Did I say that I had some great neighbors asking for us to order them chicks.....in with our order. No problem.
Just they weren't prepared whatsoever....and had issues that surely would bring the word rotisserie.... to mind.
First...I order from a reliable vendor. You can see the hatchery name on the box above. No deceased. No diseased. No baloney from their customer service. Make sure that you are home on the given day of arrival. The local post office does a great job of keeping them......for the day! That's rule number one....get the chicks without delay.
We put the chicks in a tight space (above)......their body heat helps keep them warm. A heat lamp also for 24/7. These girls have no feathers...so they get the chills. In this black tub for about three weeks.....they stand around and do nothing. Say....don't that sound like a few humans that you might know?
Farmer Deno used to set these little ones right out into the main coop after their stay at the "Not The Holiday Inn" black tub. One by one....they would disappear. Holes in the fence? Nope. Hawks!Skunks!Rats!
Why.....I had moved them into Motel Hell!
A completely fenced off yard....including a overhead fencing...is required. There is a outside coop as seen in the picture....and not seen in the picture is a large indoor room when they stay at night. Yes....that heat lamp followed them. This cage that we created resolved all issues of the mysterious disappearing chicks!
Release time is when the birds are too heavy for hawks to lift. Usually a new coop house for the transferee's has been built. They stay inside that coop for two weeks without any yard privileges......this will give them the sense of where home is. Very important to do.....otherwise you will have homeless chickens all over the place. Not fun.
Before you jump into buying chicks......do your research. Google is by far the best source for data....especially from the forums.
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