront investment is $75-$100 to get started. Um, yeah at that point, I was spent on both energy and cash and it just wasn't worth the investment just to "try it out".

But now, we're sinking into a nice little groove. Corbin is 20 months, and I probably won't even attempt to potty train him until a year from now.

So for the cost of 3 boxes of diapers, I bought enough to "try it out". 4 Bummi covers, 6 prefolds, 3 snappis, and a box of disposable liners (because solid poop in your washer is nasty).

3 boxes of diapers would last us about 2 months.

So I figure, If I can do this for 60 days, I'll have broken even with what I've spent, so far.

Anything after that will be money still in my pocket. If I continue, I'll spend another $20+ to get another dozen prefolds for the diapers, and maybe some other diapering supplies I don't know about yet, but I think that's still worth it, considering I currently spend that amount every few weeks on disposables.

Even if it is totally gross and more work, I think I could stand to see these little rockets on Corbin's bum for 60 days.

So, the adventure begins.

I will use disposables at night.

I will use disposables when I send my baby to a friend's house, have a sitter, or go on road trips, because I still have a box of them to use up.

And also because I am not 100% certain what I have gotten myself into.

But I can do anything for 60 days.

If I hate it after 60 days, the cloth diapers will be lovingly tucked into our 72 hour kits, and I'll never look back.

As a bonus, I won't have to worry about replacing the diapers in my 72 hr kids every time my babies grow into a different size.

Is it worth it?

We'll see.

Stay tuned.

It should be noted that I gave myself a few pats on the back for purchasing these online. Whaaat?!

Go me.