Baby Chicks Have Arrived - A Bit Earlier Than Expected

The call came yesterday morning, thought I'd have until afternoon which was why I was a couple of hours away from my local post office at the time. I wasn't ready to panic, but the poor lady from the post office was quite concerned and feeling a bit helpless.

When I got there I heard them chirping away and saw the relief in her face. She had never heard about the fact that they live off the yolk at first and was relieved to learn it. I'm sure she was more than happy to get her day back to normal when I left.

They are just doing great! I ordered 10, and the hatchery sent 17! They're Old English, Wheaton and Jungle Fowl. This is the first time I've experienced the hatchery having included a heating pad in the box, I'm sure it helped a lot. Once home, I brought them out of the box one at a time, dipped their little beaks in warm water with a little corn syrup right away, so they're busily eating, drinking, and, of course, poop'n like normal.

I have two waterers in the brooder, the one with corn syrup added, and the other with an electrolyte and vitamin mixture added. Right away, I mixed a cup of water with Gro-Gel and put it on top of the egg carton feeders with chick starter in them. Of course I had the brooder pre-heated to 95 degrees F. They seem to be loving their new home . . . good old mother hen brooder. They need to grow big and strong, becoming beautiful will happen naturally. Some of them will be my show birds later this summer.

This is the time for great self discipline, tearing myself away from just watching the little guys. Nope, not progressing too well on that front right now. I don't pick them up and pet them for a few days so they'll have a chance to get settled, but sure am looking forward to that, too.

Hey, if you're one of those people still just thinking about getting chickens- seriously, you have to take the plunge . . . you'll love it, too! Want to learn more?  One source of information (all free) is http://www.fortheloveofchickens.com . Immerse yourself in all the information online about raising chickens, and you'll have plenty of confidence.