After several conversations, some quiet and not so quiet,
I finally convinced the Mr. that we needed chickens.
Super! Mission accomplished!
Off to Orscheln's I head with my minimal chicken knowledge
(I was smart enough to not take the kids with me!)
They were unloading the little day old chicks from the shipping boxes, all peeping and cute.
My only plan was that I would pick out the chicks and
keep them in the breakfast nook in a galvanized bucket
while "we" prepped the coop site
(we didn't know where the coop was actually going to be placed on our land).
I knew I wanted Ameracauna's since they lay blue and green eggs.
I figured I would find a coop later, after all, they'd be small for quite a while right?
I picked out 10 chicks, 6 Ameracauna's and 4 Production Reds.
"So you have everything else you need?"
The nice young man didn't even flinch when I said
"No, I don't have anything, a galvanized tub will work for a while right?"
I had no idea how many of these chicks would survive,
I was thinking 50% would be a good survival rate for a first timer.
He gathered up everything I would need,
pine chips, bag of chick starter (Organic, non-GMO), heat lamp, heat bulb, tub,
a feeder, a waterer, 3 packet of Electolytes (chickie gatorade) and the 2 boxes of chicks.
"Keep them warm and dry, if they curl up underneath the lamp then they are likely too cold,
all gathered on the opposite side, away from the light, they are too warm."
And off we went, all 10 newest additions to the family.
Setting up was quite easy.
Washed out the tub, dried it.
Put in 3 inches of pine shavings, plugged in the light, attached it a few inched above the tub.
Placed the fuzzies into the tub one at a time.
Once they were all place I mixed the electolytes into a gallon jug of room temperature water
(cold will stress them out) filled the waterer and set it in the tub.
I dipped each chicks beak into the water so they could recognize it as a water source.
Filled the feeder, place it and sat for the next 30 minutes watching.
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