Heaven Gets Chicks

So we decided that for Mother's Day this year, we wanted to get some chicks. We specifically wanted breeds that would do well on the cold, had a friendly disposition, and were layers rather than meat chickens. We wanted four, 1 each a different breed, and we would name them after the Golden Girls. We settled on Americana, Barred Rock, Braham, and Easter Egger.

We already had this large rabbit cage/outdoor catio cage from the previous owner of our house that will work great for the first few weeks. We put a wooden box inside that they can go in easily, and it will provide protection from the elements. But they still have an outdoor area so they can get some sunshine. We set it up with a heat lamp, water fountain, and feeder.

On Mother's Day we went to the local ag store for our new babies! The only breeds they had that I wanted were Americana and Barred Rock, so I got two Americana, one Barred Rock, and one Silver Laced Wyandotte. I hadn't read anything about it but we thought it looked cool so we went with it.

We asked on Facebook, and talked to various people about their experiences. We should have a really good place to keep them safe from the hawks, crows, foxes, and skunks. We knew to watch out for foxes, but didn't even think of the crows or hawks! We will do everything to make sure they are well adjusted, and can handle being around people.

We've started looking into what it will take to sell eggs at the local farmer's market. A couple special licenses and we should be good to go for that, in the not so distant future. We will need more chickens, too, before we are able to consistently sell at a farmers market.

All in all, we're very excited to have these chicks. They have survived the first night, which feels like a good start. We want to handle them more, get them more comfortable with people, even try to desensitize them to our dog so if they do escape, she will leave them alone.