Spring Chicks

I am a backyard chicken hobbyist, meaning I keep hens around to lay eggs, provide fertilizer for the garden, patrol for bugs, and be family pets. 

We have 13 hens.  Originally, I only wanted three, but when I ordered my Americauna, aka Easter Egger, chicks from Meyer Hatchery two years ago, I was convinced to add a few more to the shipment for body warmth. 

At the time, I couldn't find a feed store that had chicks for sale, so I searched on the Internet.  Meyer Hatchery, like most of the big hatcheries, is located in Ohio.  They ship out chicks of a multitude of breeds the day they are hatched via the U.S. Postal Service.  Many of the hatcheries I found had a minimum order of 25 chicks, but Meyer would ship as few as three.  The chicks arrive vaccinated, packed in a special box complete with a warming pad.  I paid a little extra to ensure that I would get all girls.  Hens do not need a rooster in order to lay eggs and roosters can cause problems.  Not all roosters are aggressive, but they are noisy, and many will attack people in order to protect their flocks.

A year later, I added another set of chicks, all of different breeds, to my current flock.  I now have four Americaunas (Americaunas have tails, Aracaunas do not), which lay blue-green eggs.  I also have two Silver Spangled Hamburgs, a Silkie, Light Brahma, Jersey Giant, Buff Orpington, Red Sex Link, Rhode Island Red and a Plymouth Barred Rock. 

The girls all have names and live in the coop which used to be the fort part of our children's wooden swing set.  It helps to name and differentiate your chickens when there are several breeds.  Our favorites are Mumbles, the blue Silkie, and Buffy, the Buff Orpington.  I'd still like to get a few of the more exotic breeds, like the White Sultan and the beautiful Mille Fleur. 

To me, raising baby chicks is the most difficult part about having chickens.  They have to be kept in a brooder with a heat lamp, the temperature lowered by five degrees (starting at 95) every week until they are fully feathered and ready to go outside at around five weeks of age.  Brooder cages can be anything from a large Rubbermaid container to the ferret cage I use.  I adjust the temperature by raising or lowering the heat lamp which is suspended from a string. 

Since I have to consider the feline predators that live with me, an open container wouldn't work for my house.  Baby chicks are very messy and kick their shavings into everything.  One must be vigilant in cleaning the shavings out of their food and water a few times daily, a chore that gets tedious quickly.  Chicks aren't that bright and will completely soak up their water supply with pine shavings.

Once out of the fuzzy chick stage, keeping chickens is fairly easy.  Practically blind in the dark, chickens need a safe place to roost at night.  Although it's a little risky, our hens free range in our yard during the day and are locked up at night.  We have electrified netting surrounding their coop to further discourage ground predators.  I credit our golden retriever with keeping most of the would-be chicken killers at bay.  The only predator who seems to be fearless is the red tail hawk that has claimed two of our birds in the past two years. 

There are many online resources for raising, keeping, and selecting chickens.  I suggest researching which breed is best our cold climate, temperament, size, egg or meat production, egg color, feather colors, etc.   I found Backyard Chickens to be invaluable with all of their information about the care and keep of chickens.