Our little girls have arrived and are safely installed in the chickery. We have three: A Rhode Island Red, a Buff Orpington, and a Barred Rock. 
They're very easy to differentiate between: the Barred Rock is the dark brownish/black one (she'll have striking white stripes later on in life), the Buff Orpington is a lovely cream color, and the Rhode Island Red, not surprisingly, is a very dashing reddish/brown. All three will lay brown eggs. Our girls hatched two days ago, on 5-18-2009. 
They're very easy to differentiate between: the Barred Rock is the dark brownish/black one (she'll have striking white stripes later on in life), the Buff Orpington is a lovely cream color, and the Rhode Island Red, not surprisingly, is a very dashing reddish/brown. All three will lay brown eggs. Our girls hatched two days ago, on 5-18-2009. So far, the Rhode Island Red is the most confident. She will walk right up to the camera and give it a peck. Which is why I have so many pictures of her. 
The Buff Orpington is the smallest, the shyest, and the one that I'm a little bit worried about. She was the last one to discover the food and water dishes. And, being the underdog, she was my immediate favorite. I don't have any good pictures of her yet. 
The Buff Orpington is the smallest, the shyest, and the one that I'm a little bit worried about. She was the last one to discover the food and water dishes. And, being the underdog, she was my immediate favorite. I don't have any good pictures of her yet. Bailey is having a bad day. First of all, there was the stray dog that ended up in our yard yesterday evening and ended up spending the night (long story, I'll give you the details later). She was a whiner and Bailey hates to share our attention. He definitely lives up to his reputation as an ONLY dog. Spoiled, doesn't like to share. Then, once that pesky dog got picked up by her [very negligent] owner this morning, I come home with tasty chick treats and refuse to share. Bailey has a history with baby birds. He will not be allowed, unsupervised, anywhere near the chicks until we teach him the ground rules. He has already snuck down into the basement twice in an attempt to 'go check on the girls'. So, while I was fussing over the chicks, he pouted in his dog carrier. 
You can just make out a black snout, feeling sorry for himself in the doggie den.
UPDATE: I forgot! We need name suggestions! I'm thinking something sweet, feminine, lovely. Like: Ophelia, Ellie, Pollyanna. Ugh. Not pollyanna. Not lovely. And NO, names such as Chicken Pot Pie, Chicken Noodle Soup, and BBQ chicken will NOT be accepted. I'm looking at you, Chris and Everett.
