Hello everyone, My name is Chelsea. I'm 21 years old, living in Southeastern Ohio. I am very new to the chicken world, but so far so good!
I think it is pretty interesting how I ended up with 29 baby chicks from Tractor Supply living in my bedroom. One day in Walmart I was walking with my boyfriend. I seen a digital scale I had been wanting to make bread out of my old unused culinary books (I took one quarter, had an accident with a knife, and decided culinary wasn't for me.) I told him if he bought the scale, I would pay him back the money from it. So a few days after I was thinking about what to get him in return and it clicked, he has chickens already, and he was planning on buying himself more. So I told him that I was thinking about buying him some baby chicks that I discovered were already at TS. He gave me the 'go ahead'. I planned out everything I could think of. Read forums (which lead me to Backyard Chickens!), articles, watched videos, etc. Wrote down notes. Getting prepared to bring John's chickens home. I told my best friend about it, and told her that I brought it up to my mom about buying my own chickens to keep. At first mom said no, but after a little persuasion, she gave in. She even built my brooding box for me.
Down to buying the babies.
At first Mom, Kristen and I took a trip to TS to pick out our own chicks. They had red sex links, Bantams, and some type of meat chickens. We brought home everything we needed during that trip. Chick starter kit, brooding lamp and bulb, chicken feed, pine shavings, 6 red sex links, and 2 bantams. (bought March 30th.)
2 days later, another trip to TS. Bringing home 9 barred rocks, and 6 more Red sex links. (6 reds & 6 rocks for John)
I fell in love with the rocks. During all my research, I wanted them in the first place, but the chances of TS getting them in was in was crazy! The next day, I tried giving my mom the money to pick up 6 more rocks, so I could have my original 6 reds, and I could keep 6 rocks instead of 3 (now giving John 9 instead of 6). To my surprise, Mom paid for them herself! (I think she fell in love with the chicks too!)
As of today, I hate the idea of having to give John 15 of my babies, but I know I wont have a big enough pen to keep 29! I absolutely love them, I love watching them grow, but its sad to watch them get bigger. 5 days ago my original reds fit into one hand. Now they have long feathered wings, and are very hard to hold in one hand. They are very lively, and they took to the younger babies very well. Even the bantams which are half the size of the younger chicks!
2 weeks ago I would have never imagined id have all these chicks, but I'm so happy I do! I do not have children, but I certainly have a mothers touch when it comes to the chicks. I wake up without any alarms to check on the chicks, make sure they are all breathing, count them to make sure none have disappeared. If I hear anything unusual (like a cat trying to sneak a peek or jump on top of the box) I wake up with a squirt bottle ready. At around 8 in the morning they chirp to tell me they are thirsty because they have kicked too many pine shavings in the water, and i'll get up to change it. If I have to leave, I even make sure I have a chick-sitter!! Like I said, they're my babies!
I still have plenty of questions, and I look forward to being on Backyard Chickens for future help and discussions! Just wanted to share my story for now
I think it is pretty interesting how I ended up with 29 baby chicks from Tractor Supply living in my bedroom. One day in Walmart I was walking with my boyfriend. I seen a digital scale I had been wanting to make bread out of my old unused culinary books (I took one quarter, had an accident with a knife, and decided culinary wasn't for me.) I told him if he bought the scale, I would pay him back the money from it. So a few days after I was thinking about what to get him in return and it clicked, he has chickens already, and he was planning on buying himself more. So I told him that I was thinking about buying him some baby chicks that I discovered were already at TS. He gave me the 'go ahead'. I planned out everything I could think of. Read forums (which lead me to Backyard Chickens!), articles, watched videos, etc. Wrote down notes. Getting prepared to bring John's chickens home. I told my best friend about it, and told her that I brought it up to my mom about buying my own chickens to keep. At first mom said no, but after a little persuasion, she gave in. She even built my brooding box for me.
Down to buying the babies.
At first Mom, Kristen and I took a trip to TS to pick out our own chicks. They had red sex links, Bantams, and some type of meat chickens. We brought home everything we needed during that trip. Chick starter kit, brooding lamp and bulb, chicken feed, pine shavings, 6 red sex links, and 2 bantams. (bought March 30th.)
2 days later, another trip to TS. Bringing home 9 barred rocks, and 6 more Red sex links. (6 reds & 6 rocks for John)
I fell in love with the rocks. During all my research, I wanted them in the first place, but the chances of TS getting them in was in was crazy! The next day, I tried giving my mom the money to pick up 6 more rocks, so I could have my original 6 reds, and I could keep 6 rocks instead of 3 (now giving John 9 instead of 6). To my surprise, Mom paid for them herself! (I think she fell in love with the chicks too!)
As of today, I hate the idea of having to give John 15 of my babies, but I know I wont have a big enough pen to keep 29! I absolutely love them, I love watching them grow, but its sad to watch them get bigger. 5 days ago my original reds fit into one hand. Now they have long feathered wings, and are very hard to hold in one hand. They are very lively, and they took to the younger babies very well. Even the bantams which are half the size of the younger chicks!
2 weeks ago I would have never imagined id have all these chicks, but I'm so happy I do! I do not have children, but I certainly have a mothers touch when it comes to the chicks. I wake up without any alarms to check on the chicks, make sure they are all breathing, count them to make sure none have disappeared. If I hear anything unusual (like a cat trying to sneak a peek or jump on top of the box) I wake up with a squirt bottle ready. At around 8 in the morning they chirp to tell me they are thirsty because they have kicked too many pine shavings in the water, and i'll get up to change it. If I have to leave, I even make sure I have a chick-sitter!! Like I said, they're my babies!
I still have plenty of questions, and I look forward to being on Backyard Chickens for future help and discussions! Just wanted to share my story for now
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from a fellow Buckeye. So glad you joined. Congrats on your chicks. 
You should also check out the other Ohio members at the link below. 
