My ears are ringing...

We awoke to the sound of the phone ringing this morning. My clock read 5:58 AM. T'was the post office calling; they had a package for us...

Dad drove the truck into town, while I stayed home and made a few phone calls to various people.

Not too much later, dad came home, but there was a good deal more noise coming from the truck this time! In the back lay four big cardboard boxes with holes punched into them. Each box was liberally pasted with stickers that shouted, "LIVE ANIMALS", "Handle with care!".

Within those dark cardboard walls were 375 peeping chicks!! Aaaah!

Mennagerie Farm only needed 50 chicks right now, but a few other families wanted to buy some meat chicks as well, so we all ordered together and the total somehow came out to the earlier mentioned 375. The deadline was eventually reached, and the chickies were shipped on Monday. I was extremely pleased with the whole batch of chicks; they were all perky looking, and were eager to explore the brooder from the start.

However, I learned that you CANNOT fit 375 chicks into a 4'x4' brooder box!! I think I was able to comfortably put 150 in there? Thankfully, everyone who ordered with us came early to pick up their chicks, so it wasn't too bad.

I got so discombobulated this morning between the chicks arriving, trying to count them all, and people coming to pick them up, that my regular chores took twice as long as usual, and I actually left the milk pail (full of milk!) in the barn! Sheesh.

My ears are ringing now...