Sparrows nearly wiped out the eastern blue birds. They will kill blue birds in their nesting boxes and then build their nest on top of them. Blue birds have soft breaks and cannot fight Sparrows effectively with them.

As someone who has blue bird boxes and has watched some 85 baby bluebird hatch and be raised in my yard, I have a real distaste for sparrows.

Tax
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I would love to have bluebirds here, they are a threatened species. When I retire that will be my next project. And Bobolinks, it’s one of the reasons I want to get my paddocks weed free and get the grasses growing back again.

https://www.thelandbetween.ca/bobolink/
 
Last I knew, Mt Healthy in Ohio would ship 3 chicks. They did have a "small order fee" that was added on. I don't know how large the order had to be not to have the fee.

I ordered chicks from them in 2023 and was VERY pleased with the service and the chicks. I was happy to pay the fee as I wanted just 4 chicks and couldn't split an order with anyone. They had the breed I wanted and I could get the number of chicks I wanted.

3-chick orders ~ Cackle Hatchery & My Pet Chicken also💕
The problem with shipping small orders like that is the chicks don’t have the close quarters and extra body heat/insulation and protection from being bounced around in their box that a larger shipment provides. That is a big part of why most hatcheries have a minimum order of so many chicks. It is also the reason they sometimes ever to extra chicks that are thrown in at no charge as “packing peanuts”, because they really do help serve that purpose.


Oh he is gorgeous. And really is the spitting image of his father.
 
Assortment of pics…

The purple gang had their first day out of the mini-coop today. Coco was a very attentive and protective mama.
IMG_1037.jpeg


They still love getting on top of her. She was trying to take a dust bath. :lau
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Group photo of most of the bantam chicks.
IMG_0911.jpeg


Cotton’s comb and wattles continuing to get bigger. They are even larger than they look in this picture.
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Lucy says hello.
IMG_0982.jpeg


Sheila getting a lot more iridescence.
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The ducks were too impatient to wait for their pool to finish refilling.
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Special duck picture for @featherhead007. Aspen trying to sleep standing up, on one leg.
IMG_1046.jpeg
 
The problem with shipping small orders like that is the chicks don’t have the close quarters and extra body heat/insulation and protection from being bounced around in their box that a larger shipment provides. That is a big part of why most hatcheries have a minimum order of so many chicks. It is also the reason they sometimes ever to extra chicks that are thrown in at no charge as “packing peanuts”, because they really do help serve that purpose.
The nice thing w/ @featherhead007 is that he can arrange to pickup a minimum order of 3
Lt Brown Leghorn chicks from any source he chooses (he has an airplane to fly to any continental USA State to get his birds in person) so no USPS bouncing shipment :) So very nice to do it that way that the rest of us can't. He would be caring enough to do it that way if called for 💕
 
Assortment of pics…

The purple gang had their first day out of the mini-coop today. Coco was a very attentive and protective mama.
View attachment 4149272

They still love getting on top of her. She was trying to take a dust bath. :lau
View attachment 4149266

Group photo of most of the bantam chicks.
View attachment 4149267

Cotton’s comb and wattles continuing to get bigger. They are even larger than they look in this picture.
View attachment 4149263

Lucy says hello.
View attachment 4149264

Sheila getting a lot more iridescence.
View attachment 4149265

The ducks were too impatient to wait for their pool to finish refilling.
View attachment 4149261

Special duck picture for @featherhead007. Aspen trying to sleep standing up, on one leg.
View attachment 4149260
LOVE that ducky pool!
 
Sparrows nearly wiped out the eastern blue birds. They will kill blue birds in their nesting boxes and then build their nest on top of them. Blue birds have soft breaks and cannot fight Sparrows effectively with them.

As someone who has blue bird boxes and has watched some 85 baby bluebird hatch and be raised in my yard, I have a real distaste for sparrows.

Tax
View attachment 4149125
Yes, I read that about Blue Birds being kicked out of their nests by Sparrows. Our sweet House Finches have literally been driven away.

The last time we saw Finches here:
2011
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