Adding to the Flock

Our flock is getting OLD.  Chickens, on average, will live about 8 years.  We've had chickens for many years now.  In the past, each year I would purchase 25 pullets (baby females) to replace any that had died the previous year to old age, predator, or accident.  At one point we counted them all and had around 110 chickens.  That's really too many for us.  In order to reduce the size of our flock, we just didn't replace them.  It has been maybe four years ago since we've ordered pullets and raised them.

Our flock is down to 55-60 laying hens now, primarily due to predators (possums, hawks, owls, and minks), but old age, too.  I decided it was time to add to the flock.  My bride was not pleased with my decision!  Since we've dried off the cows, she has enjoyed the carefree days that allow for weekends away, trips, etc.  Chickens aren't as demanding and labor-intensive as milk cows.  I assured her that these babies would (pretty much) take care of themselves. 

Our day old chicks arrived in the mail on Thursday.  They come via USPS and Tricia got a call from the Post Office to go pick them up.  I ordered 30 pullets.  When Tricia opened the lid, she found that 9 of them had died in transit.  It was not a nice sight to behold.  The remaining 21 pullets were feasting on their dead sisters.  We attribute the deaths to the heat in shipping.  The poultry company will make them good, so I am working with them to re-ship 9 live chicks to make up for the deceased ones.

Tricia has them all set up in the brooder with a heat lamp, feeders and waterers.  The other birds, except for one, seem to be perfect.  One of them acts strangely, almost as if it has a neurological problem.

The baby birds are very happy, running around, eating, drinking, pooping and doing what chicks do.  We watched them tonight running around the brooder and jumping up with their little plump bodies to eat mosquitoes that they catch mid-flight as they come into contact with the sides of the brooder.

The chicks were $2.15 a piece.  I purchased all pullets, because we want all females to lay eggs.  We currently have three distinct breeds, so I ordered 10 of each.  The first one, shown below, is the Barred Rock.  This hen, in adulthood, is a beautiful fat hen that lays brown eggs and is a good producer for us.  

Barred Rock

The next is the Rhode Island Red.  She'll be our most productive egg-layer and is also a brown egg layer.

Rhode Island Red

And finally, the Easter Eggers.  This is a new type of chicken for us.  We currently have Aracaunas.  I could not find Aracaunas in the breed list that the poultry company had, but they did have Easter Eggers and they fit the bill.  Easter Eggers lay blue, green and pink eggs.  Here is one of the Easter Eggers:

We'll take care of these girls and in about 18-20 weeks, they'll begin to lay eggs.  In the meantime, I will work hard to reduce the predator population.  I'll show some of my tactics in future posts to accomplish this mission.  I can remember how exciting it was when we first got chicks.  The kids were small and each day we would all go check to see if the hens had begun to lay.  It was truly an exciting day when the kids came running into the house with a big brown egg!