Cackle Hatchery Delivery Friday July 13th!! Anyone else expecting?

[belwelch]

no packing peanuts. that is best for me. My chicken math is a little off. We got our first chicks Nov 2011. We were going to start with 15 hens and one roo. We now have 40 plus. I just keep finding new breeds that sound like something I would like to have. I will try to figure out how to post pics. Not so good with that stuff.

 

[belwelch]

 

[belwelch]

Well here they are. Also in the brooder are two blue laced wyandottes and 2 columbian wyandottes that I hatched one week ago.

 

[MonsterClucker]

Haha lol They are some cute little things! I like that starter roost you have therDo they use it? A couple of my chicks are using the doorway as a roost. Check this guy out

 

[Ben Rogers]

I use pine shavings from Wal-Mart. I'll start using straw now that I've moved them to a bigger enclosure. I've never used paper towels.

 

[MonsterClucker]

I use pine shavings from Wal-Mart.  I'll start using straw now that I've moved them to a bigger enclosure. I've never used paper towels.

Hey Ben. I wanted to use the paper towels to view what their poop looks like AMD hopefully be a easier cleanup but I'm really over them now. They don't eat the shavings so I guess its not gonna hurt em

 

[belwelch]

The week old chicks have just started using it. I will move them out of the brooder at three weeks and by then most of them will be using it, from past experience. It is really cute to see them all lined up across it when they are so small.
Mine are all still doing great... how about yours

 

[FuzzyMugz]

Hi All, and congratulations to all with new arrivals. I've been hanging back (keeping fingers crossed for everybody, but not jumping in just yet) mostly because I didn't want to jinx anything. My first order was a disaster. This was (is) my first experience with chickens ever, and nothing has gone as planned. I had ordered 7 hens and 1 rooster by mail, (not Cackle btw) and they were supposed to be delivered the same week or so as 6 EE hens from a local breeder. The EE girls are great. HUGE but great and healthy as far as I can tell -- getting all feathered up at various stages -- some of them look a little like an unmade bed right now. The mail order birds arrived mostly dead or dying; it was absolutely horrible. We struggled with the 2 that were still alive, and lost the last a few days later. While down to one bird, friends decided that my survivor needed a friend, a lovely little Austrolorp, who then needed a friend when his little struggling Faverolle buddy died. Then of course, nobody has just 2 Austrolorps when there's a really cute buff Orpington and a little Polish at the feed store looking lonely, right?
The re-order process has been a nightmare. The soonest that my breeds could ship was 3 weeks away, or so I was told. I could understand that 1 of those was over the 4th of July, but I'm worried about integrating everyone with the different ages and all. Over the last couple of weeks they've repeatedly called to tell me that one of my breeds is sold out, only to forget to turn my order "into the system" and then loose other other breeds as well. My re-ship looks quite un-like my original order. I would be infuriated if I had any energy left. At this point, I just want to open a box with healthy birds in it -- and then somehow successfully navigate my way through raising three age groups of chicks into happy chickenhood.
I wish that there was a timeline somewhere that could tell me when they feed should switch from starter feed to the next feed -- (grower? wanna-be layer feed?) And when they can go outside for the first time. And when they should be moved to a different sort of pen. And with all this I'm still working on their coop. Yes still building their coop, only now it's got to be considerably larger since we got some surprise birds in the middle and I still have a few breeds that I really want and hope to find someday. AAARRRGGG! Anyway. If my original 8 get here okay I'll probably be able to relax and focus a bit more. I just noticed that one of you plans to move their babies out at 2 weeks? Jeez! I think my EE girls are like 5 weeks already! I take them out every day for fresh air and playing in the dust. Am I hopelessly behind, and will they need therapy as a result?
Best wishes again to all of you -- any tips you might share would possibly calm me down just a bit.
Yours in featherhood, Ellen

 

[MonsterClucker]

The week old chicks have just started using it. I will move them out of the brooder at three weeks and by then most of them will be using it, from past experience. It is really cute to see them all lined up across it when they are so small.
Mine are all still doing great... how about yours

Surprisingly, everyone is doing great! I had 1 casualty. One had stopped eating, was pooping little specks, barley anything. And couldn't get over the little doorway pieces I have to keep shavings in from one box to the next. I knew he was gonna pass. But other than that a few pasty butts I got cleared up. But yea everything is on the move. The CX chicks grow Soo fast! It's unbelievable!

I have been thinking of separating the CX from the rest of the group. At least during feeding because they squish the other chicks trying to eat. It's kind of obnoxious!

 

[MonsterClucker]

Hi All, and congratulations to all with new arrivals.  I've been hanging back (keeping fingers crossed for everybody, but not jumping in just yet) mostly because I didn't want to jinx anything.  My first order was a disaster.  This was (is) my first experience with chickens ever, and nothing has gone as planned.  I had ordered 7 hens and 1 rooster by mail, (not Cackle btw)  and they were supposed to be delivered the same week or so as 6 EE hens from a local breeder.  The EE girls are great.  HUGE but great and healthy as far as I can tell -- getting all feathered up at various stages -- some of them look a little like an unmade bed right now.  The mail order birds arrived mostly dead or dying; it was absolutely horrible.  We struggled with the 2 that were still alive, and lost the last a few days later. While down to one bird, friends decided that my survivor needed a friend,  a lovely little Austrolorp, who then needed a friend when his little struggling Faverolle buddy died. Then of course, nobody has just 2 Austrolorps when there's a really cute buff Orpington and a little Polish at the feed store looking lonely, right?
The re-order process has been a nightmare.  The soonest that my breeds could ship was 3 weeks away, or so I was told.  I could understand that 1 of those was over the 4th of July, but I'm worried about integrating everyone with the different ages and all.  Over the last couple of weeks  they've repeatedly called to tell me that one of my breeds is sold out, only to forget to turn my order "into the system"  and then loose other other breeds as well.  My re-ship looks quite un-like my original order.   I would be infuriated if I had any energy left.  At this point, I just want to open a box with healthy birds in it -- and then somehow successfully navigate my way through raising three age groups of chicks into happy chickenhood.  
I wish that there was a timeline somewhere that could tell me when they feed should switch from starter feed to the next feed -- (grower? wanna-be layer feed?)   And when they can go outside for the first time.  And when they should be moved to a different sort of pen.  And with all this I'm still working on their coop.  Yes still building their coop, only now it's got to be considerably larger since we got some surprise birds in the middle and I still have a few breeds that I really want and hope to find someday.  AAARRRGGG!  Anyway.  If my original 8 get here okay I'll probably be able to relax and focus a bit more.  I just noticed that one of you plans to move their babies out at 2 weeks?  Jeez! I think my EE girls are like 5 weeks already!  I take them out every day for fresh air and  playing in the dust.  Am I hopelessly behind, and will they need therapy as a result?
Best wishes again to all of you -- any tips you might share would possibly calm me down just a bit.
Yours in featherhood, Ellen

Hey welcome and thanks for chiming I'm and sharing you experiences.
I am Soo sorry about your bad luck with the mail order birds. That's one thing I was paranoid about was getting a box full of dead chicks. My birds were delivered during THE hottest week in the country. I think it was 106F the 13th. Luckily, the birds are shipping in AC and you can pick them up in the morning when its pretty cool. And the weather is cooling everywhere finally. So at least that's some better luck for you.

Im gonna try to hatch my own birds I'm the near future to be more self sustainable and not rely on the hatcheries anymore. That should eliminate the possibilities of anything happening to my birds I'm not responsible/aware of. On top of that I know from breeding fruit, vegetable and flower seeds, when you conceive and sprout embryos, seeds of any kind in that particular environment/climate, their programmed to grow better and healthier consistently in that same climate rather than it being taken from where it was programmed to thrive.