Who else got chick fever this year?!!!

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

Oh yeahhh, chicken math became real this year! I had decided that this year we needed to restock our flock, as we had taken some losses over the past year. I had decided about 10-15 chicks would be a good number. Anywayyyyyyyssss, stuff and things happened, chicks were too cute for their own good, and I ended up with 32 chicks and 4 ducklings

 

[2ndTink]

We got chickens 3 years ago, we wanted 6, so we bought 5 chicks, 2 were roos so we replaced them with 4 POL GCs. By the end of the summer we had 14 chickens and 6 guineas and 3 coops. We had a plan to get new chicks every other year. In year #2 we weren't going to get any chicks, so we bought 14 more and built another coop.

I thought I had chicken math figured out, last year, we made it all year with 0 chicken purchases, we were on track for the same this year until a BA went broody and we went to buy chicken feed as TSC and it went from we are not buying chicks to, maybe we could pop 4 chicks under the broody. So we went home with 7 chicks. And Juravenator doesn't want them, so now we have 7 chicks in the house and I'm having to integrate our current hens around to open up a coop for them. Yay chicken math!

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Oops

Once the babies came you couldn’t get rid of them! I’m guessing this is how you were thinking?!!!

 

[Party_Chicken]

Once the babies came you couldn’t get rid of them! I’m guessing this is how you were thinking?!!!

Exactly

 

[NagemTX]

Me, me, me. Had it bad this year. 35 on the way May 24th. A Phoenix went broody gave her 10 and 5 hatched. Another Phoenix went broody, let her keep the eggs she was on(14) 12 have hatched. Put 24 in the incubator17 left to hatch and they are breaking out as I type this.

Going to raise the ones I hatched till I know the sex and then sell them. Might keep a few. Will be EEs for the most part.

 

[NuggetMama]

Me, me. me! I resisted buying any chicks last year, so I was -- at least in my own mind -- overdue. A few hens had passed away, so there was space for more chickens. I needed to refill the coops, right?

The local feed store posted a schedule of expected breeds but was having supply issues. So, even though I REALLY wanted two (just two!) Sapphire Olive Eggers, I wasn't sure they would come in. I bought two Sapphire Splashes instead.

Then, the next week, Olive Eggers arrived. Well, it couldn't hurt to get two more, could it? Sadly, one little one died -- first time I've ever lost an indoor brooded chick. I went to buy feed Friday, and the store had even more chicks, including Calico Princesses (cute little reddish babies that were supposed to come in two weeks ago) and, wonder of wonder, they had Midnight Majesty Marans, which weren't due for three more weeks.

I was only going to get ONE chick to replace the lost Olive Egger, but came home with two Princesses and a Marans. All told, there are now six chicks in the brooder. Of course, they are going to outgrow it much faster since there are so many of them.

I should probably just send someone else into the feed store with my money so I don't came home with any more babies!!

I ALMOST got some new babies because TS had some really cute ducklings just begging to go home then I went to Cal Ranch and OMGGG The little Barred rocks were literally begging to get out of the brooder they had set up. Quite literally, I put my finger to the plexi and they were chasing it all around. I wanted them SO bad but I refrained!

THEN I saw a lone baby turkey and had to run away before i got it. That poor thing was all alone and my bleeding heart about burst and was going to throw my money at the store to get it instead of feed LOL

 

[Callender Girl]

@NuggetMama, you are a stronger woman than I! Three years ago, I ended up with a FREE chick at the feed store because she was a mystery layer, in with a brooder of bigger, more aggressive broilers. I said no, but the poultry clerk ignored my refusal, popped the little one into a box, and said, "We'll give her to you for free. She's scared and getting picked on here."

Her early experiences scarred her and left her with an insane fear of other chickens. And, that's how Dottie became a house chicken. Turns out, she's a Prairie Bluebell Egger and has rewarded me with the most lovely pale blue eggs!

 

[NuggetMama]

@NuggetMama, you are a stronger woman than I! Three years ago, I ended up with a FREE chick at the feed store because she was a mystery layer, in with a brooder of bigger, more aggressive broilers. I said no, but the poultry clerk ignored my refusal, popped the little one into a box, and said, "We'll give her to you for free. She's scared and getting picked on here."

Her early experiences scarred her and left her with an insane fear of other chickens. And, that's how Dottie became a house chicken. Turns out, she's a Prairie Bluebell Egger and has rewarded me with the most lovely pale blue eggs!

OMG that is so nice! I am trying to be strong! Let me tell you, I about ran there on foot to go see if it was adopted or not because I can't stand the thought of that poor baby being alone. I am so scared of that poor thing not being bought and not finding a new home. BUT where am I going to put it ? I guess it could be a house turkey.

I have a house hen too! Her name is Marilyn. She was the ONLY one to survive in a batch of chicks I had bought from someone who was "backyard breeding". Which for the most part isn't too horrible except this person has no clue what they are doing. All of the babies that came with Marilyn had inbred issues and had to be euthanized and my girls outside didn't really want a single hen coming in (I didn't want her picked on either being only a single...).

 

[Predoggg]

Us here too. We got a mystery shipment of 15 chicks at the end of January and picked up 6 chickens yesterday. We will get 16 more chickens in August. We currently have 7 chickens and only want to add 5 chickens. We will see where we end up at the end of the year.
Yes, some of the chickens we plan to raise and then sell them.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

Definitely!!! I have 33 8wk olds, and 8 eggs in the incubator...

And then my friend brought me a cockerel