MeaganHH
Hatching
Hello from SE Georgia!
I am a first time chicken mama. Got my nine chicks home this past Tuesday. I luckily have a good friend that hatched some eggs for me, however, due to an incubator malfunction only 6 of the 15 hatch, and one of the 6 died shortly after hatching with an unabsorbed yolk sac. Since I wanted more than that and the feed store had two breeds that I really really wanted I grabbed 4 more, they were only one day older than my other chicks, and have blended well.
I have been getting information from this site for the last 6 months before I decided to jump in with both feet, thank you all!
My flock is currently in their brooder on the back porch (which is enclosed). I will be assembling my coop and run over the next few weeks. This will only be temporary housing because we will be relocating in less than a year. For the run I will be using a 10X10 foot chain link dog kennel, I will be using chicken wire to make it more secure, and I haven't figured out how I will cover it yet. For the coop, I will be getting an old coop from a neighbors father (I have no clue what it looks like or the condition it is in) and/or my brother has been saving pallets for me from work. That way if the coop needs repairs or is unusable I can build something that can be used for the time being.
I have my fingers crossed that all my chicks are ladies (wishful thinking, I know) but, at what age will I know for sure which are roosters? I haven't decided yet if we will keep a rooster, but we will NOT be keeping more than one. So... If I have more than one, what age would be best to butcher them (are roosters even good to eat)? I am not exactly looking forward to culling any of the chick that I already adore, but life is life.
But here is my flock:
My two Americauna
"Stripes" my (I think) Black Silkie X RIR mix
My two Black Copper Marans chicks "Copper" (left) "Killa" (right)
My three (I think) Light Brahma X Black Silkie mixes. "Ginger" (top) is the only one that has five toes!
"Molly" the Millie Fluers X (unknown) bantam mix, pictures with one of the Americauna chicks to show her size (I refer to them all as "her" for good luck, lol)
I am a first time chicken mama. Got my nine chicks home this past Tuesday. I luckily have a good friend that hatched some eggs for me, however, due to an incubator malfunction only 6 of the 15 hatch, and one of the 6 died shortly after hatching with an unabsorbed yolk sac. Since I wanted more than that and the feed store had two breeds that I really really wanted I grabbed 4 more, they were only one day older than my other chicks, and have blended well.
I have been getting information from this site for the last 6 months before I decided to jump in with both feet, thank you all!
My flock is currently in their brooder on the back porch (which is enclosed). I will be assembling my coop and run over the next few weeks. This will only be temporary housing because we will be relocating in less than a year. For the run I will be using a 10X10 foot chain link dog kennel, I will be using chicken wire to make it more secure, and I haven't figured out how I will cover it yet. For the coop, I will be getting an old coop from a neighbors father (I have no clue what it looks like or the condition it is in) and/or my brother has been saving pallets for me from work. That way if the coop needs repairs or is unusable I can build something that can be used for the time being.
I have my fingers crossed that all my chicks are ladies (wishful thinking, I know) but, at what age will I know for sure which are roosters? I haven't decided yet if we will keep a rooster, but we will NOT be keeping more than one. So... If I have more than one, what age would be best to butcher them (are roosters even good to eat)? I am not exactly looking forward to culling any of the chick that I already adore, but life is life.
But here is my flock:
My two Americauna
"Stripes" my (I think) Black Silkie X RIR mix
My two Black Copper Marans chicks "Copper" (left) "Killa" (right)
My three (I think) Light Brahma X Black Silkie mixes. "Ginger" (top) is the only one that has five toes!
"Molly" the Millie Fluers X (unknown) bantam mix, pictures with one of the Americauna chicks to show her size (I refer to them all as "her" for good luck, lol)