And so it begins...

Today is the day I would say the Fox & Bear Homestead is born. This afternoon we picked up our first chicks from our local Agway. It was pretty exciting to know that this is the first step to really establishing our homestead.

We were greeted (or more so, Arlette was greeted) by the staff as soon as we walked into the store. We had spent about an hour in there earlier in the week getting supplies for our garden and to get supplies for the chicks. Everyone wished Arlette a Happy Birthday (which was yesterday) and one of the employees took some photos of her with her "birthday chicks".

We picked up 5 Buff Orpingtons and 5 Speckled Sussex. Both provide a steady egg supply (about 4-5 eggs/week) and are friendly and social birds. Baby Girl squealed when I opened the box for her to peek inside at them.

When we got everybody home we introduced the dogs and cat to the new members of the herd. The cat of course perked right up and while she didn't do anything that would suggest she would turn our chicks into nuggets, the wheels were definitely turning. Demolition was very interested and excited about them, but was cautious knowing that he would be in trouble should he bring harm to them. Katana wanted to play, roughly, with her new friends. Overall though, everyone was on their best behavior (phew).

When the chicks have grown a little more and have markings that allow us to more easily differentiate them, we'll dish out names. We've decided to name each chicken a chicken food related name. Things like Gumbo, Marsala, Noodle, etc. Why? Because it's fun.

I am so excited to document and blog about or journey and I hope you all enjoy following us!