We've been so excited to get our baby chicks. Surprisingly, they come in the mail! We ordered 15 chicks -- Barred Rock, Easter Eggers, Rhode Island Reds, and White Leghorns. We were a little unsure about where we would keep them, but a good friend assured me that playpens in the basement or garage were best.
Here are our cuties eating some chick food to help them get big and strong. Sadly, though, we lost all but one of our White Leghorns in the first week -- one was DOA, and the other two died shortly after. It was pretty sad to experience these little babies' deaths, but it's all part of keeping livestock on the homestead. (At least we don't have kids yet to become attached to any young animals!)
A few pro-tips:
- Don't put them in your basement. EVER. Even if it means having to wait a couple of months to get the babies. I would never EVER keep them in the basement again. Everything quickly became dusty and I had to do a VERY thorough cleaning of the basement after we moved them to the garage.
- Death is all a part of this process, so if you want a certain number in your flock, over-order by at least five chicks. Although our flock is 15 now, which is a good number, I still wish it was closer to 20.
- Don't use pack n' plays as baby pens unless you have them laying from rearing a few children. We used them and now they are pretty beat up and I'm not sure they'll be useful again in the future.
- Do learn how to sex your chickens -- we ended up with one rogue rooster after we became attached to him, mainly because we thought he was a she and the most natural leader.
- Try to find a local supplier -- it's not ideal to get chicks through the mail, but it's the only way if you want to start rearing them in the middle of winter. I would wait until March or April next time and get them from a local place.
