My 15 broilers arrived on Friday. I think they are all red and black broilers...the hatchery said the cx hatch was dismal, but I guess I misunderstood--I thought I'd get a couple of regular CX, but looks like they are all red/black broilers. They shipped 16, one arrived dead, and one died the first day. Both black. A couple more of the black ones look weak as well.
The Ecoglow heater is....AWESOME. Holy moly. So far, the best money I've spent on chickens yet. But, it only had 2 days of use. When the chicks came, I put 6 under my broody hen. She took to them instantly. The rest were in a separate brooder with the ecoglow. The chicks with a mama...hardly any peeping. Super happy. The chicks under the ecoglow were more quiet than any chicks I've had in the past, but still peeped more than the chicks with a mama. Yesterday, I finished my outdoor brooder, and stuck ALL 14 chicks under the hen. Happy, happy chicks. It got down to 32 last night, and I check on the mama hen a few times...every chick is under her. Somehow. Mama is a Polish/silkie mix, so it's not like she's a big chicken.
My littlest dog, Buddy, wandered a little too close to the chicks yesterday. Mama bolted from the brooder (I was taking pictures with the door open) and laid my poor dog flat. His face is totally swollen and messed up this morning. Poor thing. He didn't know what hit him. He's not extremely healthy to begin with--valley fever that's not responding well to meds--and I hope this isn't going to turn into another $$$ vet visit. I plied him with antibiotic eye cream, rimadyl, and tramadol this morning, so he should be feeling much better!
Angelicisi, I think your chicks will be fine outdoors now. They are big enough to be producing a lot of heat! I wonder if Crook, when she/he is big enough, might make a tasty Cornish game hen. I loved how friendly the CX were!
imma chicken addict
but we don't exactly know yet :/
when I do OH MAN she's getting a zillion chicks! Well a lot anyways hehe
