Whatever you do, don't name them...

 Remember how I mentioned in the previous post that we wanted to get some Chickens that are not only egg layers but also meat hens that we could process? Let's just say that is no longer happening. We did get some Chickens that are what is called "multi-purpose" (both meat and egg chickens), however no one is going to become a chicken nugget if you catch my drift.
    What happened you ask? Well, we named all eight of them which led me to become super attached and now we are buddies! The positive side of things is they still will all produce eggs and "earn their keep". Chickens are known to lay eggs for about 6-7 years which is a great length of time, and if you think about it a TON of eggs. Chickens can only lay one egg a day, there will be some days where the chicken will not lay at all. However, if you think of the potential here of one egg a day times eight chickens...that's almost three thousand eggs a year... THREE THOUSAND!! Holy Moly! Now, as much as Cory and I love eggs, we certainly cannot consume that many without getting sick of them so we will be sharing the wealth with our fellow egg lovers!
    Now, back to falling in love with these little ladies. Even though I was advised to not name them because that would lead to becoming attached, I could not help myself and did it anyways. The names of our hens are: Luna, Belle (aka Betty White), Dumpling (funny story about her for a later day), Charlotte, Olive, Colt, Reese, and Peanut. Not your typical names but they fit our girls perfectly.
  Even though we have a large amount of eggs coming our way, chickens do not actually start laying until they are around six months old. In the meantime, you get to see how they actually all have their own personalities and quirks that you will learn to laugh at.
   Since they are all named and I have obtained the title of Chicken Mama. I wanted to come up with a way where I could keep an eye on them without having to stay downstairs peering over the ammo crate watching their every move like a crazy women. Naturally, I bought a camera that would link to our phones. Now, before you laugh it was actually a great investment. We now had the ability to see what they did when we weren't around and we were able to show our friends and family the streaming so they could watch them grow up with us.

  I purchased the camera from Walmart for about a hundred dollars (again- worth it), the brand is called D-Link. Many people use these cameras for home security or maybe to monitor their baby while they sleep... we used it to monitor our chickens!! It is a wireless camera that produces a live feed using a WiFi connection to an application on your phone or computer. This thing even had the capability of moving 360 degrees from your phone so you can change the view of the brooder.

This image is a snap shot from the wireless camera.

 I highly recommend anyone who is new to raising chickens to do this. It was a great experience and having a break in your day from work and see them hopping around, chirping and falling asleep like drunk college kids is awesome!
When I say falling asleep like drunk college kids im being serious. They just fell over they were so tired, it was adorable and hilarious at the same time.

Here is a short clip of them catching some Z's! Enjoy!