Raising chicks is a very fun and somewhat simple activity. I usually raise a big bundle of chicks a year. My first year I went to tractor supply and bought five chicks, two Buff Orpingtons pullets, two Easter egger pullets, and an ISA pullet. In about three weeks we went back to get four bantam hens. Right when we got back home I noticed one of my bantams (Honey pie) had a patch of poop stuck to her butt (sorry i'm talking about butts and poop but that is life with chickens). We got a wet rag and slowly got it off so we didn't hurt her. One of my other bantams (Madonna) seem very lethargic. She hadn't eaten or drank the whole time i had her (about 2 hours) . We took her back to tractor supply and all they told us to was give her some electrolytes. She passed away the next morning. If you buy chicks from tractor supply you need to check them for any sickness or if they are acting strange before you purchase them.
This is honey pie!! Look how small!
We bought two little chicken coops from amazon for about 200 dollars to hold our bantams and our other hens. Then one morning I woke up to a chicken massacre. All of my bantams and one of my Buff Orpingtons had gotten eaten by raccoons. So before you buy a chicken coop MAKE SURE it is predator proof against any chicken eating critters in your neighborhood and also make sure it is big enough to hold all your chickens comfortably.
One year i got 14 chicks from an elementary school that hatched them for a science class. I already had one chick (meatball) that was given to me from a high school after her mother passed away and they did not want to take care of it. So getting these 14 chicks would give Meatball many companions. You should never keep one chick by itself because it will die. I kept meatball with me at all times! Now that she is older she will fly up onto my arm when i hold it out. Back to the 14 chicks, you have to remember that if you buy straight run chicks, hatch chicks, or do as i did and take chicks off peoples hands, that you can possibly get one or many roosters. If you are not into killing your chickens, like me, you must have plan for these roosters because you can only have one or else they will kill each other. Out of my 14, I had 9 rooster. I know a fellow crazy chicken lady that happily took all but one rooster. I had to keep one of course.
This is the rooster I kept! His name is Hoot.
I have only hatched two chicks. I hatched one about a year ago and another about a month ago. My first chick didn't come out until day 24, for all the people who have never hatched chicks, this is unusual because it is typical for them to hatch on day 21. Her body is the size of a normal chicken but her legs are very short. My other chick, pickle, didn't come out the egg, I got her out. I know, I know your not supposed to that but I already named it. If a chicken doesn't come out of the egg there is a reason! Pickle had wryneck, if you don’t know what that is it is a disease where the chickens neck is completely turned around and enables it from walking normally. It is caused from a vitamin E deficiency in the parents, so all you have to do to cure it is give it some vitamin E through a dropper and it will normally start walking again. It’s almost like magic! Here is a picture of pickle when she couldn’t stand normal and a picture of her neck.
We named her pickle because she came out of a green egg! Hoot is her dad.
A month ago I bout 8 little chicks to give pickle some company and we actually have had no problems!! I got a very big variety! I got a golden laced Wyandotte, a lavender Orpington, my personal favorite a Polish bantam, and a few other breeds. To get started with chicks you need the essentials: a water and food container, chick food, bedding, and somewhere to keep them. Mine are currently outside in a small "starter coop" until they get bigger. I put my chicks outside at about 1 month old. I will probably mix them with the flock at 6 months old.
This is my polish chick named Peaches!
This is honey pie!! Look how small!
We bought two little chicken coops from amazon for about 200 dollars to hold our bantams and our other hens. Then one morning I woke up to a chicken massacre. All of my bantams and one of my Buff Orpingtons had gotten eaten by raccoons. So before you buy a chicken coop MAKE SURE it is predator proof against any chicken eating critters in your neighborhood and also make sure it is big enough to hold all your chickens comfortably.
One year i got 14 chicks from an elementary school that hatched them for a science class. I already had one chick (meatball) that was given to me from a high school after her mother passed away and they did not want to take care of it. So getting these 14 chicks would give Meatball many companions. You should never keep one chick by itself because it will die. I kept meatball with me at all times! Now that she is older she will fly up onto my arm when i hold it out. Back to the 14 chicks, you have to remember that if you buy straight run chicks, hatch chicks, or do as i did and take chicks off peoples hands, that you can possibly get one or many roosters. If you are not into killing your chickens, like me, you must have plan for these roosters because you can only have one or else they will kill each other. Out of my 14, I had 9 rooster. I know a fellow crazy chicken lady that happily took all but one rooster. I had to keep one of course.
This is the rooster I kept! His name is Hoot.
I have only hatched two chicks. I hatched one about a year ago and another about a month ago. My first chick didn't come out until day 24, for all the people who have never hatched chicks, this is unusual because it is typical for them to hatch on day 21. Her body is the size of a normal chicken but her legs are very short. My other chick, pickle, didn't come out the egg, I got her out. I know, I know your not supposed to that but I already named it. If a chicken doesn't come out of the egg there is a reason! Pickle had wryneck, if you don’t know what that is it is a disease where the chickens neck is completely turned around and enables it from walking normally. It is caused from a vitamin E deficiency in the parents, so all you have to do to cure it is give it some vitamin E through a dropper and it will normally start walking again. It’s almost like magic! Here is a picture of pickle when she couldn’t stand normal and a picture of her neck.
We named her pickle because she came out of a green egg! Hoot is her dad.
A month ago I bout 8 little chicks to give pickle some company and we actually have had no problems!! I got a very big variety! I got a golden laced Wyandotte, a lavender Orpington, my personal favorite a Polish bantam, and a few other breeds. To get started with chicks you need the essentials: a water and food container, chick food, bedding, and somewhere to keep them. Mine are currently outside in a small "starter coop" until they get bigger. I put my chicks outside at about 1 month old. I will probably mix them with the flock at 6 months old.
This is my polish chick named Peaches!
