It's that time of year!

I have some chickens. And I love my chickens. I enjoy watching them scratching around looking for snacks to eat, happily roosting in their house and popping out those farm fresh eggs. Plus they're great for helping to till up the garden in the spring, scratch through all the dead plants in the fall, and the added fertilizer for the garden if helpful.

But I don't have a rooster anymore. So obviously we don't have babies each year. One year we had a rooster and our hens hatched out some babies. I think we had thirteen chicks hatched out that year and eleven of them were roosters! Yikes! Do you know when you have that many roosters, they will have a crowing competition pretty much all night long. So, we got rid of the roosters.

A couple years ago, I bought six pullets. For those that aren't familiar with chickens, pullets are baby female chickens. They've been sexed so you're almost guaranteed you're buying females. (It's not a 100% guaranteed thing though). So I ended up with five pullets and one nasty, stinkin' mean rooster. He's gone now, but that's another story....

I do like to have new chicks around each year. Because when winter comes and the older girls are slowing down their egg production, the new girls are just maturing and starting to lay. Plus, you can't beat the cuteness factor!

So I've been debating the issue with my self. Do I get another rooster, therefore have new chicks each year and not have to buy any (but possibly get stuck with a bunch of roosters I don't need) or buy some pullets and have a better chance of getting what I want?

I finally decided on buying some. So last week I week to our local feed store and picked out some babies. It's a fun place to visit in the spring even if you're not planning on buying any. They have the cutest little assortment of fuzzy chicks, ducklings, goslings and guinea keats to look at.

I decided on my favorite breed; the Ameraucana. This chickens come in a variety of colors and lay bluish-green or pinkish colored eggs. Some people call the "Easter egg chickens."

I picked out four different colored ones and they're nicely settling in at the "Pinewood Chicken Nursery".

And, yes, that is a dog crate.