New chicks!

In the midst of dealing with the non-functionally brooding hen last month, I decided to just order chicks to bring up the number of egg layers. Of course when you get chicks, you still have to wait 5-6 months to get eggs, but they're just so darn cute and fun to raise. Also Sherry wanted to get more Golden Sebrights and was having trouble finding pullets, and wasn't sure about raising a bunch of straight run chicks and having to deal with the roosters. I offered to include enough Sebrights in my order that she would probably get 3-4 hens, and to raise them for her and deal with the roos. (Yum.)

I ordered from Murray McMurray Hatchery as they have a good selection and reputation, never mind the odd name. Their minimum for bantams was 15. I decided to make some of those Silkies, as they have a reputation for being good brooders and mama hens, and that would be useful for next time I'm low. Then the joy of ordering rare breeds overcame me. I also purchased 2 Black Japanese and 2 Red Pyle Games, hoping that 1 of each would be a hen. (Obviously I'm not so attached that I ordered enough to guarantee a hen - I won't be heartbroken if I get 4 males instead.)

Even though the number of bantams reached the minimum of 15, the hatchery still sent me a number of extras. I ended up with 6 Silkies, 9 Golden Sebrights, 5 Black Japanese, and 3 Red Pyle Game. That's 23 bantams!

And in the side of the box that contained the standards, they included 5 chicks of the same unknown breed. Most likely they're all roos. So I have 11 new standards chickens.

They spent the first two nights in my bathroom with a heat lamp turned on. 2 of the Golden Sebrights died. The bantams are definitely less hardy than the standards. They had trouble with balancing, chilled more easily, and many had pasty butts. They're catching up and started jumping around in the box. This morning I moved them out to a brand new coop, inside the same run as the existing flock. At first I put the head lamp inside, but fortunately they didn't need it for long. It's 95 degrees out now. I made them a "wool hen" where they can huddle for warmth. Pictures of the coop coming soonish.