Ideal Poultry - Shipping Wednesday *06/27/12* - Anyone Else??

[CandleGal]

I am expecting some from Ideal shipping Wed as well. I am expecting an easter egger, black astralop (sp), and st. run Barred Hollands. I am assuming I will get packing peanuts since I only ordered 6 birds. I am concerned about the hollands, I ordered them specifically as a dual purpose white egg layer and I have read about people having hens with brown eggs. I have a crazy thought they may turn into project birds but we shall see

I hope everyone has happy, healthy shipments

 

[txchickie]

I should be getting chicks tomorrow! I ordered buff orps & easter eggers. I've got only white egg layers now and I need some color in my egg basket. Our neighbor is always happy to take my packing peanuts...I'm pretty sure they eat them evenutally, but chickens are for food.
I have a poor broody that has been sitting on unfertile eggs for nearly 30 days, she is desperate for chicks. I've slipped chicks under her before and it went perfectly, so hopefully all goes well again this time, or I guess I will be raising chicks and she'll sit until Christmas, lol. I'll be hanging out on the porch waiting for the mailman in the morning!

 

[debir1966]

Hello galefrances! I wish I had some advise for you! I have not had chicks for so many years, I honestly don't remember and don't have any recent experiences to share. I am planning on keeping the chicks on a layer of paper towels OVER the shavings for as long as it is feasible. I am hoping that will help keep things "clean" for a few days anyway. I am also going to try using chicken nipples instead of a water bowl system. Hoping, with all my fingers and toes crossed!, the chicks and poults take right to it! I would say take a deep breath and try to enjoy it as much as possible. What kind of brooder do you have? I am going to use a cardboard box at first and may switch to a large plastic tote. I want something with higher sides to keep in the mess!

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Welcome CandleGal! Have you ordered from Ideal before? Do you have specific or special plans for the Barred Hollands? I ordered the specific breeds of laying hens for several different reasons. 1) I want to be able to have enough eggs to sell some. 2) I want my kids to be able to gather eggs and it look like an easter egg basket 3) my kids will be starting 4H this fall and my daughter (who just turned 5 last month) wants to do chicken 4H (thinking about getting her a silkie later this year too), 4) I wanted good dual purpose hens because I want to be able to hatch out my own meat chickens as well as raising several batches of broilers each year... and lastly 5) cause some chicken breeds are just too darn cool! LOL

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txchickie Hi! I would LOVE to have a broody hen to stick some chicks under! I have read about several success stories doing so and hope in the future to try it. I wish I knew how to encourage one of my hens to be broody (might have to do more research on that LOL).

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I can't wait to get my email tomorrow! I am so nervous and excited, almost feel silly being this excited about getting chicks LOL.

I got a little carried away ordering my new laying chicks, but there are so many different breeds I want for various reasons as mentioned above, and I still have breeds I want to add to my flock later!

This order I got 2 pullets each of Ameraucana, Black Australorp, Welsummer, Speckled Sussex, Rhode Island Red, Salmon Faverolle, Silver Laced Wyandotte, and Spangled Russian Orloff - I got these for my son (14) because he is fascinated with anything Russian! And 4 Leghorns. I ordered 2 of each just incase one of them doesn't make it or incase one is a roo.

Can't wait to start seeing some fluff bottom pictures!

 

[captainroo2]

They are here; we got the call at 6:00 and went to the Post office. They all seem to be alive. Our son took them home to put them in the brooder and give them the growing gel. Praise the Lord....

 

[debir1966]

captainroo2 - ADORABLE!! Did you get the exact amount (12 RIR and 20 BO)? Thanks so much for sharing a picture!

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No email for me yet /sigh. I have been up since 6 a.m. checking LOL. If I don't have one by at 3 p.m., I am so going to give them a call, just for my peace of mind!

We currently have 10 chickens. We wanted to get chicks, but also wanted to have eggs right away so we bought 10 hens off craigslist. It had been years since we had anything to do with chickens, and all I remembered to look for is creepy crawlies under the feathers and we didn't see any. The lady assured us the hens were all between 1 and 2 years of age and healthy and pest free...

Well, one of them we discovered was sick when we got home and she didnt make it. The remainin 9 hens seemed to be fine and the first week they laid 27 eggs. We knew that they would have a stress period from moving, and also a few weeks later we got a rooster from a friend and they went all the way down to 8 eggs a week before they finally started picking back up - right when we finally noticed they had a very bad case of scaley leg mites and we found lice eggs!

So we are in the middle of dipping their legs in oil every night and we dusted them and sprayed the coop, which we have to do again one more time and hopefully that will take care of any chicken passengers! Their legs are already looking alot better.

We have 4 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Ameraucanas, 1 Light Brahma, 1 Production Red and supposedly 1 Welsummer, though we have never gotten a speckled egg, plus a mutt rooster. They are definitely NOT young hens, I would guess they are all between 3 and 5 years and one of the Ameraucanas has a blind eye.

Needless to say, it has been a sharp learning curve back into having chickens! But now that we will have them pest free, I know of preventive measures to keep it that way! We will be using DE and wood ash in their main dusting areas and virgin coconut oil to periodically spray incase the buggies get past the first two.

 

[CandleGal]

no email here yet, I hope everything is going well with the hatch. Anxious to get the chickies here because we are expecting a heat wave for the next few days. I chose the breeds because I was cooking for dual purpose and colorful eggs. I am interested in the idea of helping to keep a rare breed alive and depending on how well they turn out I may try a breeding project. I will post pics a soon a the
y get settled in.

 

[CandleGal]

One of these days I will learn to proofread when I use my phone.

 

[debir1966]

CandleGal: Are the Barred Hollands a rare breed? I have not done alot of reading on the different breeds yet other than how many eggs they lay, what color and if they are cold hardy (we get winter here with snow and freezing temps). I did read somewhere that Light Brahmas are considered rare (on one of the hatchery sites) but I remember my Mom having them when I was a kid so I am not sure how accurate that is.

Still no email here either, now I am getting paranoid LOL. Might not make it to 3:00 to call.

 

[debir1966]

I didn't make it to 3:00 (mountain time) LOL. I just called and the chicks have not left the hatchery yet, we will be getting the emails later today. Whew, that made me feel better anyway knowing things were on schedule! ... I think I heard chicks in the background LOL, but it could have been my imagination

 

[CandleGal]

Didn't even think about the time difference, I'm on the east coast. I'm having to redo my set up thanks the coming heat wave. I had it set for the chicks to be outside but it looks like they will be spending atleast the first week in my laundry room. I'm not a big fan of them inside but I could not let them out in 100+ degrees the first day here. Hers hoping we see our chicks soon!