As if I didn't need one more thing to do, we got MORE baby chicks!
FIFTEEN to be exact.
Yikes.
We had two left from the baby chicks that I got us years ago and just a couple months ago, I came home to a crime scene and they were gone. We have had many coyotes around here and they do not make any qualms about coming into our yard and helping themselves.
One of my clients told me about Meyer Hatchery. I had never heard of them before but to guarantee getting all hens, and the variety we should get, I decided to order from them.
A couple days before they were to arrive, we went out and got all we needed to get ready for them!
Finley helped with getting their temporary home ready...
And a week ago Wednesday, we got a call from the Post Office that "our chickens were there and we needed to come pick them up."
I couldn't help but to laugh after I listened to the voicemail. I was expecting them to be delivered to our house but surprisingly they were not. Finley and set out for them after breakfast and I was susprised again to see them come in this small box!
I am just going to be honest, I was super nervous to open this box in front of Finley in case one had passed away in the delivery process but they were all there!
She wanted to hold one so bad but she didn't like how their feet felt in her hands. She even made a comment later on about holding them and their feet touching her.
So she just loved on them and kissed them.
And watched from a distance.
We WOULD get them on one of the coldest days of the year with freeze warnings so we brought them just inside the door in our foyer. What a set up! They puppies and the girls all enjoy watching them.
In the first week, we lost 2 chicks. It was SO SAD to see them just laying there like they were. There is NO way I could be a pioneer woman.
When the hatchery customer service opened on Monday after we lost another one, they told me they could die from getting chilled in the delivery process and not being able to recover or from a heart attack from the stress of being delivered so young. That is SO heartbreaking.
Some have also developed what is called "pasty butt". Which is also caused from stress. I will let you just google it if you choose to. So since then, I have been washing bottoms and putting Vaseline on them in hopes to not have any more casualties. There is one baby chick that has had pasty butt and she has been moving a little slow and now is smaller than the rest. I pray that she makes it and nothing is wrong her.
And NOW we are down to 12 as of yesterday because while I was on the phone with Shane, Sox our St Bernard mix, killed one. I have no idea what happened because I did NOT want to know... so we have lost a black one with white stripes and 2 yellow ones.
Praying that NOTHING else happens and the rest make it. We are supposed to have a very colorful basket of eggs and I hope that we do. Its apart of the reason I chose the rainbow pullet pack, despite have to order a minimum of 15.
Now I am just trying to figure out what to do as they get a little bigger but not big enough to go in their coop. They are growing FAST and might just outgrow this bin before they get to their coop. Whew. I hope I can figure it out but it sure has been fun and even funner watching the girls with them!
Can't wait to see what breed they end up as well. They give you an identification chart and also 3 of ours came banded with color codes. Time will tell exactly what they are. Finley as already named her favorite and that's "lellow". Thank God we have a yellow one left.
We also have one chick that has feathers growing down its feet. I think its going to be one of the blue silkies from what the identification chart looks like. I hope so because that was one of the breeds that we could get in this pack! I can see also how this can be really addicting getting show chickens as well. There are some BEAUTIFUL chickens on the website. But I also have to remember exactly why we got them in the first place.
Finley is so inquisitive about everything it seems like and she also is such a huge help .. so I cannot wait to start getting eggs and her to be able to "chase the boc bocs" again.
