by Pa Rock
Chicken Rancher
It's been a big week here at Rock's Roost. On Wednesday, after prolonged harassment by Apple and Google, I finally broke down and bought a new cell phone, my first in over six years. (The Smithsonian has expressed an interest in acquiring my old phone!) Then on Thursday - yesterday - I received my first official call on the new phone. It was from the local feed store informing me that my baby chicks had arrived.
I had ordered two dozen Buff Orphington pullets (hens) and two cockerels (roosters) of the same breed - as well as ten Sumatras, a black show chicken. I hurried to the feed store where I found that the Buff Orphingtons had arrived, but the Sumatras had been cancelled by the hatchery. Normally the hatchery will include one or two extra chicks in case some die during the delivery process, and when I got home and transferred the chicks out of their traveling box and into their new home, I was pleased to find twenty-six pullets and two cockerels.
I have a special room in the coop that is reserved especially for baby chicks. The floor of this nursery is covered in new pine shavings, and the chicks themselves begin their farm adventure in a small kiddie wading pool that sits on the floor. I have waterers and feeders in the kiddie pool, and the little birds instinctively know how to use those containers to meet their survival needs. I also have a heat lamp hanging above their new home that will remain on constantly for the first few days until they are completely acclimated to their new surroundings.
In a few days the little chicks will begin jumping out of the wading pool and into the pine shavings. When most have left the pool, I will remove it. The nursery is connected to a small enclosed (and covered) outdoor area which they will discover next, an area that allows them to be in the fresh air during the days and come into the nursery room at night. Eventually as they get larger and begin growing feathers, I will let them outside during the days to scurry after bugs and eat ticks.
(Rock's Roost is currently home to two adult chickens, a Rhode Island Red hen and rooster, who have had the run of the farm for quite awhile. They are quite curious about all of the "peeping" coming from the nursery!)
If all goes according to plan, the young hens will begin laying large brown eggs in about five months. There are, of course, many things that could interfere with those grand plans, particularly trouble with predators: skunks, raccoons, possums, snakes, hawks, and the absolute worst predators of all: cur dogs.
But, hope springs eternal - and I am very hopeful that each of the little birds will make it to adulthood and go on to become productive workers and residents of Rock's Roost!
Chicken Rancher
It's been a big week here at Rock's Roost. On Wednesday, after prolonged harassment by Apple and Google, I finally broke down and bought a new cell phone, my first in over six years. (The Smithsonian has expressed an interest in acquiring my old phone!) Then on Thursday - yesterday - I received my first official call on the new phone. It was from the local feed store informing me that my baby chicks had arrived.
I had ordered two dozen Buff Orphington pullets (hens) and two cockerels (roosters) of the same breed - as well as ten Sumatras, a black show chicken. I hurried to the feed store where I found that the Buff Orphingtons had arrived, but the Sumatras had been cancelled by the hatchery. Normally the hatchery will include one or two extra chicks in case some die during the delivery process, and when I got home and transferred the chicks out of their traveling box and into their new home, I was pleased to find twenty-six pullets and two cockerels.
I have a special room in the coop that is reserved especially for baby chicks. The floor of this nursery is covered in new pine shavings, and the chicks themselves begin their farm adventure in a small kiddie wading pool that sits on the floor. I have waterers and feeders in the kiddie pool, and the little birds instinctively know how to use those containers to meet their survival needs. I also have a heat lamp hanging above their new home that will remain on constantly for the first few days until they are completely acclimated to their new surroundings.
In a few days the little chicks will begin jumping out of the wading pool and into the pine shavings. When most have left the pool, I will remove it. The nursery is connected to a small enclosed (and covered) outdoor area which they will discover next, an area that allows them to be in the fresh air during the days and come into the nursery room at night. Eventually as they get larger and begin growing feathers, I will let them outside during the days to scurry after bugs and eat ticks.
(Rock's Roost is currently home to two adult chickens, a Rhode Island Red hen and rooster, who have had the run of the farm for quite awhile. They are quite curious about all of the "peeping" coming from the nursery!)
If all goes according to plan, the young hens will begin laying large brown eggs in about five months. There are, of course, many things that could interfere with those grand plans, particularly trouble with predators: skunks, raccoons, possums, snakes, hawks, and the absolute worst predators of all: cur dogs.
But, hope springs eternal - and I am very hopeful that each of the little birds will make it to adulthood and go on to become productive workers and residents of Rock's Roost!
1 comment:
November promises farm fresh eggs. That's great to hear.
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