Countdown to Baby Chicks 2023 edition

[Chicken poppy]

This was my favorite thread last year! Once you place a 2023 order, post the details! We can pass the time together! Once you get your new babies, let us know and post pics!

Where did you order from?

What did you order?

When will they hatch/how many weeks or months left?


I know it’s early…but I put 2 orders in for June next year already! I will live vicariously through all of you who get chicks long before that. School lets out here in June, so we get them when the kids (and teacher parents) can spend all day doting on them!

I have a broody hatching some eggs but i didn’t order, they’re mine. Does it still count?

 

[Iluveggers]

I have a broody hatching some eggs but i didn’t order, they’re mine. Does it still count?

You have babies on the way, I’d say it counts!

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Anyone with extra chicks in Georgia, the annual poultry swap in Newnan is coming up. Might be a good place to find them homes, and fun to see other peoples’ birds . They had to cancel the last 2 years for covid and then bird flu, so people seem pretty excited about this year on facebook. Anyway, I don’t know much about it. Just heard about it from a friend.

 

[beercity]

Raising our first chicks this spring, we think our 6yr old daughter will really enjoy it. She certainly says she will.
We are only allowed 6 in our city and apparently they check.
So we have 3x Buff Orpington and 3x Barred Rock coming April 5ish from Cackle

Working on finding a good coop for our backyard, trying to find something nice as it will be in partial view to the neighbors so we do not want to create an eyesore.
Also working on a brooder. Thinking about skipping the heatlamp, and using a heat plate to start and then moving to a wool hen after a few days. We will be brooding inside so I am very concerned about running a heat lamp 24/7
I use a home automation system so I will be adding brooder/chick/coop monitoring into that system. As a start I will be able to monitor brooder temperatures but will likely add automated coop door open/close, and some other monitoring in the near future.

 

[yakitori]

Sigh, I got 10 lively birds, 3 dead and 8 in pretty bad shape…

They weren’t in shipping for that long either, less than 48 hours :/

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

I got my ducks ordered for end of March early April. And i wi be getting 2 chicks from the actual store when they get them.

 

[Chicken love to infinity]

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.

So excited! Have fun with them!

I do the same thing with the feed. Otherwise, they won't eat and act like I'm not feeding them. Then they won't lay eggs until I wet it again... They get VERY mad.

 

[DavidReaves]

Also working on a brooder. Thinking about skipping the heatlamp, and using a heat plate to start and then moving to a wool hen after a few days. We will be brooding inside so I am very concerned about running a heat lamp 24/7

I've read that shipped chicks don't initially get enough heat from a heat plate. They are weak and stressed and need a stronger source of heat, apparently. There are even hatcheries that require you agree that you will be using a heat lamp.

I used a heat plate last year when I hatched. I still plan to use it this year, but I also have a heat lamp that I'm going to use the first couple of days after my chicks arrive. It may not be really necessary, but for a couple of days I can watch a properly secured lamp to be sure it's safe.

 

[beercity]

Yeah Cackle makes you agree to it, they say you get lucky if your chicks survive without it. Some other hatcheries do not make as big of a deal out of it, but I definitely want to shoot for 100% survival rate. Ill have to sleep in the basement with the chicks to feel comfortable with the heat lamp, have not completely decided against it yet but it does concern me.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Good to know…I have only ever gotten chicks from a breeder or local feed store before, so guess that likely had heat lamps or a broody for a day or so before I brought them home and did the MHP. Would be interested to hear from others who have done the MHP with shipped chicks.