In the Jailhouse Now

It's official: the chicks have moved to the big house. No, I don't mean the chicken coop -- they're much too small for that! I mean that they are in the jailhouse now. Let me explain...

I came home yesterday morning to find one lonely Buff Orpington standing outside the brooder looking very lost and confused. The chick was desperately trying to get back in, but couldn't figure out how. Yep, the chicks can already fly out of our little brooder. Luckily, I hadn't been gone for long, so the chick was returned to safety unharmed, but we did have to take drastic measures to make sure that no one else got left out in the cold.

To keep everyone in, we surrounded the brooder with some orange fencing we had hanging around. It works great even if it looks like the chicks are now in prison.

The Feathers Are Coming! The Feathers Are Coming!

The chicks are officially one week old today. The kids sang happy birthday to them so loudly that the chicks ran away and cowered in fear at the far side of the brooder.

Good times, good times.

Feathers are popping out all over the brooder. These little guys are getting their wings - literally!

Looks Like We Made It!

Check out our brooder!

I am happy to report that all the chicks made it through their first night with us and seem pretty happy.

About four of the birds are pasting up, which is when the bird's vent (a.k.a. pooper) gets clogged up with dried poop. Unfortunately, pasting up can be deadly to a chick. The remedy? Gently removing the dried poop with a wet paper towel. Honestly, it's not as bad as it sounds...Really!

The kids are getting to be pros in spotting "pasty butt."

One word of warning: Some of the chicks still have their umbilical cords attached. This looks like a thin black thread hanging just below their vents. It is not pasting up. The umbilical cord should not be removed and will fall off on its own.

They're Here!

I finally picked up the chicks this morning!

I kept farmer's hours this morning by getting up at five to fetch my chicks from the regional distribution center of the US Post Office. Luckily, it's only the next town over. When I finally found Door 15 in the behemouth of a post office, I found out that the chicks had already been shipped out to my local office. Back into the car I ran to pick up the chicks at post office #2. They were in this tiny box, peeping away madly. So incredibly cute! Of course, I later read that loud chirping means the poor things are under distress.

I got them home and couldn't wait to check them out. My husband, Bill, also got a chance to peek in on them before he headed off to the airport for a four-day stint doing booth duty in Lost Wages, NV.

We ordered four different breeds: 7 White Leghorns, 7 Buff Orpingtons, 6 Dominiques, and 6 Speckled Sussex. The chicks all look different, ranging from light yellow to black with a white patch on the head, so it's easy to tell the breeds apart.

Next step, onto the brooder once it's heated up!

Where to Start? How to Start?

Suddenly deciding to raise chickens can seem a bit scary, but we planned to raise only six or so hens. How hard could that be? Luckily, I have an excellent resource in my friend Catherine.

If I'm crazy, then Catherine is bona fide cuckoo (sorry Catherine!). At last count, Catherine has three cats, four goats, two dogs (one with only three legs), countless chickens and ducks, and a goose named Oscar who sits on her front stoop and honks at people. And all of this in her backyard...

Catherine answered countless questions and steered me toward her hatchery of choice, Murray McMurray (are Murray's parents mean or what?). She also lent me her most recent copy of Backyard Poultry Magazine (who knew?). This combined with some books from the library, and I'm starting to feel like I can actually do this.

Now I just needed to order the chicks, figure out a brooder, and find a coop somewhere. Fun stuff!

This was really happening. The kids were so excited. It was early March 2010, but it already felt like spring!