Chicks!!!!
I'm so excited! Our chickens arrived today! I want to share our experience so that those of you who are new to purchasing chickens, online, will know what to expect. I ordered these chicks last year.
I expected to get some kind of communication as the date for delivery got closer. I heard NOTHING. I reread my receipt - I thought I would receive them on the first of March, but after carefully checking, it said they would SHIP on the 1st of March. Ok. The hatchery is in Idaho. I figured a day or two. Still no word from the hatchery. They never sent a message, called, NOTHING. I got a call from the post office this morning letting me know the chicks were there are needed picked up. What the heck?
Thankfully, we were expecting them, and had purchased everything we needed, but I'm still baffled by the total lack of communication from the hatchery. I'm not saying that all of them operate this way, but just wanted to warn everyone, you may NOT hear anything from the hatchery after the initial purchase. Still got the chicks though!
When I picked them up and put the box in the car, I couldn't resist a little peek! They are SO cute!
Here they are, in their initial box. This is a long, deep plastic tote, but after getting everyone inside, I determined that this is not a long term solution. I'll work on a different idea that I have, later today, after Jason gets home. I want his input and he'll want to play with them a bit as well!
We have added their chick starter feed, dipped their beaks in the water bowl (so they know where their water is), and added a bit of grit to the food and floor. That will serve them well for a few hours, until we can look at a different idea.
I have a playpen that I bought for our kitten, O'Malley, and I may move them into that. It has a cover and is a good size. We'll see how it goes.
As I picked them up and put them in the bin, they were so delicate and sweet and so very loud! I can't believe how much noise they make! Haha. I can see how people get overwhelmed with the noise! All in all, they are so sweet and cute and warm and they make you want to cuddle them! Ah the gift of baby animals. All that snuggly cuteness! If you want to experience it, but don't want to actually OWN any - go to your local farm store and check out the baby chicks! Ask someone if you can hold one, just to get your cuteness "fix", and they you can ride home in peace and quiet. You know, unless you fall in love and take a few home! Haha!
Now for the sad news. We ordered 25 chickens. Only 24 of them made it. We lost one of the American Bress chicks. A quick call to the hatchery and we were credited the cost of the bird, but it's still sad we lost one. It's not unusual to lose one or two during transportation.
Our original order was for 15 of the American White Bress chickens, which we will keep for eggs and breeding, and 10 of the Freedom Rangers, which will be our initial meat bird flock. We weren't able to select the sex for the American Bress, so we will have to see how many of each sex we get. We'll keep one rooster for every 6 girls, and any other boys will move into the meat chicken flock. I'll keep you updated. For now though, we get to enjoy the cuteness and embrace the first "livestock" on the farm!
Best Wishes!
