Anyone impatiently waiting for your baby chicks to arrive?!?!

[tash]

1 Ameracauna

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/713475/diffences-between-ees-ameraucanas-and-araucanas
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/961775/easter-egger#post_14976445
https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/ameraucana
https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/araucana
https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/easter-eggers
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...for-posting-pictures-and-discussing-our-birds
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/361185/easter-egger-club
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/273489/the-ee-braggers-thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/631002/easter-eggers

1 Black Australorp

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/australorp
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/316084/australorps-breed-thread

1 Buff Orpington

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/orpington
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/963019/buff-orpington-vs-barred-rock
www.backyardchickens.com/t/495402/buff-orpington-thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/911101/orpingtons-all-colors
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/357588/orpington-thread

1 Gold Star

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/gold-star
https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/golden-sex-link

1 Barred Rock

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/barred-rock
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/486056/barred-rocks

...

I am 14 and this is my second batch of chickens, because I had eight when I was five. I don't know a lot about these breeds, so if you have had any of these birds, let me know your stories.

Your age doesn't matter. Just your experience and your willingness to learn.

 

[gabs1477]

All I know about are the Buff Orpingtons having a reputation for being very friendly birds. I've found McMurray's or is it Murray's to be a good site to give basic info about the breeds. If you google "chickens", I'm sure their site will come up. Big supplier. Good reputation. Unlike my memory. Have fun.

Thanks!

 

[RR1011]

Ah ok. Our cat and dog food comes in paper and that is all the feed we get right now. I do have one small bag of chick starter I bought last week that is in plastic but it's small.

So now I am officially waiting on my chicks. The obsessive refreshing of the available now page on Meyer paid off this morning and I ordered 1 BR, 1BO (told you I would probably get both if available), and 1 EE. We will go tomorrow first thing and pick them up.

Im picking mine up from there tomorrow too, weeeeee!

You could put the cardboard up along the sides of the crate to hold on the litter. I put mine up as a barrier against my cats & dogs and then have smaller boxes connected on the inside.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Wow! Lotsa people getting/waiting for lotsa baby chicks!! Not me: 3 Buff Orpingtons and 3 Speckled Sussex + one SS rooster. Already wondering: assuming I have them toasty warm in a brooding box (a stove from Sears was in this box), water, food, "toys", can I leave them to themselves for a working day's length of time? Looking forward to supplementing my knowledge base (not much), with BYC helpers and book: Storeys Guide to Raising Chickens. I hear it's " the bible" for chicken people but... Babysitting tips for Chickie's?

You can totally leave them to go to work. I leave mine every morning and when I come home they are just fine. I make sure they have full feeders and fresh water both when I leave and a refill when I come home.
Storeys Guide has a lot of great information in it but alas there is always something we are wondering and it is not there. SO glad for BYC.
Only thing I would worry about is making sure that the heat lamp is VERY secure so it cannot fall down or be knocked down.

 

[tash]

Im picking mine up from there tomorrow too, weeeeee!

You could put the cardboard up along the sides of the crate to hold on the litter. I put mine up as a barrier against my cats & dogs and then have smaller boxes connected on the inside.

Awesome!

I did put cardboard up the sides to keep chicks in and paws out, but it won't hold the litter in. My current solution is to put a piece of large paper (I think it was packing paper when I ordered cat food) on the bottom and then up the sides a bit. Then I got a rubbermaid bin lid (one we use for recycling so we don't need the lid) and put that down with litter in it. IDK how well this will work but we will find out.

Here it is from the inside:

 

[myhenSunrise]

This is my brooder, it won't be needed for two months but once it is time to I will be putting wood shavings and paper towels in it as bedding and I have a smaller box in it so that the chicks will be able to run in and out of it or snuggle up in it. I'm a new chick mama and my parents and I have decided we will likely use a red heat lamp and we will only have one feed dish and one water bowl given that there is only going to be ten chicks, but I'm curious as to know what everyone else's opinions may be?

 

[nj2wv]

The cardboard may not last long. Get more boxes so you can just put them in a new box when you change the bedding and throw out the old one. Or you can get something reusable like a rabbit cage or plastic storage tote. Chicks are sure messy ! They poop a lot !! Lol.

 

[myhenSunrise]

Ok! LOL

 

[cavemanrich]

This is my brooder, it won't be needed for two months but once it is time to I will be putting wood shavings and paper towels in it as bedding and I have a smaller box in it so that the chicks will be able to run in and out of it or snuggle up in it. I'm a new chick mama and my parents and I have decided we will likely use a red heat lamp and we will only have one feed dish and one water bowl given that there is only going to be ten chicks, but I'm curious as to know what everyone else's opinions may be?

You may want to modify your brooder to access your chicks from the side and have heat lamp on top. There are many peeps that posted pix of their home made brooders from cardboard boxes with side access. ADVANTAGE is your chicks don't get frightened of your hand coming at them from the side. From above, is a born instinct to be wary of overhead rapors attacking them. Read some brooder threads to pleasantly inform self further.
WISHING YOU BEST

 

[tash]

Picked them up before noon!. They seem like they are adjusting to their new home nicely.



If anyone else is going to pick them up this week or next be warned that there is some construction. The one in Polk is a one lane road with a light directing traffic. The other one is easily avoided by taking 42.