The Chicks Have Arrived! by, Emily

Last Friday, Dad ordered 25 Gold star laying hens, and two roosters. Yesterday, (Thursday) we woke up to Dad saying, "Time to get up! The post office just called and said our chicks are in!" 'What a great way to start my day!' I thought as I made my bed. After chores, me, Dad, Ben, and Jonny all jumped into the truck, turned the heat on high, and zoomed off to the post office to pick up the day-old chicks.
Of course, the ride to the post office seemed to take much longer than usual! When we finally arrived, me and Jonny hopped out, and ran to the door, rang the bell, and waited. About 30 seconds later, the door opened, and the postman handed us a box with loud peeps coming from it! Our chicks! We got into the now-very-warm truck, and began the ride home.
Excitedly, we opened the box and petted and played with the chicks on the way home. It isn't often you get to play with baby chicks in the truck! :) They were all very healthy, and peeping so loud it hurt my ears! When we arrived home, Dad ran into the house, and filled up the chick's waterer with luke-warm water, then brought it back and drove out to the chicken coop in the truck. (It was too cold to carry the box out).

Upon arriving, we took the box of peeping fluff-balls into the coop, and put them one-by-one into the pen, dipping their beaks in the water, a process which we do every time, so they know where the water is. When they were all in the pen, they huddled together in a small bunch, directly under the heat lamp. Because they continued to do this, we hung up another heat lamp, and then, since they showed no progress of warming up, put a small heater in their pen. Not long after, they were running around, warm, happy and peeping. In a few hours, Dad went out to check on them, and gave them a small feeder filled with starter feed. Right before chicks hatch, they "eat" the yolk inside of the egg, enabling them to be without food for the next day or so, thus they can be shipped through the mail, and they don't have to be given food right away. The chicks are very happy in their new home, and as cute as could be! :)