These little girl hens like being on top of each other, they seem to prefer spending their time snuggling in a happy, cozy, chicky pile. I love how they came in a little box that looks like a take-out container!
They are now set up in their little chickie condo...complete with fresh sugar water (they get this their first day only), cozy pine shaving bedding, a toasty heat lamp, and a good supply of chick feed (the feed is not in this picture because for their first hour they are supposed to only get their sugar water). 
So here are my eight little girl hens...six have lighter coloring, two are "brunettes". I don't know how I'm going to be able to tell all of them apart, maybe when they get older their looks will be different? I have decided they are going to be named for places that I've lived or lived close to...so here are the names: San Jose, Los Gatos, Fremont, San Luis Obispo (San Luis for short), Castro Valley (Castro for short), Pleasanton, Berkeley, and Stanwood.
They will live in this smaller area for the next month or so, then they will be moved out to a still-to-be-built coop and run. For now they are hanging out in Bambino's kennel - he is sleeping in his closed crate in the kennel...well at least trying to sleep, the chicks seem to be a bit nocturnal, they've been cheeping since the sun went down. So Bambino may not get tons of sleep, but I guess that's his karma since he has kept us up many nights with his barking - mostly in the first weeks we had him when he was a little pup. It will be good bonding time for him with his eight new little "sisters".
As I mentioned, we still have to build their outdoor coop and run. It will be an interesting challenge to build something economically. The other interesting challenge will be keeping Figaro away from the chicks...he has already heard their chirping and is interested in a bad way. Once they are full grown he'll back off, I've noticed that the chickens that our neighbors have keep him interested, but he can see that they are too big to go after. So until the chicks are that big I'll be playing body-guard to my eight little hens.
So I am obviously excited about the chicks...they and all of their supplies are an early 31st birthday present.
In addition to getting the chickens today we also visited this store up in Bellingham today, they sell recycled building materials...it is a cool store full of some great treasures. I particularly can't get my mind off of some really cool basket lockers that they were selling - the ones I saw today are the perfect height to use as a base for a sewing table...I'm thinking about saving up a stash to buy a set to use just for that purpose. We also stopped by the Bellingham Farmer's Market after a yummy pizza lunch. I bought a basil start and two gallon sized tomato plants - both are heirloom varieties. All said plants will go into the ground tomorrow as long as the weather continues to agree (the sunshine today was beautiful).
So here's to a great weekend already, having new little hens whose eggs I am already looking forward to, and the promise of basil and tomatoes. I am going to have to make a yummy caprese salad this summer when everything is ready to harvest.
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