Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[MsChickenMomma]

I am becoming more and more thankful that I decided to wait until May to get my chicks. I'm so sorry about your chicks @sdelfe
That must be really hard for you.... I personally think that 15 chicks isn't enough to ship in such cold weather. They really should raise the minimum in the winter. Even 3 in the summer is really too few. That's why I ordered 10 instead of 3.

 

[NanaLynn]

18 more days!!!!!! It's getting close

Yayyy, so excited for you!!!

 

[NanaLynn]

Pictures of my Meyer's chicks at 2 weeks old today, all roosting. At least for a short time until one moves and they all tumble down like fluffy little dominoes. They are getting so many feathers and growing so fast! I think I have a rooster or 2, possibly 3, I hope not,,,just wanted hens.

 

[PoultryGirly]

So I order 15 chicks from Meyer to arrive in May. I am 7 hours away from them and am so worried!

 

[NotableNancy]

Pictures of my Meyer's chicks at 2 weeks old today, all roosting. At least for a short time until one moves and they all tumble down like fluffy little dominoes. They are getting so many feathers and growing so fast! I think I have a rooster or 2, possibly 3, I hope not,,,just wanted hens.

Oh my gosh... they are adorable!!! I hope you don't have that many roos. We don't want any either. Last thing I need is a neighbor complaining!
They are growing so fast... do your EE's look the same?
I ordered 4 of those hoping I'd get ones that look a little different.

Any tips on what to do when they first arrive? Did you use ACV in the water? Is that sand as bedding?

 

[NanaLynn]

We're worried about complaining neighbors too, so I hope that none are roosters.

I went to talk to the post office and left my number to call and I also left a note in my mailbox with the same info before their arrival.

I did everything that I read about with each chick as I pulled it out of the box. "Dip each beak in water and also I gave them food on a paper towel", etc. I also put paper towels all over the area where they were for the 1st few days. I did read somewhere that grinding up the chick starter with a little rolled oats would help them with pasty butt. (I had a few with that for the 1st week) I just ran the bathroom faucet with warm water to wash away the excess poop on their feathers and put a little olive oil around their vents. (These are all things I read about here on BYC and elsewhere on the web)

My chicks did seem to eat better when I ran the chick starter thru the food processor with a little oats and the poopy bottoms did clear up, so I guessed it worked.

I also have been scrambling an egg for them each day and feeding them that, they love it. (I never knew chicks could eat egg before) They seem to be doing very well. The whole family has been digging up worms and feeding them that too.

My Easter Eggers do look different from each other and we can tell them apart, they do resemble each other a lot though. I wish I ordered more of them.

Also, I add 1 TBSP of ACV to a gallon jug of water that I use to refill their water. I swore that I would never bring them inside and would keep them in the coup, but of course I failed and they are in a large set of boxes in the basement. It got so cold here that I felt sorry for them.

I am in no way an expert on this, I've just been reading a lot.

 

[NanaLynn]

When is everyone else getting their chicks? Of those that already have chicks from Meyers and ordered all pullets, how many ended up with some roos instead of all pullets?

 

[MsChickenMomma]

I won't be getting my chicks from Meyer until the first week of May. I ordered all pullets, and I really hope I don't get any roosters. I read that there is a 10% chance that each chick could be a rooster. If I get any roosters I will have to re-home them. I already have two who won't get along, which has already forced me into making another coop so they can have seperate flocks.

So I'm interested in seeing some of the answers to @LynnEBC's question gets.

 

[NotableNancy]

We're worried about complaining neighbors too, so I hope that none are roosters.

I went to talk to the post office and left my number to call and I also left a note in my mailbox with the same info before their arrival.

I did everything that I read about with each chick as I pulled it out of the box. "Dip each beak in water and also I gave them food on a paper towel", etc. I also put paper towels all over the area where they were for the 1st few days. I did read somewhere that grinding up the chick starter with a little rolled oats would help them with pasty butt. (I had a few with that for the 1st week) I just ran the bathroom faucet with warm water to wash away the excess poop on their feathers and put a little olive oil around their vents. (These are all things I read about here on BYC and elsewhere on the web)

My chicks did seem to eat better when I ran the chick starter thru the food processor with a little oats and the poopy bottoms did clear up, so I guessed it worked.

I also have been scrambling an egg for them each day and feeding them that, they love it. (I never knew chicks could eat egg before) They seem to be doing very well. The whole family has been digging up worms and feeding them that too.

My Easter Eggers do look different from each other and we can tell them apart, they do resemble each other a lot though. I wish I ordered more of them.

Also, I add 1 TBSP of ACV to a gallon jug of water that I use to refill their water. I swore that I would never bring them inside and would keep them in the coup, but of course I failed and they are in a large set of boxes in the basement. It got so cold here that I felt sorry for them.

I am in no way an expert on this, I've just been reading a lot.

Thank you! All good info. I think as soon as you raise your first batch of chicks you become a pro
Mine are coming 2 weeks from today!
I have one more question... I keep hearing about the dust the chicks produce. Since I am getting about the same # of chicks as you, I was wondering about the dust in the basement.
I was going to put them in the family room for 2 weeks. Basement for 2 weeks and then garage for last 2 weeks as long as it's warm enough by then. So how dusty is your basement??? I laughed as I read someone else's post that they were worried about it being like the Dust Bowl of 1930's - is this what I should expect?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

When is everyone else getting their chicks? Of those that already have chicks from Meyers and ordered all pullets, how many ended up with some roos instead of all pullets?

Mine come in 10 weeks and 6 days (AKA on May 13). Last year, I got a small order of 5 and all were pullets.


NotableNancy, I'm still cleaning up dust and the occasional feather from last year's 5 chicks and the previous year's 13, but they stayed in one room until they moved out with the big girls. Moving them around as you say might help with that, so it shouldn't be too bad. They reach an age where from that point on it's all about flying and that stage is the worst for dust (I think it's been at about 2 weeks with my chicks that they hit that stage).




Last night I caved and added another chick to my order. So I'm getting 1 Silver Gray Dorking, 1 Light Brown Leghorn, 1 Exchequer Leghorn, 1 Ancona, 1 Golden Campine, 1 Egyptian Fayoumi, 1 Silver Lakenvelder, and now TWO special little surprises!