MJ's little flock

[BY Bob]

I'm doing okay, Todd ( my dog )is great for keeping me going. I can't believe it's going on 7 months

Pets give us so many gifts. I'm glad you have him to help.

 

[MaryJanet]

I'm slightly reeling from the most recent season.

From four eggs, four chicks, and three pullets there's one hen and one pullet left.

Two. Out of eleven.

 

[Grammy60]

Do take care of yourself. Yesterday I was a bit foolish and walked to the train station at the hottest time of day. I had a neck fan and carried an umbrella and I was still a bit shaky when I got to the station.
Brutally hot. Only one more day and then it will be a bit cooler.

I'm spending most of the time inside, its crazy how bad the heat is. You be careful as well

Pets give us so many gifts. I'm glad you have him to help.

Yes, they really do if I didn't have Todd, it would be so much harder

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I'm slightly reeling from the most recent season.

From four eggs, four chicks, and three pullets there's one hen and one pullet left.

Two. Out of eleven.

You’ve been through a lot. Your determination and care for your chickens are inspirations for me.

 

[BDutch]

I'm slightly reeling from the most recent season.

From four eggs, four chicks, and three pullets there's one hen and one pullet left.

Two. Out of eleven.

This is hard.

It does remind me of my first experience when I started to keep chickens in my backyard.

I bought 4 bantam chicks. 6 week old. That way I didn’t need extra warmth and the chicks could go immediately outside in the prefab with the little attached run. The seller said the chicks are all girls. But it turned out they were sick. Three died.

Bought 4 new chicks all girls he said (for a reduced price). The one survivor turned out to be a little cockerel, as well as 2 other chicks. -> so far I had 2 bantam pullets (Ini mini and Pino) from 8 chicks.

I had a pullet guarantee and could swop the 3 boys for 3 girls (hopefully) and bought 1 more just in case there were cockerels amongst them.

Adding young chicks with the 2 older pullets wasn’t easy. One chick disappeared. The openings in the 5x5 cm panels were too big and apparently a 6 week old bantam chick could walk through it. With al the cats in my neighbourhood she probably was a juicy bite. One chick didn’t grow well and died after a month or 2. Finally I ended up with 3 pullets and a cockerel (-> 4 out of 12 chicks).

Next spring, I kept the cockerel until he got too loud and I saved the eggs for Ini mini, my first broody. And soon after I had 3 broodies on two nests.

This next year (2015) was a bit more successful, 8 chicks hatched. Had a few casualties. 2 died from a rat, I could bring 3 cockerels to the seller from the previous year. -> Finally after 2 seasons I had a nice flock with 3 hens and 3 pullets.

 

[RoyalChick]

You’ve been through a lot. Your determination and care for your chickens are inspirations for me.

Yes. X2.

 

[MaryJanet]

You’ve been through a lot. Your determination and care for your chickens are inspirations for me.

That's kind. Thank you.

I should add two of the chicks were cockerels who were re-homed. So there were 4 survivors from 11.

 

[MaryJanet]

Yes. X2.

I was already struggling when Marek's cropped up.

It really was a gruelling season.

 

[MaryJanet]

This is hard.

It does remind me of my first experience when I started to keep chickens in my backyard.

I bought 4 bantam chicks. 6 week old. That way I didn’t need extra warmth and the chicks could go immediately outside in the prefab with the little attached run. The seller said the chicks are all girls. But it turned out they were sick. Three died.

Bought 4 new chicks all girls he said (for a reduced price). The one survivor turned out to be a little cockerel, as well as 2 other chicks. -> so far I had 2 bantam pullets (Ini mini and Pino) from 8 chicks.

I had a pullet guarantee and could swop the 3 boys for 3 girls (hopefully) and bought 1 more just in case there were cockerels amongst them.

Adding young chicks with the 2 older pullets wasn’t easy. One chick disappeared. The openings in the 5x5 cm panels were too big and apparently a 6 week old bantam chick could walk through it. With al the cats in my neighbourhood she probably was a juicy bite. One chick didn’t grow well and died after a month or 2. Finally I ended up with 3 pullets and a cockerel (-> 4 out of 12 chicks).

Next spring, I kept the cockerel until he got too loud and I saved the eggs for Ini mini, my first broody. And soon after I had 3 broodies on two nests.

This next year (2015) was a bit more successful, 8 chicks hatched. Had a few casualties. 2 died from a rat, I could bring 3 cockerels to the seller from the previous year. -> Finally after 2 seasons I had a nice flock with 3 hens and 3 pullets.

So many people sell sick chicks and pullets, it's quite extraordinary. Where are the ethics?