From farm to four star: Willard Hotel hosts baby chicks for White House Easter Egg Roll – WTOP News

WTOP/Jimmy Alexander

WTOP/Jimmy Alexander

WTOP/Jimmy Alexander

WTOP/Jimmy Alexander

Over the years, the Willard Hotel in D.C. has hosted notable figures from Abraham Lincoln and Charles Dickens to PT Barnum and Harry Houdini.

This weekend is a first for the iconic hotel that dates back to the 1850s because, for the first time, the George Washington Suite will be the home to more than 150 baby chicks.

Thanks to the American Egg Board, these chicks that were just hatched Friday will be part of the fun at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

“More than 40,000 people will be coming to the White House lawn on Monday,” said Emily Metz, president and CEO of American Egg Board. “They’re going to be meeting these happy little chicks as they learn about how an egg comes from farm to table.”

Thanks to the annual presidential turkey pardons, the Willard has experience in providing poultry a practically perfect stay.

Inside the George Washington suite is a beautiful portrait of the first president of the United States, along with a painting that depicts his exploits with a cherry tree and a large living room, dining room and a bedroom with a king-size bed.

While the suite also has a jacuzzi tub, Maria Bezdenezhnykh, senior marketing and communications manager for the Willard Hotel, joked that the chicks didn’t enjoy it “as much as we would have thought.”

“It’s more than a duckling preference, but they did love their afternoon tea experience they had in the suite,” Bezdenezhnykh said.

The chicks were brought to the nation’s capital by Johnny Tamplin of chick distributor Hy-Line North America.

“I knew chickens would take me somewhere, but I never imagined they’d take me to the White House,” Tamplin said.

The chicks are sticking around the area after the Easter Egg Roll because they’re headed to the National FFA Organization chapter in Maryland.

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