1 year ago today we received 22 chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery. All were alive on arrival and still are today. When I was researching before ordering chicks, all I could find were horror stories. This post is for those folks who are searching before they order so that they know not all stories end badly.
We ordered:
6 Pearl White Leghorn pullets which turned out to be great layers that have not gone broody yet. They are inquisitive, quick to learn (for a chicken) and very active. They are not flighty and most of them are relatively friendly, with a couple that require daily holding and petting.
5 Black Minorca pullets who are fair layers that have not gone broody yet. They are more stand offish than the others and are not thrilled to be touched. They are a little flighty, but not bad.
5 Buff Minorca pullets who are fair layers but go broody a lot. They are also very, very flighty. But they are also very friendly and some have to be held daily.
4 Ancona pullets and 1 Ancona cockerel that was supposed to be a pullet. Fair layers who haven't gone broody yet. These are the noisiest birds we have, always talking. The rooster ended up being very tall and of a relatively good temperament. The hens are friendly, but not overly so. They are pretty flighty too.
And received for free 1 Blue Cochin pullet. We can expect about 4 or 5 eggs a week from her, but she is broody a lot of the time too. She is extremely calm and nothing ruffles her and doesn't seek out attention but loves to be held.
For the first 4-1/2 months these chicks stayed in our front bedroom in an 8'x8' brooder I built out of 4 pieces of plywood. We were able to go in and sit with them and interact with them daily. My wife sat with them every evening without fail and they are still very attached to her. Many still think of her as Momma chicken and have to be held by her in evenings when she goes to shut down the coop. The floor of the brooder was lined with a tarp and then multiple layers of plastic to protect the carpet, then pine chips were put on top, the dust was horrendous! When they got big enough to fly over the 4' walls we put a 6' tall step ladder in the middle and stretched a $5 net from Home Depot over it all. They loved their ladder and either slept on it, or on the roosts I had built in their brooder corners. We built a large nice coop for them with a temporary run for them and they love it too.
We ran out of warm weather before I got to start on the permanent run, so that is on the agenda for this year. After I build two more coops for the 37 other chicks we acquired this spring!
We ordered:
6 Pearl White Leghorn pullets which turned out to be great layers that have not gone broody yet. They are inquisitive, quick to learn (for a chicken) and very active. They are not flighty and most of them are relatively friendly, with a couple that require daily holding and petting.
5 Black Minorca pullets who are fair layers that have not gone broody yet. They are more stand offish than the others and are not thrilled to be touched. They are a little flighty, but not bad.
5 Buff Minorca pullets who are fair layers but go broody a lot. They are also very, very flighty. But they are also very friendly and some have to be held daily.
4 Ancona pullets and 1 Ancona cockerel that was supposed to be a pullet. Fair layers who haven't gone broody yet. These are the noisiest birds we have, always talking. The rooster ended up being very tall and of a relatively good temperament. The hens are friendly, but not overly so. They are pretty flighty too.
And received for free 1 Blue Cochin pullet. We can expect about 4 or 5 eggs a week from her, but she is broody a lot of the time too. She is extremely calm and nothing ruffles her and doesn't seek out attention but loves to be held.
For the first 4-1/2 months these chicks stayed in our front bedroom in an 8'x8' brooder I built out of 4 pieces of plywood. We were able to go in and sit with them and interact with them daily. My wife sat with them every evening without fail and they are still very attached to her. Many still think of her as Momma chicken and have to be held by her in evenings when she goes to shut down the coop. The floor of the brooder was lined with a tarp and then multiple layers of plastic to protect the carpet, then pine chips were put on top, the dust was horrendous! When they got big enough to fly over the 4' walls we put a 6' tall step ladder in the middle and stretched a $5 net from Home Depot over it all. They loved their ladder and either slept on it, or on the roosts I had built in their brooder corners. We built a large nice coop for them with a temporary run for them and they love it too.
We ran out of warm weather before I got to start on the permanent run, so that is on the agenda for this year. After I build two more coops for the 37 other chicks we acquired this spring!
Congratz on all of your birds being so great!
