Dear Fluffy Feet, thank you, I had not yet found Ideal on the web. I did check them out, but they too are sold out of nearly every kind of pullet until May. Guess I'll just wait the 2 or 3 weeks for the ones I ordered from the local feed mill. I HATE WAITING!!! I'M SO DISAPPOINTED.
You could try Welp, Dunlap, Moyers, Cackle, Mt. Healthy or Belt. Those are the ones I could think of off the top of my head. Google around there are others.
Quote:That depends on what type of chicks you are getting. My RIR's would have outgrown the bathtub at 2 weeks old! They have grown quickly and have been flying all over the place since they were 2 weeks old!
Gumpsgirl, I'm getting an assortment (3 buff orps, 2 barred rocks, 2 black australorps, and 2 buff brahmas. My husband got nervous when he heard me phoning in the chick order and he's planned a trip to the lumberyard . . . maybe that coop will be done sooner than I thought! Just the mere THREAT of chickens in the bathtub worked wonders. Hee hee!
I'm sorry the hatcheries are all out of your chicks! To help pass the time spend as much time on BYC as possible! Look at all the cute chick pics and drool over all the cool coops. That's what I did and up until the last few days I was quite content. Those last 3 days or so before my chicks got here though I felt like a kid waiting for Christmas.
Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon Missouri has a minimum order of 15. After 4 weeks, my babies all wanted to fly and do acrobatics. I guess if you have a thick clear shower curtain you might be ok if you tape it securely? Just to warn you, their poop and spilled feed does start to really stink after the first 2 weeks! You did say you lined the tub with plastic under the bedding right? Some of that nasty black liquid tarry stuff doesn't come off easy. And don't forget to put the paper towels on top of the pine shavings for the first week until the babies figure out what's food and what's not! They sure like to kick pine shavings into their food and water once they get older. I've got my feeders and waterers on bricks now to try and make it less messy. Good luck! After 4 weeks they start getting really big and you're busy thinking- Oh god, will it ever warm up outside so I can put them in the coop? Have fun! They bring me so much joy!
That's exactly what it feels like. Funny, I read your message a little too fast and thought you said "Look at all the cool poops" but then I realized it said coops. Ha ha! Guess I should be in bed DREAMING about chicks instead of standing at the kitchen counter reading posts at 11:30 p.m. I'm already a BYC addict! Thanks for helping get me addicted. Wink wink. Everybody uses the DH abbreviation . . . what does it mean?
teddiliza, maybe it's actually a good thing my chick delivery is 2 weeks away . . . we're supposed to get more snow tomorrow = maybe 6 inches. YUCK! Sounds like I'll be wanting them out of the tub long before 4 weeks of age . . . better get the coop started! my husband is being very patient with my total preoccupation (is this a DISEASE of the MIND or WHAT?) but I think smelling chicken poo would put him over the edge! Thanks for the warning!
DH= Dear or Darling Husband DD- Daughter DS- Son etc.... That is great your DH is already getting going on your coop! I think the guys enjoy a project, even if they aren't to excited with the chicks. Heck My DH is enjoying building the coop because it is an excuse for him to go get some other new tool. He has quite a collection now. The man did home construction for 10 years for a living, I don't believe for one minute he needed a single thing in order to build my coop.