sjpi1954
In the Brooder
- May 21, 2018
- 9
- 68
- 49
So, I placed my Tractor Supply Minimum Live Chicks Order for 10 Loghorn Hens for $3.50 a piece. After reading all the fine print I was 'expecting' a SMS or email to notify me when my Chicks shipped via USPS. I was also expecting a 'phone call' from the USPS notifying me that my Chicks had arrived and I had 24 hours to pick them up.
Sigmund Freud has written several articles on 'expectations' but we'll save that for another time. What happened? The Chicks were born on a Monday, Shipped via USPS Priority Mail on a Tuesday, and the USPS Stork delivered them to my front porch at 1030hrs on a Thursday morning with the ring of a bell.
I was totally unprepared. However, this old soldier responded as any old soldier would. I brought the chicks inside to a 76F interior temp and opened the box. I was in love at first sight...I instantly becomes a Newbie Chicken Daddy. I did a head count and had 12...My Yellow Dozen. I had read Story's Guide to Raising Chickens over the winter and mentally went to work on doing everything as best I could until I could finish the outside Coop.
I put them in a 2x2 Cardboard Box with some packing paper, a bowl of fresh water, and a lot more room to maneuver. What I saw immediately blew me away...The Chicks started drinking and bathing in the water bowl. Heat Exhaustion. Saw it in the Army. Hydrate and cool the body down... After replenishing the water bowl 3 times I knew I had to head to TSC for some Chicken Baby Chick Starter Chow and Shaved Pine for bedding. I'd figure out the accommodations later.
Y'all know exactly where this is going...I came home exactly one hour later and was shocked to find 2 baby chicks face down barely moving and the other 10 in a tightly packed ball in the corner of the box. I knew immediately what was wrong.... Hypothermia. My Chicks were freezing to death.
My daughter had left her hair dryer here when she moved out and I carried the box into the bathroom and started warming each chick up and drying them out. One hour later I had 12 hungry and happy Leghorn Chicks.
Decided to split the flock with two new boxes to meet the minimum 36 square inch recommendation per chick. All the Chick Chow was gone within minutes and I thought 'Maybe they are part pig?' 9 days later I am still amazed at how much chick chow these girls can eat.
On the evening of Day 1 I moved the girls out to my Sauna and hooked up a small ceramic programmable heater and shut the door after turning on my small electric Tea Lights. Temp was 97F within an hour and at 2300hrs, just before bed and last check, I opened the door, stepped inside, looked down, and saw 12 sleeping dry, hydrated, and exhausted baby chicks...
Life is Good...
To be continued...
JP
Sigmund Freud has written several articles on 'expectations' but we'll save that for another time. What happened? The Chicks were born on a Monday, Shipped via USPS Priority Mail on a Tuesday, and the USPS Stork delivered them to my front porch at 1030hrs on a Thursday morning with the ring of a bell.
I was totally unprepared. However, this old soldier responded as any old soldier would. I brought the chicks inside to a 76F interior temp and opened the box. I was in love at first sight...I instantly becomes a Newbie Chicken Daddy. I did a head count and had 12...My Yellow Dozen. I had read Story's Guide to Raising Chickens over the winter and mentally went to work on doing everything as best I could until I could finish the outside Coop.
I put them in a 2x2 Cardboard Box with some packing paper, a bowl of fresh water, and a lot more room to maneuver. What I saw immediately blew me away...The Chicks started drinking and bathing in the water bowl. Heat Exhaustion. Saw it in the Army. Hydrate and cool the body down... After replenishing the water bowl 3 times I knew I had to head to TSC for some Chicken Baby Chick Starter Chow and Shaved Pine for bedding. I'd figure out the accommodations later.
Y'all know exactly where this is going...I came home exactly one hour later and was shocked to find 2 baby chicks face down barely moving and the other 10 in a tightly packed ball in the corner of the box. I knew immediately what was wrong.... Hypothermia. My Chicks were freezing to death.
My daughter had left her hair dryer here when she moved out and I carried the box into the bathroom and started warming each chick up and drying them out. One hour later I had 12 hungry and happy Leghorn Chicks.
Decided to split the flock with two new boxes to meet the minimum 36 square inch recommendation per chick. All the Chick Chow was gone within minutes and I thought 'Maybe they are part pig?' 9 days later I am still amazed at how much chick chow these girls can eat.
On the evening of Day 1 I moved the girls out to my Sauna and hooked up a small ceramic programmable heater and shut the door after turning on my small electric Tea Lights. Temp was 97F within an hour and at 2300hrs, just before bed and last check, I opened the door, stepped inside, looked down, and saw 12 sleeping dry, hydrated, and exhausted baby chicks...
Life is Good...
To be continued...
JP
