Counting down the days 'til baby chicks arrive!

I just placed out order for our next round of baby chicks...two weeks from tomorrow we will bring home 60 new little ones.

We get our chicks from Mt Healthy Hatchery here in Cincinnati. 

We ordered a mix of Welsummers, Ameraucanas, and Barred Rocks so we will have even more variety in our flock. 

The Welsummer is the chicken from the corn flakes box.  It lays a dark reddish-brown egg. We only got a few of these to see what their temperament and lay rate is like. Apparently they are very popular because they were almost sold out for the whole year already. 

The Ameraucanas we ordered will more than double the number we have in our current flock since the blue-green eggs are very popular and unique. 

Finally, we are trying the Barred Rocks as an alternative medium brown egg layer (vs the Rhode Island Red). They are supposed to lay 280 eggs/year!  That's pretty amazing. And from what I've read they are fairly good natured. 

I'm so excited for baby chickens!  Now we have to get to expanding the chicken coop so we will have room for them when they move out of the brooder in the workshop. Josh is designing a lean-to for either side of our current coop/run, which will more than double our current capacity. I'll post pictures as things take shape. Check back!