So this is my chick journey. It all started about 4-5 months ago. I decided I wanted to raise chickens. I'd like to accomplish 3 things: A) Eggs, B) Meat, C) Income from my chickens.
I thought no big deal, right. I grew up around chickens. Even remeber chasing little babies then running like mad so the momma hen wouldn't catch me with her baby
. But I was in for a big surprise. I have been simply amazed at the extent some people will go to for their chickens. Not to mention all the care that goes into chickens now. Heck, all we had when I was a kid was chicken pens, and we kept the Roosters tied up. I'd go out with my Grandfather everyday to feed them (I thought it was fun), water them and that was it. No special/fancy coops, or runs. We just let them run around.
For years I thought chickens were just that, chickens, I never realized there were different breeds as I only knew of the chickens we had. We didn't buy them from TSC, we traded with locals, had no clue what a TSC was. We'd buy our feed from the local Co-Op. And the only water our chickens ever got was the kind that came from a hose. There was no special stuff to put in the chicks water either.
Now when I grew up I never once thought about raising my own flock until I was in my early 30's and saw those cute little boogers in a TSC. And me being me thought the chicks they sell at TSC were the same ones I grew up with. So I didn't want any. Well they ended up being snuck in by the spouse as an early easter gift for the kiddos. My immediate reaction was "What are we gonna do with those?"
Needless to say I was more than reluctant to have chickens. I didn't want to deal with them. When the spouse realized it was work keeping chicks and caring for them we agreed that we needed to find a home for them. We had no ammenities for them (Coop) and couldn't build one. We called some friends up and gave them the chicks and everything that we had for them. The main problem was that we was living on a rental property and it didn't make sense to spend money only to have to leave any structure/fencing behind when we moved.
To make a long story short after years of struggling to keep our home we lost it early last year
. The bank said pay up or move out, so we freaked and moved to a rental property of a family friends'. After months of trying to find solutions we were finally able to get the help we needed to save our home. Two weeks before Christmas we moved back to our home.
Once we got our home back I told the spouse that I wanted some chickens come spring. Soon after some friends of ours decided to move away and couldn't take their chickens with them so they offered their 2 pullets (RIR) to us along with all the belongings for them. We said yes since we were wanting chickens anyway.
Fast forward a few months and we love, love love our chickens. They are so entertaining and such a joy to have. At this point I told the spouse that I wanted to get some baby chicks. The first thing I did was get on TSC's website to see what kind of chicks they have and when they have them. Then I thought "I wonder if I there is a website that I can read up on chickens and find a good breed for me?"
And thats when I found out about BYC and hatcheries. I had no idea there was hatcheries.
So after reading up on several different breeds I settled on two breeds to start with. I placed my order and patiently waited for 2 months. I started reading the forums (which took a while to figure out because I had never been on a forum). I was overwhelmed with all the information on here to say the least. I engorged myself with what I needed to do to get ready for the chicks.The week before my chicks were scheduled to arrive I Got the brooder ready and set up. Made sure that I was able to maintain a good temp for them. By then I only had 2 days left before the chicks big arrival. I was itching for the chicks be then and wanted so bad to just go buy some from TSC. But I had 26 chicks coming, so I held out.
Well it was not meant for us to have those chicks because we had ice and snow delivered to us via old man winter the day before the were supposed to arrive. Due to the weather USPS returned the chicks to the hatchery since they couldn't get them on the plane. I was freaking out for about a day and a half, because the shiping info showed that the chicks did fly out, but that was it. And for an entire day no one seemed to know where they were. We went to the post office twice to see if they were there, called the hatchery to see if they could find out where they were, called USPS customer service to complain about the lack of information. I was giving that poor lady a hard time and she was very polite and understanding to my concerns. About an hour later the hatchery called to let me know that they had the chicks and they were all alive and healthy. We scheduled a later delivery date and I was waiting yet again......
We recieved our chicks without any issues alive and healthy on our second attempt
. I was however surprised to see 27 chicks but I'm not complaining, they are way too cute! After seeing how quickly chicks grow I am going to take a pic everyday of each breed and post it so I can see how they grow each day.
Will post pics tomorrow for Days 1, 2, 3
I thought no big deal, right. I grew up around chickens. Even remeber chasing little babies then running like mad so the momma hen wouldn't catch me with her baby
For years I thought chickens were just that, chickens, I never realized there were different breeds as I only knew of the chickens we had. We didn't buy them from TSC, we traded with locals, had no clue what a TSC was. We'd buy our feed from the local Co-Op. And the only water our chickens ever got was the kind that came from a hose. There was no special stuff to put in the chicks water either.
Now when I grew up I never once thought about raising my own flock until I was in my early 30's and saw those cute little boogers in a TSC. And me being me thought the chicks they sell at TSC were the same ones I grew up with. So I didn't want any. Well they ended up being snuck in by the spouse as an early easter gift for the kiddos. My immediate reaction was "What are we gonna do with those?"
To make a long story short after years of struggling to keep our home we lost it early last year
Fast forward a few months and we love, love love our chickens. They are so entertaining and such a joy to have. At this point I told the spouse that I wanted to get some baby chicks. The first thing I did was get on TSC's website to see what kind of chicks they have and when they have them. Then I thought "I wonder if I there is a website that I can read up on chickens and find a good breed for me?"
And thats when I found out about BYC and hatcheries. I had no idea there was hatcheries.
So after reading up on several different breeds I settled on two breeds to start with. I placed my order and patiently waited for 2 months. I started reading the forums (which took a while to figure out because I had never been on a forum). I was overwhelmed with all the information on here to say the least. I engorged myself with what I needed to do to get ready for the chicks.The week before my chicks were scheduled to arrive I Got the brooder ready and set up. Made sure that I was able to maintain a good temp for them. By then I only had 2 days left before the chicks big arrival. I was itching for the chicks be then and wanted so bad to just go buy some from TSC. But I had 26 chicks coming, so I held out.
Well it was not meant for us to have those chicks because we had ice and snow delivered to us via old man winter the day before the were supposed to arrive. Due to the weather USPS returned the chicks to the hatchery since they couldn't get them on the plane. I was freaking out for about a day and a half, because the shiping info showed that the chicks did fly out, but that was it. And for an entire day no one seemed to know where they were. We went to the post office twice to see if they were there, called the hatchery to see if they could find out where they were, called USPS customer service to complain about the lack of information. I was giving that poor lady a hard time and she was very polite and understanding to my concerns. About an hour later the hatchery called to let me know that they had the chicks and they were all alive and healthy. We scheduled a later delivery date and I was waiting yet again......
We recieved our chicks without any issues alive and healthy on our second attempt
Will post pics tomorrow for Days 1, 2, 3