Countdown to Baby Chicks 2023 edition

[yakitori]

Ahhh, mine should be coming tomorrow… all 24 of them. Ofcourse I’m not keeping them all I’m wondering whether I should sell the extra chicks now or wait a little for them to grow…

Got mine from Townline hatchery
> Midnight Marans, Easter Egger, Oliver Eggers and leghorns as well as two amberlinks. I lost a beloved easter egger last year as well as both my welsummer bantams I need some color back in my eggs!

 

[Iluveggers]

Ahhh, mine should be coming tomorrow… all 24 of them. Ofcourse I’m not keeping them all I’m wondering whether I should sell the extra chicks now or wait a little for them to grow…

Got mine from Townline hatchery
> Midnight Marans, Easter Egger, Oliver Eggers and leghorns as well as two amberlinks. I lost a beloved easter egger last year as well as both my welsummer bantams I need some color back in my eggs!

Do you know what you’re keeping? I would wait a week or two before selling, get to know their personalities a little, make sure no one is failure to thrive, & then select your favorites & sell the rest!

 

[Iluveggers]

19 weeks to go for me’

I am hatching & selling the chicks twice before my order arrives…gotta keep busy somehow!

 

[amee6730]

I ordered from My Pet Chicken. Ship date 2/13. I only ordered 8 pullets (3 barred rocks, 3 golden laced wyandottes, and 2 speckled sussex). I bought my house in the country in May of last year and have been prepping for goats, chickens, peach trees, apple trees, and a vegetable garden. I'm thinking now I may add a rooster and start incubating eggs next year. Knowing me, I will end up with more chickens than I know what to do with because they are so darn cute.

 

[yakitori]

Do you know what you’re keeping? I would wait a week or two before selling, get to know their personalities a little, make sure no one is failure to thrive, & then select your favorites & sell the rest!

That’s a great idea! I didn’t want to keep too many because that would involve three times the dust Most likely I’ll get rid of the extra girls at 3 weeks

I’ve decided to keep 8 so far, two of everything but the amber-links, I’m so excited! if only that darned tracking status would update. I’m biting my nails raw here !

 

[Iluveggers]

That’s a great idea! I didn’t want to keep too many because that would involve three times the dust Most likely I’ll get rid of the extra girls at 3 weeks

I’ve decided to keep 8 so far, two of everything but the amber-links, I’m so excited! if only that darned tracking status would update. I’m biting my nails raw here !

We are raising 10, keeping 5 and giving 5 to a family member. Primarily because I love chicks, but also so we can pick the friendliest! (My family member doesn’t care about that, they just want eggs), but my son loves when he has a chicken willingly jump into his lap! There’s always that one…they just look at you like “keep me!”

 

[yakitori]

We are raising 10, keeping 5 and giving 5 to a family member. Primarily because I love chicks, but also so we can pick the friendliest! (My family member doesn’t care about that, they just want eggs), but my son loves when he has a chicken willingly jump into his lap! There’s always that one…they just look at you like “keep me!”

this will actually be my first experience truly trying to bond with chicks. I had my silkie raise all my hatches, and was too busy to spend time with my started flock. Any tips on getting them to be super friendly?

 

[coach723]

I ordered from Meyer, getting some Egyptian Fayoumi's. Ship date is April 18 - 20. 14 pullets, 2 cockerels. Plan to keep some pure and cross some with my current flock, looking to build immunity and health. Big experiment! Fingers crossed.

 

[Iluveggers]

this will actually be my first experience truly trying to bond with chicks. I had my silkie raise all my hatches, and was too busy to spend time with my started flock. Any tips on getting them to be super friendly?

We feed wet mash (their feed just wet with water) on a small plate a few times. They LOVE it! Once they know what it is, we put it in our hand and one or two brave ones will come eat it, and sometimes even jump on your hand to get better access. If you have a side-door brooder (pet cage or cardboard box, cutting a drawbridge door in it works great), then they see the food and can run out the side to get it. I would then put a little scoop on my leg, and eventually they are crawling and hopping all over you! The more you do this, the friendlier they will be. There’s always a couple that hang back. Those would be the chicks I would sell. If I wanted a more self-reliant, free-range bird, trusting and cuddling would not be a good trait.

I ordered from Meyer, getting some Egyptian Fayoumi's. Ship date is April 18 - 20. 14 pullets, 2 cockerels. Plan to keep some pure and cross some with my current flock, looking to build immunity and health. Big experiment! Fingers crossed.

So excited! Have fun with them!

 

[junior67]

19 weeks to go for me’

I am hatching & selling the chicks twice before my order arrives…gotta keep busy somehow!

This is what I did in a way. I have hatched 3 sets of eggs for a guy that lives in my town. They are his eggs. He drops them off, I hatch them and play with the chicks for a couple days then he gets them. Would LOVE to keep them a bit longer but ya know they aren't mine. LOL

Next batch is my own but I will be selling most of what hatches since depending on if I get the other coop and expand my run I can only keep maybe 2-7 of them........ Then not sure if I will try to hatch some of my own eggs and sell those? Last year I had I think 5 Roos left that I was struggling a bit to find homes for. I did find someone that has a rooster sanctuary basically that took them so all was good but not sure how many I will be able to find homes for this year and I will already have any from my shipped eggs to find homes for....... hmmmmmmm something to think about after I see how it goes with the shipped eggs....... But then again I won't know if those are roosters till about mid April-mid May.....