Baby Chicks

This summer I acquired seven chickens. We named them Meg, (Jo)sephine, Abigail, Amy, Mrs.Chicken,Bonnie, and Ursula. I read everything I could get my hands on to learn about chickens. Later, I decided I wanted a Rooster and a friend gave us a little Bantam Rooster. I found him dead in the pen only two days after receiving him. There was nothing visibly wrong with him, so we decided he had died from a heart attack while trying to fertilize all seven of our large hens. I was very sad, but I gave him a nice burial.

I comforted myself by ordering ten pullets(baby hens) and one cockerel (baby rooster). I ordered them from Ideal Poultry which is in Texas. Here is a picture of them on the day they arrived.


Before the chicks arrived, I had to prepare all the necessary items to make their transition to our home easy. I bought medicated chick feed, watering can, and an eight chick feeder to dispense their food. Their first home was a rubbermaid tote with a hardware screen to keep the cats out should they wander into our bathroom, and pine shavings for the bottom. They recommended something like burlap or paper towels to put over the shavings the first week otherwise the chicks might eat them. Also I hung a 75 watt bulb in their pen and made sure the temperature stayed at about 90 degrees the first week. Forunately, the weather was quite warm so that was not a problem.

As soon as the chicks arrived I took them out of their little box and dipped their beaks in some sugar water. It took about 1/2 cup of sugar per gallon, and I used bottled water for the first day. Then I switched to regular bottled water for the first week. After the first half hour I gave them food. I watched the chicks closely to be sure they were all doing well.

By the end of the first week they had grown quite a bit and I dropped the temperature to 80 degrees. By this time they were starting to get their feathers. Recommend reading: Chickens in your Backyard by Rick and Gail Luttman