My chick order, what do you think? $ Q's for McMurry site?

[Double T]

Ok what I have kind of narrowed it down to, (or picked off the Murry site) is:
Buff Orpingtons -5 pullets
Barred Rocks- 5 pullets
Rhode Island Reds 5 pullets
A few Red Stars (gonna try getting some 17 week old hens so they’ll lay sooner-2 and a few chicks-3)
a few black star chicks 2
some Araucana females-5 and two males
and apparently they throw in some kind of rare exotic chick, but won’t tell you the sex or breed, my luck it’ll be a rooster lol.

And Vaxed for the Marek’s (do I need to do this honestly, it’s only like 5 more to have ‘em vaxed??).

What do y’all think honestly? I’m not crazy about the itty chicks, and am gonna wait till at least May to get them cause 30 baby chicks in the house I’m afraid may stink and hubs has kind of said no, so I’m gonna fix up a heat lamp out in the coop for them (there is already a small cage thing in there). I’ve contacted a local elderly lady that is needing the money and wanting to sell a few of her laying hens, so am waiting on that to get with them and buy 4-5 grown ones right now so I’ll go ahead and have some eggs. I picked the first two breeds because it said they were good winter layers (although didn’t say the size of the eggs). Our weather is W TX, hot in the summer with it regularly getting over 100. Winters are a few days of staying below freezing during the day and a maybe freezing at night for a few months but getting in the 40’s or 50’s normally during the day, although this winter we have seen temps as high as 80’s and 90’s during the day, and then had a week of it not getting above 0 with snow, but it has been a freaky wierd winter too.

Hubs also wondered if all these breeds would get along? I haven’t placed the order cause I need to call them, they say your PO will get them but won’t let me use a PO box for shipping, and living out in the country (20 miles from the actual PO) a physical address is hard to find sometimes and UPS will deliver but their main warehouse is like 100 miles away so don’t want to have to go there and pick them up, and Fed Ex just purely won’t deliver. So I need to get some answers as to wehre you'll actualy have to go to pick these things up.

OT for the chicks deal but I'm gonna ask as I'm not sure where to put it, but for a grown ckicken a simple pan of water shoudl be good enough to water them out of right? There is one chicken left that the previous owners abandonded, and she's running free (haven't caught her in the chicken house yet but she's laying an egg a day there), and I'm planning on catching her tonight in there, and feed can you free feed safly?

 

[dianaross77]

The only question I think I can answer is on the shipping. You'd need to call your post office a few days before the chicks arrive to let them know you're expecting them. They will need to call you when the chicks arrive so you can pick them up. It is extremely rare for a mail carrier to deliver chicks. I've heard of it happening but usually only when the mail carrier knows the person and is doing it as a favor.

The breeds you picked are all known to be good layers. All of the chicks will get along fine. You'll have to keep them separate from any older hens you get until they are about the same size. If you use a pan to water older chickens it'll get messy really quickly. Not sure about what you mean with your last question about free feeding safely?

 

[Double T]

I called 'em and the older red stars are out, it's like 80 shipping jsut to get them here so I'm not gonna get 'em unless i can find someone that i can just meet and get some. She said they will ship to your post office and you get there there, so if I put my town zip in that is where they'll go, that's fine we are pretty rural and don't get mail delviered to our house anyways and have to go to town to get it, so no biggie.
On the free feeding, I meant can you just pour some feed out in a dish and let them eat what they want? That's coming from my horse and dog ownership stuff lol, you can't free feed those animals.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Quote:
If you do them them vaccinated you won't ever have to worry about it. I don't think most people do though, so it's just personal preference.

What do y’all think honestly? I’m not crazy about the itty chicks, and am gonna wait till at least May to get them cause 30 baby chicks in the house I’m afraid may stink and hubs has kind of said no, so I’m gonna fix up a heat lamp out in the coop for them (there is already a small cage thing in there). I’ve contacted a local elderly lady that is needing the money and wanting to sell a few of her laying hens, so am waiting on that to get with them and buy 4-5 grown ones right now so I’ll go ahead and have some eggs. I picked the first two breeds because it said they were good winter layers (although didn’t say the size of the eggs). Our weather is W TX, hot in the summer with it regularly getting over 100. Winters are a few days of staying below freezing during the day and a maybe freezing at night for a few months but getting in the 40’s or 50’s normally during the day, although this winter we have seen temps as high as 80’s and 90’s during the day, and then had a week of it not getting above 0 with snow, but it has been a freaky wierd winter too.

The breeds you picked are all known to be good layers. All of the chicks will get along fine. You'll have to keep them separate from any older hens you get until they are about the same size. If you use a pan to water older chickens it'll get messy really quickly- most people don't use pans, they use chicken waterers which are easier to keep the chickens out of and therefore clean. You can use a pan if you want, just make sure the babies can't fall into it.

Hubs also wondered if all these breeds would get along? I haven’t placed the order cause I need to call them, they say your PO will get them but won’t let me use a PO box for shipping, and living out in the country (20 miles from the actual PO) a physical address is hard to find sometimes and UPS will deliver but their main warehouse is like 100 miles away so don’t want to have to go there and pick them up, and Fed Ex just purely won’t deliver. So I need to get some answers as to wehre you'll actualy have to go to pick these things up.

Call your local PO and tell them they are coming and that you need to be called as soon as they get in. You can also have the hatchery send it to "your name, general delivery" at such and such Post Office. Also tell the hatchery you want CALL UPON ARRIVAL on top of the box with your phone number on it.

OT for the chicks deal but I'm gonna ask as I'm not sure where to put it, but for a grown ckicken a simple pan of water shoudl be good enough to water them out of right? There is one chicken left that the previous owners abandonded, and she's running free (haven't caught her in the chicken house yet but she's laying an egg a day there), and I'm planning on catching her tonight in there, and feed can you free feed safly?

The chicks will need to be on "chick starter", and the grown hens will need to be on "layer feed". Both of these SHOULD be free fed.

Hope this helps!​

 

[SpringChickens]

For free feeding - yep! Just go ahead and leave out a full dish 24/7. They self regulate very well - never heard of anyone who had trouble with their chickens overeating (except for those with meat birds - those are a whole other ball game!!)

 

[schellie69]

With chickens I just leave the feed in the a homemade feeder I also bought a water jug for the chickens. I started out with young pullets when I first started chickens then the next spring I got some chicks. you might be able to check a farm store in your area they usually have chicks this time of year. If you go with the pullets already older make sure when you introduce your chicks they are about the same size also make sure that your pullets/hens have access to grit and oyster shell. I would not use a bowl of water for young chicks they have special waters for chicks. Good luck and have fun with your chickens.

 

[The Fairy Godmartyr]

The other option, if you get chicks and older birds, is to feed them all chick starter and keep a constant supply of oyster shell where the laying hens can get it. I've been told this works well.

 

[Double T]

thanks, I've got a sack of chicken feed (man at the store told me that is what you feed laying hens, lol) but no oyster shell yet, will do when I get to town, so you mix it with the other feed or just offer it in two different pans? I want to feed this one girl someting, as she's just been scrounging around the place since they moved 2 weeks ago. She's not too gentle and the one time she's been in the coop while i was in there she was none too happy about it, and was chattering to me waiting for me to get away from the little door.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I keep my Oyster shell in a different pan. That way they can just get it as they want it.

 

[Long Last Farm]

You may want to order them in advance for the weeks you want them. If you look ahead on the Murrray Mc Murray website, many breeds are limited or unavailable in the upcoming weeks and months. Just don't want you to be disappointed when you are ready to order....