Chipmunk Chicks
Free Ranging
Hello! 
I'm new here; hope I'm posting in the right place.
I am brand new to chicken keeping, but we had been thinking about getting started for a long time. About a month ago, we just decided it was time to jump in!
After much deliberation, breed research, struggling with shipping minimums, coop size, chickens at the feed store that were not the chickens they SAID were, MIL changing her mind and backing out of splitting a chick order with us etc. etc. etc. I called around and found a TS with five black Australorp chicks left on a Friday afternoon, and I said, "We're on our way! Those chickies are MINE!" lol Really, I had felt okay with getting 15, but DH wanted more like 8-10 max, so we talked it over and decided to get five more chicks from a hatchery, even if it meant paying the extra small order fee. We ordered five more Welsummer chicks, and they sent six, so here we are with eleven of the loveliest little chickie babies you could ever hope for! Mama is over the moon!
We now have five 3-week Australorp chicks, and six 1-week Welsummers. Other breeds I have been seriously considering (and would love to try keeping one day) include Dominique Chickens, Speckled Sussex, Lavender Marans (we found a local breeder), Swedish Flower Hens, White Dorkings and/or Americaunas, Buckeye Chickens, and Buff Chanteclers. Probably sounds a bit all over the place, but I love the idea of keeping and preserving older heritage breeds. Primarily, I want a well-balanced, family friendly flock for the sake of the kids, and it feels like we took a chance on the Welsummers. haha The first order we placed (that I had to cancel) was for 15 Speckled Sussex. Sigh. We are totally in love with our Australorps though, so that's worked out well, and DH was almost wishing we'd just gotten more of them. I've been torn between the simplicity of keeping a single breed flock, vs. enjoying the beauty of so many different breeds in a mixed flock, and their various strengths balancing out others' weaknesses i.e. winter layers, dual purpose, temperament etc. and eventually determining our likes and dislikes from experience / trial and error. The Wellies are already keeping us on our toes, so hopefully all goes well!
My favorite aspect of raising backyard chickens... are the chickens! hahah And well, most everything so far. They currently live in our dining room, and I have been so pleasantly surprised how much I enjoy watching them interact with each other and just being chickens, as well as discovering the ones who enjoy coming around their people or being held more. I have been handling them daily, and it's been so fascinating to watch them grow so quickly through their stages. I also love learning about coop and run design, watching lots of those type of videos - it's all gotten so Pintrest-y it seems! which can be a dangerous thing. lol I'm also interested in learning about breeding chicks and hatching eggs.
By the grace of God, I get to mother two beautiful toddlers. We like to read, color, sing, craft, play musical instruments, play outside in the garden as much as possible, and all those lovely things. We hope to spend more time outdoors camping, biking etc. as they get older. I'm a trained singer, but I'm sadly not doing much with that these days, so I'm hoping a way will open up for more of that again, too.
My husband is a contractor, so we are small business owners, but I used to be a music teacher. We have two dogs, one who's a little old man dog and great with the chicks, and a gigantic shepherd who has absolutely no chill when it comes to the fluffy little chirping creatures.
I had so many questions when we were first getting started, and finding so many interesting conversations and helpful information on BYC! And now here I am!
I'm new here; hope I'm posting in the right place.I am brand new to chicken keeping, but we had been thinking about getting started for a long time. About a month ago, we just decided it was time to jump in!
After much deliberation, breed research, struggling with shipping minimums, coop size, chickens at the feed store that were not the chickens they SAID were, MIL changing her mind and backing out of splitting a chick order with us etc. etc. etc. I called around and found a TS with five black Australorp chicks left on a Friday afternoon, and I said, "We're on our way! Those chickies are MINE!" lol Really, I had felt okay with getting 15, but DH wanted more like 8-10 max, so we talked it over and decided to get five more chicks from a hatchery, even if it meant paying the extra small order fee. We ordered five more Welsummer chicks, and they sent six, so here we are with eleven of the loveliest little chickie babies you could ever hope for! Mama is over the moon!
We now have five 3-week Australorp chicks, and six 1-week Welsummers. Other breeds I have been seriously considering (and would love to try keeping one day) include Dominique Chickens, Speckled Sussex, Lavender Marans (we found a local breeder), Swedish Flower Hens, White Dorkings and/or Americaunas, Buckeye Chickens, and Buff Chanteclers. Probably sounds a bit all over the place, but I love the idea of keeping and preserving older heritage breeds. Primarily, I want a well-balanced, family friendly flock for the sake of the kids, and it feels like we took a chance on the Welsummers. haha The first order we placed (that I had to cancel) was for 15 Speckled Sussex. Sigh. We are totally in love with our Australorps though, so that's worked out well, and DH was almost wishing we'd just gotten more of them. I've been torn between the simplicity of keeping a single breed flock, vs. enjoying the beauty of so many different breeds in a mixed flock, and their various strengths balancing out others' weaknesses i.e. winter layers, dual purpose, temperament etc. and eventually determining our likes and dislikes from experience / trial and error. The Wellies are already keeping us on our toes, so hopefully all goes well!
My favorite aspect of raising backyard chickens... are the chickens! hahah And well, most everything so far. They currently live in our dining room, and I have been so pleasantly surprised how much I enjoy watching them interact with each other and just being chickens, as well as discovering the ones who enjoy coming around their people or being held more. I have been handling them daily, and it's been so fascinating to watch them grow so quickly through their stages. I also love learning about coop and run design, watching lots of those type of videos - it's all gotten so Pintrest-y it seems! which can be a dangerous thing. lol I'm also interested in learning about breeding chicks and hatching eggs.
By the grace of God, I get to mother two beautiful toddlers. We like to read, color, sing, craft, play musical instruments, play outside in the garden as much as possible, and all those lovely things. We hope to spend more time outdoors camping, biking etc. as they get older. I'm a trained singer, but I'm sadly not doing much with that these days, so I'm hoping a way will open up for more of that again, too.
My husband is a contractor, so we are small business owners, but I used to be a music teacher. We have two dogs, one who's a little old man dog and great with the chicks, and a gigantic shepherd who has absolutely no chill when it comes to the fluffy little chirping creatures.
I had so many questions when we were first getting started, and finding so many interesting conversations and helpful information on BYC! And now here I am!
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Glad you joined.
Enjoy your new chicks and best of luck!
