Chicks or Pullets?

[Knittycat]

I read that thread ChickensAreSweet. That was such a bummer, and that breeder should be fed to his chickens.

<threadjack> So have you decided what you are going to do with those chickens? </threadjack>

 

[Livinwright Farm]

Quote:
Goodness knows I want to! I'm looking at the brinsea mini advance for hatching, but I don't think I could get away with it. My Mr. doesn't have his store open yet (army navy surplus), our rent house is empty, and I still haven't found a job. No $$ for the incubator! That's why the coop is being made from scrap lumber left over from our remodel. We aren't destitute! I get an anuity, but it's not enough to go spending 150 bucks on an incubator.

EDIT: Wahoo! I'm just hatched!!

What a perfect post to 'hatch' on

If you have little money, and the time to do it:
Go with the LG 9200(TSC incubator of choice)

I know they get a bad rap on here, but that is only because most people do not have the time to turn by hand, and they don't know that the fan kit messes with the temp & humidity something awful. They run around $45 (QUITE cheap compared to the brinsea), and make a GREAT first hatcher's incubator!
My most recent hatching had a hatch rate over 85%(would have been higher if 12 of the 36 eggs hadn't have been 3 weeks old).
If you decide this is the way you want to go, I can give you instructions on how to get the LG to run on exceptional.

If you just want to get little 3-5 day old newbies from the store:
They get RAVENOUS at about 1.5 weeks old and 20 chicks will go through a 50lb bag of feed in roughly 2 weeks. Their waterer base needs to be cleaned out at least once per day once they reach 1 week old. You will want them in a room far away from where you eat... their dust gets everywhere!

If you decide to go with pullets(meaning 2+ months old):
They tend to be more skiddish, so you will need to train them to like you with little treats... litte bits of red raspberry, cherry tomato, or strawberry usually do just fine. The red catches their eye, the taste makes them go "OOooOO!!".

Just make sure when getting them, that the person KNOWS how old they are, so you don't start them on layer feed too early(it can give the young ones kidney stones).

 

[caitlinwalters126]

thank you all. this is a great help for me.

 

[dsqard]

Definitely agree with ChickensAreSweet. Get day old chicks, not started pullets that way you know you are not getting sick birds. The pullets may look fine at the place you get them from but the stress of moving them to a new home could bring out any diseases that they are carrying. Caring for day old chicks is not all that hard and having to have to wait another one or two months for eggs is worth peace of mind IMO.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
For the record, I don't know which thread you are talking about.

(But don't bother going into it...I think maybe it is a sad thing you are referring to!)

 

[Knittycat]

Huh, I coulda sworn it was you. Someone posted about buying a couple of hens and a roo from a seller, and when they got sick, he told her they had 'colds'. Turns out it it was something nasty and it was the sellers fault.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
There are soooooo many "my chicken has a cold" threads that I have a hard time keeping up anymore. A lot of times I give advice or a comment and then really just forget about the thread. My apologies if I should have remembered something!!!