Today we added another six members to our family. That's right, we got chickens!
Last weekend was the start of Chick Days. For those who don't live in a rural area, Chick Days is precisely what it sounds like, days when chicks are available. Since we were out of town last weekend, today was our day to pick out chicks. We decided to go with one of each for a total of six: black sex link, red sex link, Rhode Island red, New Hampshire red, buff orpington, and a bard rock. The bard rock was a straight run, meaning that it wasn't sexed. The rest are pullets so we know they are all ladies. I actually hope the bard rock turns out to be a rooster. Roosters will guard the flock and make sure the girls are safe from predators. He also kind if looks like a Klingon so, if he is indeed a male, I might name him Worf.
Setting up for the chickens was quite simple.
1. Pick out your chicks.You need to decide what your goal is with your chickens. We are interested in eggs so we chose layers. Now chickens are social animals and need to develop a hierarchy. A minimum of three hens should be kept to start off with. Since we have the space and love eggs, we simply doubled that number.
2. Food, shelter, and warmth.Chicks can't simply be tossed into a chicken coop and survive. Young pullets are not capable of maintaining proper body temperature. I'm sure you've seen cartoons where chickens sit on their young. Now you know why! So as you can imagine, it's pretty important that you keep them warm a well as fed and watered.
Our solution was to take an old tub and turn it into a brooder. To do this, Shari lined the tub with newspaper, both flat and shredded.
Then she placed the feeder and waterer in the tub.
Toss in a handful of chicks, cover with an old window screen, and you are set!
The only thing left to do is provide them with a source of heat. Since our brooder is so small, we decided to go with a simple incandescent bulb. Now there is something you need to know about chickens that may shock you. If one of them gets injured and bleeds, the rest will peck at it until it dies. In other words, chickens will cannibalize each other. The best way to keep this from happening is to provide them with red light. Since we didn't have a red light, we placed a bit of red tissue paper over part of the screen covering the brooder. Simple solution!
3. Enjoy!Happy chickens make the sweetest sound! And don't forget to play with them! Being social animals, it's easy enough to become a member of the flock. Build up trust and you can pick up you chickens without having to chase them.
