Hi all, I am quite wet behind the ears at everything chickens although I have been reading everything I can get my hands on. I ordered 16 chicks from a hatchery to be delivered sometime in the next month (from a hatchery in our state with a 15 chick minimum). My husband seems fine building a coop for that amount in the next few weeks but I'm starting to feel a little uneasy about getting that many starting out. I found another hatchery on the east coast (we live in the midwest) and can pick my date to have them shipped and I can pick how many I would like to receive. I would really feel comfortable with 7-10 I believe. Then I am a little leery of the chicks coming from that far away.
So could you guide me as what to do in this situation? Any help is very much welcomed!! TIA
I would get the 16 that are close to you. Shipping is very stressful for chicks and the farther they have to travel the more likely you are to lose some. You may lose some even getting them close so you may not end up with 16 after all. Perhaps you know someone who would take a few of them for their own flock. I think you will be hooked on them when you see them and decide you want ALL of them! And raising 16 isn't really any more work than raising 10.
Thank you all so much for your replies! I've been on the phone with my Mom trying to get her to take a few... her husband my step-dad bought a coop and it is just sitting on their beautiful land. She thinks that she would need to care for them and doesn't like that idea. But he wants Orphingtons (spelling?), which is not what I have ordered. He is supposed to call me tomorrow and talk about him taking some.
I guess I feel most overwhelmed because we have a very limited space (a kiddy pool) for brooding and no coop yet.
Thank you all so much for your replies! I've been on the phone with my Mom trying to get her to take a few... her husband my step-dad bought a coop and it is just sitting on their beautiful land. She thinks that she would need to care for them and doesn't like that idea. But he wants Orphingtons (spelling?), which is not what I have ordered. He is supposed to call me tomorrow and talk about him taking some.
I guess I feel most overwhelmed because we have a very limited space (a kiddy pool) for brooding and no coop yet.
I wouldn't stress too much. I started out with 14 and somehow I now have 22. <sigh> My brooder seemed more than adequate at first, but they are getting big quickly and will outgrow it very soon. My coop isn't built yet - we have a good head start and think we will be finishing the construction tomorrow, but will still have to put in the roosts, the nest boxes, get it painted, and get the run built. I have come to the conclusion that if a lot of us (me included) waited until we had the perfect brooder, the perfect coop built and a list of customers for our eggs, we still wouldn't have the chickens! Yes, it's absolutely much better to be prepared, but if I've figured out anything it's that no matter what you have arranged, somehow there'll be a monkey wrench thrown in there and you'll end up making adjustments anyway. So prepare as well as you can, then be prepared to re-prepare.
That said, the wading pool will work for a short time but unless you either put it within a "cage" of some sort - even if it's just a chicken wire frame running around it - or find a way to cover it with some kind of mesh or wire, you'll find yourself playing chick hide 'n' seek a lot. It doesn't take them long to find a way up and over, and they are surprisingly quick to try out those stubby little wings.
Relax - have fun with this.....you'll be just fine. You've probably already done this, but if not go up to the tabs on the top of the toolbar and click on Learning Center. Any of those links are full of information for each stage of getting the best out of yourself, your facilities, and your chicks!
Thank you Boolie! I know as a Mama of four who flies by the seat of her pants most times that what you are saying is true! Its kind of a little crazy that I am a little OCD about chicks that I don't even have yet in comparison to my IRL kiddos! lol. Thanks for putting things in perspective!
We do in fact have hardware cloth all around the kiddy pool. But I think they will out grow that way more quickly than I'd like to think about!!
