New Chicks!

We got chicks in the mail.  We ordered 100 straight run, so we should increase our laying flock by about 50 hens.  Last year we kept running out of eggs and people requested more.  We ordered some new breeds for certain qualities: broodiness so some can hatch out the next generation, cold hardiness, and good foraging skills.

Once they arrived, we taught them to drink water and set them in an oval stock tank so they did not pile up in the corners.  Now they have moved to a bigger space: an appliance box.  They have a couple lights, no soy organic starter, chick grit and fresh water.  Life is good.

 

I continue to incubate our own eggs, and soon it will be warm enough for hens to hatch out their own eggs.  We find hens hatching the best system.  Hens protect their chicks and teach chicken skills, so those chicks learn quickly.