Hello and Buh-bye!

First the Hello!
I've had chicks hatching this week.  I wrote earlier about our first grandchick.  So far we have 1 rumpless Aracauna, 4 Easter Eggers (from our own Leroy and assorted hens), and now 5 Exchequer Leghorns.  I ordered the leghorn eggs from a seller on eBay - and they did real well.  Out of nine eggs, 8 were growing when I last candled them.  I don't know why the other three didn't hatch.
 
Now the Buh-bye!
I sold my three black copper marans chicks today.  They were 8 weeks old and two of them were cockerels - which I definitely didn't want.  The woman who bought them (from Craigslist) wanted the pullet, too.  After I thought about it, I realized that the pullet by itself would have a hard time integrating into my layer flock.  So I decided to sell all three.  I still want a black copper marans pullet, but I will wait and get it when I get some other chicks so she'll have some buddies. I think a deep chocolate colored egg would look good with the other eggs I have.

I still want to get a gold laced wyandotte, a silver laced wyandotte, a speckled sussex and some other marans for the laying flock eventually. 

My original 7 chickens (Rosemary, Blackie, Oreo, Abby, Annabelle, Ariel, Willow) are a year old now.  By this time next year, they will be slowing down on laying, and I need to have others waiting to take over egg duty.  

Now the only chicks left in my grow-out pen are the 11 Swedish Flower Hens.  They are 7 weeks old now.  When they get about 12 weeks old, I'm going to move them into a coop by themselves.  They'll be my first breeder flock.  The Exchequer Leghorns that hatched this week will be my second breeder flock.  Then I have Blue Isbars, Cream Legbars and Rhodebars on their way soon from Greenfire Farms - and I also have some Isbars and Legbar eggs in the incubator.  So they will be my third, fourth and fifth breeder flocks.