Chicken Math Got Me Bad....

[Appalachickens]

The peeps have landed!! All 12 alive and seem healthy.

They’ve pecked at their grow-gel, warmed up under the brooder plate and I even saw one or two drinking.

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I should have read ahead - so glad they arrived alive and well!

 

[CalicoCarla]

I started 2025 with 9 hens, close to the max my run will support as I'm limited on flat usable land and cant free range. I swore to myself no more chickens in 2025. I'm currently down to 3 of my OG hens due to rehoming chickens I didnt like/didnt fit with the flock.

I made the bad choice to window shop breeds at the hatchery's website that I've ordered my past chicks from.
Eleven........ELEVEN chicks hatching Oct 14th fell into my cart and I somehow in a daze input my CC details and checked out.

I managed to snag one each of these breeds:

Green Queen
Welsummer
Black Ameraucana
White Crested Splash Polish
Splash Ameraucana
Olive Egger
Lisa Steele's Cookies and Cream
Chocolate Orpington
Cream Legbar
Blue Birchen Marans
Plus one freebie random breed layer.

I've also been obsessively refreshing the listing for their Blue (BBS) Laced Red Wyandotte and should one show available before the 14th I'll ask if I can get it added to my order.

I figure I'm hedging my bets if some dont make the trip ok, most previous orders were no issue, but one...was not good on arrival. If all arrive and thrive, after a few months I can easily rehome a couple that that maybe I dont like or wont fit in with the flock.

I brood on the floor of my coop and spent the afternoon getting the crate set up and food containers/waterers cleaned. I figure my big girls can take their time getting used to it being in their space before filling it with cheeping fluff balls.

Excuse the feathers. The two that are black and black/white are molting hard. The coop and pen look like a dozen black chickens exploded in there.

Did I mention its also October and I've never gotten chicks in the fall before, always late spring.

Who's coming with me on this rollercoaster?

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It all seems so harmless in the beginning…I decided to take the plunge last Spring and order 8 chicks to supplement my aging flock of 3 who were pretty much done laying. Somehow 8 turned into 15! Did I mention we were remodeling our kitchen? And preparing for our daughter’s wedding?!? I had to get a much larger brooder, which they quickly outgrew. My “big” coop was empty, but the weather stayed really cold, so it was a long time before we could move them. The coop and run were much too small for all those chickens. We ended up adding a second small coop and medium sized run just to accommodate them. Even so, they have been brutal-barely any of my *gorgeous* hens have any tail feathers, and they have bare spots at the base of their tails. We supplement with a flock block from Kalmbach, that helps with the boredom. Free range isn’t possible for us either.

Hopefully you have plenty of room to accommodate your new flock! I learned my lesson-numbers matter!

 

[Sefirothe]

It all seems so harmless in the beginning…I decided to take the plunge last Spring and order 8 chicks to supplement my aging flock of 3 who were pretty much done laying. Somehow 8 turned into 15! Did I mention we were remodeling our kitchen? And preparing for our daughter’s wedding?!? I had to get a much larger brooder, which they quickly outgrew. My “big” coop was empty, but the weather stayed really cold, so it was a long time before we could move them. The coop and run were much too small for all those chickens. We ended up adding a second small coop and medium sized run just to accommodate them. Even so, they have been brutal-barely any of my *gorgeous* hens have any tail feathers, and they have bare spots at the base of their tails. We supplement with a flock block from Kalmbach, that helps with the boredom. Free range isn’t possible for us either.

Hopefully you have plenty of room to accommodate your new flock! I learned my lesson-numbers matter!

I went from 9 to 3 to solve for peace in the flock!

I have every intention of whittling the number back down to 8 or 9 next spring/summer once I see how personalities develop.

Or so I say now…..

I really don’t have room to expand the run or build another coop. Flat land here is at a premium.

Eh, I got till spring to figure it out!

More gratuitous chick pics incoming also!

This one’s two tone undercarriage kills me.

This one is chonky, biggest chick out of the order I think.

This one came with suspenders!

 

[AnneGirlGG]

Oh no! The ones I ordered got here the day after they hatched, and I live in the middle of nowhere. The post office guy sounded excited when he called to say they were in.

Mine were the next day too.and the lady at our post office also seemed excited, lol.

I ordered more today that hatch on the 22nd. They're from another hatchery though, so I'm hoping for just as fast shipping.

 

[Hartwood Hollow Farm]

E M B R A C E THE M A T H. There is no escape.

 

[2ndTink]

I went from 9 to 3 to solve for peace in the flock!

I have every intention of whittling the number back down to 8 or 9 next spring/summer once I see how personalities develop.

Or so I say now…..

I really don’t have room to expand the run or build another coop. Flat land here is at a premium.

Eh, I got till spring to figure it out!

More gratuitous chick pics incoming also!

This one’s two tone undercarriage kills me.
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This one is chonky, biggest chick out of the order I think.
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This one came with suspenders!
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What breed is Chonky? It definitely has all the floof!

Little suspenders is adorable too, is that the Cookies and Cream?

 

[Sefirothe]

What breed is Chonky? It definitely has all the floof!

Little suspenders is adorable too, is that the Cookies and Cream?

I’m not entirely certain on either of them. I was thinking Chonky was the chocolate orp, but she has feathered legs.

Suspenders…I have no clue. She also has feathered legs but only 4 toes. I seemed to think Cookies and Cream were 5 toed.

 

[2ndTink]

I’m not entirely certain on either of them. I was thinking Chonky was the chocolate orp, but she has feathered legs.

Suspenders…I have no clue. She also has feathered legs but only 4 toes. I seemed to think Cookies and Cream were 5 toed.

Could Chonky be the Blue Birchen Marans? Do they specify that they will for sure be blue, or are the BBS? If they are BBS, it might be a Black Birchen Marans, or Black Silver?

 

[Sefirothe]

Could Chonky be the Blue Birchen Marans? Do they specify that they will for sure be blue, or are the BBS? If they are BBS, it might be a Black Birchen Marans, or Black Silver?

The Marans is Blue (BBS) Birchen. I know which one that is tho because she came with a green band. I dont have and individual pic of her yet.

Oh wait......yes I do!

 

[2ndTink]

The Marans is Blue (BBS) Birchen. I know which one that is tho because she came with a green band. I dont have and individual pic of her yet.

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Oh wait......yes I do!

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Oooh, shes adorable! @wrathsfarm come look at this cutie!

Hmm, maybe Chonky is an Olive Egger?