The last arrive

And so the last of the chicks for this year arrive. Barring the loss of many---we won't be ordering again this year. Well, unless we order those Muscovy we have been talking about (for about 4 years).
The Marans seem healthy and well after their quick one day trip. I posted some pics of them still in the box and freshly in our dog carrier that will be their home for the first week. You can still see them huddled under the light but even now --30 minutes later---they are spread out and eating and drinking just fine.
This batch is a feather legged Cuckoo Marans--and I can already see the down on their legs. I am hoping that by purchasing from two different places I will have enough genetics to never have to buy Cuckoos again. Unless of course I get bad coloring of eggs or feathers and need to add some new genetics for that reason. We will see. I do not show birds but I am sure we will sell some around here and we do not believe in selling an animal that does not exhibit the traits they are known for.
My other birds are doing fine in the garage even now with the draft shield removed from in front of their house. We have three lights going for them at night and turn one off during the day. I did not realize how big they had gotten until I removed these from their box this morning. They grow so fast. These seem itty bitty in comparison to the others. Of course that is the same with any baby animal. They grow very fast and within weeks are not the tiny little thing you first acquired. Some of the hens in the other group have almost full wings now and they run around their pen trying them out. I put some sticks in yesterday for them to attempt roosting on and of course you would have thought I threw in a snake. Within a few minutes though they were jumping on and over them. Very cute---and by last night a few were even balancing pretty well on them.
Have a great day all!