Chicken Shak

The following was pulled from facebook posts. I put it all together for you here. I see it as an archive, a prequel to what has come since. The pictures of mature hens are for illustration only. Though the chicks are of the varieties pictured, results may vary. They are growing quickly. Due to that, their living arrangements have changed for the bigger since these pictures were taken. This blog ends with them at twelve days. They are twenty days old at this writing. Enjoy the pictures. Come back soon. Plenty more to catch you up on.

The brooder

This is the brooder I built for the soon to arrive chicks (ship 02/27/12). After spending the better part of the day looking for cardboard on a roll and not finding it, I settled for this much superior design. I repurposed the rabbit cage shipping boxes. I rounderd off the corners with flooring boxes someone left straddling a too narrow surface in the garage. This left them, to my great satisfaction, the perfect arc for my needs. This is very important as chicks will pile one upon the other in corners; thereby, increasing their mortality rate. That is no way to treat chicks.

The brooder from the outside

Here you see the brooder from the outside. To the left are the remnants of the bag of pine shavings I used as litter. I put the brooder in the chicken coop. That way the chicks wont have too great an adjustment when hardy enough to roam. The next five pictures are of the five breeds of chickens I ordered. I ordered 6 chicks of each breed. All pullets. No cocks. I can take care of that when the time comes.

Buff Orpington hen

Buff Orpington hen. Orpingtons are good layers and exceptional meat chickens. They are docile and cold hardy. Their eggs are brown.

Delaware hen

Delaware hen. Delawares are good layers and exceptional meat chickens. They are docile, cold hardy and valued as ornamentals. Their eggs are brown.

Silver-laced Wyandotte hen

Wyandotte Silver-laced hen. Wyandottes are good layers and good meat chickens. They are docile, cold hardy and valued as ornamentals. Their eggs are brown.

Ameracauna hen

Ameracauna hen. Ameracauna hens are good layers and good meat chickens. They are often called "Easter Egg Chickens" because of their colorful eggs. They are docile and cold hardy.

Welsummer hen

 

Welsummer hen, Welsummers are good layers and good meat chickens. They are docile and cold hardy. Their eggs are dark brown. 

The chicks have arrived. All in apparently good health. Yes, all 30 of them. The pictures are not too good because of the light of the heat lamp. I don't want to go messing with them until they are all settled. They need the heat. All are drinking, eating and active.

It's been 12 days since the little buggers arrived. I did lose one, the runt, but all others are growing, thriving and goofier by the day.