Chicks by Mail | Peggy's Little Corner

June 6, 2014

In January I begin my shopping for new chicks. I like to keep a constant influx of new chickens to my flock so when the older girls slack off I still have fresh eggs. Some people dispose of their chickens when they get older, but not me, I keep my girls until they die of natural causes, after all even old chickens still give an egg from time to time. The average age of my chickens is around 9 years, except for Gerty one of my Silver Spangeled Hambergs lived to 14 years. This is why I prefer to buy my chickens from a reputable hatchery instead of my local farm store, because I can purchase smaller groups at a time and I make sure I get only pullets, no roosters.

After making my choices and depending on how many chickens I order determines the size of cardboard box I use for the brooder . I prepare the brooder box with a plastic bag under it and clean hay on the inside. some people use wood chips, I use hay because I have a large supply thanks to the sheep. I’ve heard of complaints that hay has too many seeds and chicks will eat the seeds rather than the feed. I have only ever had this happen one time, Netty one of my Buckeyes ate too many seeds and constapaited herself, or it may of been from the brooder box being too warm, but with the help of a little clear Karo syrup and warm water from an eye dropper she was back to naormal. I always have a little fun with the decorating the outside of the box, it’s always a spring them usually tulips made from construction paper. Now after the box is filled and placed in a low draft area I place a therometer in the corner under the heat lamp. I do this so I can keep track of the temperture in the brooder, 95 degree the first week then decrease 5 degree each week until they begin to grow feathers. You may need to tweak this from time to time, remember a happy chicken will scratch around and peep softly, when something is wrong they will peep loudly. So as I wait for the post office to call I turn on the heat lamp, mix the vitamin water, fill the tray with feed, and wait with nervous anticipation of the arrival of my new baby chicks. For me this is one of life’s simple pleasures! I dare say I get as anxious waiting for that call from the post office as i did when having my own children. Each time I feel like an expectant mother all over again. I find myself pacing the floor wondering if they will arrive on time. wondering if they will all be alive or will I have the disappointment of opening the box only to find one dead. So far I have been lucky this has never happened to me. I did however receive a box of chicks one year that had been in shipping for almost 73 hours at which time the chicks began the process called starve out. This is a very difficult problem to bring them back from but with patience, and eye dropper, and diligence it is possible. However it is a wonderful feeling to open a box of lively, cheeping balls of fluff, gently dip the beaks in the vitamin water one by one and off they go to get the first nibble of feed and continue to drink unassisted. Then it’s the fun of sitting back and watching them develop their own individual personality and deciding what I will name them. All this I done with my faithful farm helper Dobby who feels it’s his job to protect them, and now with wee Harry in training.