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From the time the assorted baby chicks first arrived from Stromberg’s Hatchery…..

…..to recently…when I let them loose in the (previously empty) Maran  chicken coop…..

The chicks have grown and feathered out…they’re still babies…but they are much bigger…..

When they first arrived…the babies needed a heat lamp…and a very warm draft-free environment…..

They were all huddled in our multi-purpose wading pool…(which has seen a number of different baby species…who have grown & graduated to larger abodes)…..

After a short period of time…the chicks required cardboard sides to their wading pool…(so they couldn’t weeble wobble out)…..

…..then they needed extra high-sided storage bins for temporary homes as they grew…..

Then we needed to cover the (now three) baby bird bins with screening (that was left over from the porch renovations)…..

And they stayed like that for awhile…as they grew…and grew…..

I think our geriatric Cockatoo is super happy that he no longer has the responsibilities as “Over-Seer of the Chick Nursery”…..

…..(he was fed up with the chirping puff balls)…..

Now…the one bachelor rooster…who we left in the coop…is picking up where Long John left off…..

He Is Not A Happy Rooster…..

He didn’t ask to be a combination nanny/guardian/& tutor…..

At this point…he can still fly up to the higher perches and get away from all the children…..

The Chick Nursery is still primarily on the ground…they have their feathers…they just don’t know what to do with them yet…..

Prior to releasing all the babies into the coop…we needed to make necessary repairs for the tiny new occupants…..

The things that needed repairing are intended to foil equally small shape-shifting hungry snakes…..

We need to do our best to armor the coop against a variety of predators…..

…..they are out there…they are hungry…they are waiting…..

In this bevy of baby birds there are:  Buff Orpinton’s…French Black Copper Maran’s…Cuckoo Maran’s…Olive Egger’s…Speckled Sussex’s…Welsummer’s…Easter Egger’s…and Barnevelder’s…..

I have NO idea who’s who…we’ll have to wait until they’re bigger…maybe then (???)…..

I’ve noticed one or two baby pullets…look a lot like baby cockerels…their combs are starting to grow…..

Nobody is crowing yet…but I’m sure a few of them will be practicing soon…..

During 4-H…my daughters learned how to sex a young chick by the feathers on its wings…I never learned that trick…..

But I do know how to caponize…even though it seems to be an antiquated skillset these days…..

*****(Wikipedia–the Capon)*****

Hopefully…all fifty-one chicks will grow to adulthood…..

Hopefully…we’ll be able to keep the snakes out…until the chicks are large enough…and won’t be an easy snack…..

I “only” ordered forty-two chicks originally…and fifty-two arrived(?)…..

I have always believed in living my life in superlatives…..

I did however think I was being a bit excessive when I ordered forty-two…but then fifty-two arrived…I don’t even know what breed the additional chicks are(?)…..

I lost one baby within the first forty-eight hours…(I don’t know why)…but the other fifty-one just kept chirping and growing…..

I’m afraid to total just how many chickens are out there…..

…..some things are better left unacknowledged and unquantified…..