Meet The New Peeps!

 

This year I decided to freshen up the coop with some new chickens.  Apparently, with the whole bird flu thing and current rise in eggs prices, acquiring pullets is a hot commodity, much like toilet paper was in 2020.  As a result I had an experience like I’d never had before.  It was surreal.

 

Arriving from the hatchery

I’ve always just gone to the hatchery two towns over to choose and buy what I wanted, however this year they are not selling to the public and only filling commercial orders.  That is something I’ve not seen before.  Upon the advice of a cashier at the feed store I go to she suggested that I get up bright an early one Wednesday and be one of the first in line for when the hatchery truck arrived so I’d be able to have first pick once they got there.  I did just that and ended up being the first one at their door when they opened up at 8:00 am.

 

Cordelia, Willow & Buffy - Just 24 hours old

As you can imagine there was quite a line that developed and I loved how people would covertly worm their way ahead in that line making claims that they were in line ahead of others.  They weren’t fooling anyone.  So childish!  After a four plus hour wait the hatchery truck arrived and chaos broke out.  The staff at the feed store got everyone back in line and a pair of ladies stepped ahead of me stating they were first.  I reminded the clerk that I’d been here when she unlocked the doors and she kindly acknowledged that to be true.  The other ladies were asked to step back into the line and then I got to go and select three beautiful fluffy little girls to take home.

 

1 Week Old

I chose three different breeds with solid egg laying traits – a Buff Orpington (that’s what Edith was), a Wellsummer and an Aquila.  These last two breeds are new to my flock.  They were less than twenty four hours old, but were perky and appeared to be very healthy and active despite everything they had been through just to get to the feed store.  Then I whisked them away in small cardboard box for a bumpy ride to my house and into the brooder.  After dipping each ones beak in water and offering chick feed these young ladies were ready for a nap.  The girls are growing leaps and bounds and seem to get along very well.

 

From day one I’ve acclimated them to human touch so they aren’t going to grow up skittish of me when I am working with them.  I give them lots of cuddles and loves.  How can I not?  They are adorable.  My original plan was to only get two this year, but as I waited in line at the feed store I realized that should one of them not make it I might have a difficult time replacing it so that the surviving chick would have a partner.  Chickens don’t do well alone and need a companion so I decided last minute it would be prudent to add another one, just in case.  Fortunately for me, all of them seem to be doing very well.

 

My brooder set up is pretty simple.  I use a large dog crate a friend gave me years ago with a tray in the bottom.  I cut cardboard to go along the sides which I attaché with zip ties.  This keeps the tiny peeps from escaping through the bars the first few weeks until they get a bit bigger, but also keeps them from kicking the pine shavings out of the brooder when they start scratching around doing their chicken things.  A heat lamp clamped on top of the brooder keeps them plenty warm.  In the brooder I keep a chick feeder with plenty of fresh water, a feeder with dry chick feed and a small pan with wet chick feed.  The first couple of weeks the chick feed tends to be a bit big and difficult for them to eat.  The wet feed is much easier for them to eat and has the added benefit of offering more hydration to the peeps.  Whenever I open the door and bring them their wet feed they come running towards me which is a good sign that they love their food and their new mom.

 

I have not taken Jack up on his offer to babysit

My two senior ladies out in the coop lay eggs on a very occasional basis now.  They are five and six years old so I know there is every chance that one or both may die in the next year or so.  Now is a good time for me to freshen up the coop.  In the future I plan to add two more hens and continue the rotation of adding fresh egg layers every two to three years.  It has worked well for me and although I don’t need a lot of eggs to warrant a full coop I do have friends and they always appreciate a dozen farm fresh eggs when I have extras.  I just hope next time I won’t need to stand in a line for hours.  That was nuts!