We Got Chickens....Part 1

We got chickens!  And, then, we got our chickens!  Okay, so here is the story.  Last week, we were meant to get the chickens that we ordered.  It was a rainy week and Sean was gone and we were anxiously awaiting our chickens.  They were to arrive on Wednesday and I figured the post office would call and we would go pick them up.  I was excited for an activity for that day.  Well, at 7:30am, still in our pajamas, we got a knock on our door.  Our very sweet postman had arrived to the office with the chickens waiting and he drove them right out to us.  It was wonderful, but left us scrambling to get the brooder ready and get the chickens warm and happy.  Of course, we were totally thrilled.  I ripped the top off the box and we got ready to get them out and get them food and water.  The first thing I noticed was there were more than the 15 that I had ordered, maybe 20-21.  Also, they was a lot of variety in color.  But, in the excitement of trying to get the chicks settled and allowing the kids and Lily to explore our new additions, I didn't think too much of it.  After much man-handling, I decided it was best to let the chicks get acclimated and rest, so I packed the kiddos up to the store, put Lily in Finn's room and out we went.  When we got back, we were still very excited to check them out and the kids were watching them when I noticed the lid of the box came with a packaging slip in plastic under the shipping sticker.  Thinking there might be some instructions in it, I tore it open and realized that it had somebody else's name on it...and they lived in Maryland...and these were not our chickens!!!!  These were 10 cornish chickens and 10 amerucauas, unsexed.  Ahhh!  We had ordered 15 female amerucanas.  Ahhhh!  So, I try to remain calm and call the company.  They are extremely apologetic and assure me this is an incredibly rare occurence, etc.  They also offer to send my chickens out expedited.  Well, wait a minute...what about the 20 I already have?  Well, they can't take them back of course.  So, I have to scramble to find homes for these, all the while Finn is cuddling them and whispering to them, and reading them stories.  After much freaking out and stress and phone calls on my part, my wonderful sister-in-law found a great home for them with one phone call.  So, here are the starter chickens we had last week and my next chicken post will show off our real chickens :)
  

 Finn reading books to them before putting them to bed!

 We had to tuck them in with a blanket and Finn contemplated sleeping next to them: