My wife, out of nowhere, hit me with the idea of having some chickens in our backyard for eggs and fun. I was a little shocked because it didn't sound like her but I told her I thought it was a great idea. So she said that's what she wanted for her mother's day present; a coup and some chickens. It's been an ongoing project. I started the coup in early May, but it was put on hold for our vacation to Roatan. I also scheduled the chicks for delivery the week after we got back from the vacation.
Good time!
I did some research, looking for the friendliest, quietest, "layingest" chickens varieties out there and decided to go with a mixed flock of 5 or 6 hens. I quickly found out most places don't ship under 10 birds. I don't need that many and I don't feel like culling the "extra-cockerels-for-warmth", but I have a solution. My dad lives on a couple hundred acres outside of town and he already has a handful of Production Reds he inherited from a friend and I can give him whatever we don't keep...whether he wants them or not.
I ordered 2 Rhode Island Reds, 3 Barred Plymouth Rock, 3 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Speckled Sussex, and 1 Easter Egger. At the last minute I tried to subout a Barred Rock for a GL Wyandotte but there was never any confirmation, and I ended up with 3 BR's in the box. However, I did end up with an extra chick, which I knew they'd send. It ended up being a Light Brahma. I also ended up with and extra, extra chick that I didn't know they'd send. It's been the subject of an "identify this" thread in the forum. Concensus? Not quite, but the majority seem to think it's an EE. Which it likely is. They must have loaded me with an extra EE. I kept trying to make it look like the pictures on the internet of GL Wyandotte chicks but...not so much.
Here's the photo
I did lose a couple of the chicks (Brahma and EE?) after my thermometer broke and the brooder lamp was getting the brooder too warm. It felt the same to me, but when I broke out my remote meat probe thermometer it showed the temps in the high 90's. Oops! I felt pretty lousy about that for a while, but the rest are backto getting big and staying messy.
A few of the chicks are starting to set themselves apart from the rest. I think our mixed flock will double down on the Orpingtons.
The rest of the animals are having to come to grips with the invasion of all the little chirpy things.
Good time!
I did some research, looking for the friendliest, quietest, "layingest" chickens varieties out there and decided to go with a mixed flock of 5 or 6 hens. I quickly found out most places don't ship under 10 birds. I don't need that many and I don't feel like culling the "extra-cockerels-for-warmth", but I have a solution. My dad lives on a couple hundred acres outside of town and he already has a handful of Production Reds he inherited from a friend and I can give him whatever we don't keep...whether he wants them or not.
I ordered 2 Rhode Island Reds, 3 Barred Plymouth Rock, 3 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Speckled Sussex, and 1 Easter Egger. At the last minute I tried to subout a Barred Rock for a GL Wyandotte but there was never any confirmation, and I ended up with 3 BR's in the box. However, I did end up with an extra chick, which I knew they'd send. It ended up being a Light Brahma. I also ended up with and extra, extra chick that I didn't know they'd send. It's been the subject of an "identify this" thread in the forum. Concensus? Not quite, but the majority seem to think it's an EE. Which it likely is. They must have loaded me with an extra EE. I kept trying to make it look like the pictures on the internet of GL Wyandotte chicks but...not so much.
Here's the photo
I did lose a couple of the chicks (Brahma and EE?) after my thermometer broke and the brooder lamp was getting the brooder too warm. It felt the same to me, but when I broke out my remote meat probe thermometer it showed the temps in the high 90's. Oops! I felt pretty lousy about that for a while, but the rest are backto getting big and staying messy.
A few of the chicks are starting to set themselves apart from the rest. I think our mixed flock will double down on the Orpingtons.
The rest of the animals are having to come to grips with the invasion of all the little chirpy things.
