Hi All,
I have enjoyed reading all of the "mail" this Winter.
I ordered and received 25 chicks from McMurray Hatchery. As usual (per this group) they did not ship my order correctly. They only shipped 26 chicks with one DOA. I was to get the rare chick, but didn't. Also, I ordered RIR chicks and I have 13 dark brown chicks and 12 yellow chicks. Not RIR to me. I called to complain and they are crediting my account for the chicks. I did not want another shipment. In looking at pictures, I might have been shipped Red Stars. They are now two weeks old and the feathers are variegated; not white, so they are not Leghorns. Any comments will be appreciated. The yellows are more inquisitive than the browns, so it will be fun to see them grow.
BTW, I am one old codger, who spent several years, while in high school, working at my Grandfather's chicken ranch. I managed about 3,000 Leghorns in pens on the ground. We would get flats of chicks from White Hatchery in Petaluma, CA. My chicks bring back a lot of memories. Fun, fun, fun!
I have a perfect tractor barn I built in the High Desert of Southern California. I built a coop just like the barn, including insulation all around. We can get down to 14 degrees in the Winter and 114 degrees in the Summer. Being at 3,700 feet, we can get a variety of weather. Like, in December, we had an 18 inch snow fall with several snow flurries in this past month. Since it is desert we have very low humidity (10-20%).
I'll post pictures on my Web site when I can get them loaded. One picture I found here, was very helpful. It showed a cheap wading pool being used for a brooder. I had a pool for my dogs, so I used it inside my coop for eight days. I finally removed it when my chicks were trying to fly. It was time to convert the coop into a full brooder.
I found it hard to get chick grit, so I used some of our canary grit until I got a bag of chicken grit. I filtered out all of the oyster; built a grit bin to hang on the wall and all is working.
How is this for an introduction? I hope I gave a few hints and described my project. Oh yes, why did I get chicks? Well, California passed Proposition 2 in the last election. It requires all poultry farms to give enough room for each chicken to exercise. So, that will drive out all of the egg producers in CA. Therefore, I will have my own eggs and have some fun too. Oh, I spent more on my coop and chicks then I would pay for eggs in my remaining life! But, hey, they are chickens....
My best,
Dick
Phelan, CA
I have enjoyed reading all of the "mail" this Winter.
I ordered and received 25 chicks from McMurray Hatchery. As usual (per this group) they did not ship my order correctly. They only shipped 26 chicks with one DOA. I was to get the rare chick, but didn't. Also, I ordered RIR chicks and I have 13 dark brown chicks and 12 yellow chicks. Not RIR to me. I called to complain and they are crediting my account for the chicks. I did not want another shipment. In looking at pictures, I might have been shipped Red Stars. They are now two weeks old and the feathers are variegated; not white, so they are not Leghorns. Any comments will be appreciated. The yellows are more inquisitive than the browns, so it will be fun to see them grow.
BTW, I am one old codger, who spent several years, while in high school, working at my Grandfather's chicken ranch. I managed about 3,000 Leghorns in pens on the ground. We would get flats of chicks from White Hatchery in Petaluma, CA. My chicks bring back a lot of memories. Fun, fun, fun!
I have a perfect tractor barn I built in the High Desert of Southern California. I built a coop just like the barn, including insulation all around. We can get down to 14 degrees in the Winter and 114 degrees in the Summer. Being at 3,700 feet, we can get a variety of weather. Like, in December, we had an 18 inch snow fall with several snow flurries in this past month. Since it is desert we have very low humidity (10-20%).
I'll post pictures on my Web site when I can get them loaded. One picture I found here, was very helpful. It showed a cheap wading pool being used for a brooder. I had a pool for my dogs, so I used it inside my coop for eight days. I finally removed it when my chicks were trying to fly. It was time to convert the coop into a full brooder.
I found it hard to get chick grit, so I used some of our canary grit until I got a bag of chicken grit. I filtered out all of the oyster; built a grit bin to hang on the wall and all is working.
How is this for an introduction? I hope I gave a few hints and described my project. Oh yes, why did I get chicks? Well, California passed Proposition 2 in the last election. It requires all poultry farms to give enough room for each chicken to exercise. So, that will drive out all of the egg producers in CA. Therefore, I will have my own eggs and have some fun too. Oh, I spent more on my coop and chicks then I would pay for eggs in my remaining life! But, hey, they are chickens....
My best,
Dick
Phelan, CA
