Baby Chickens for Sale in Donahue, Iowa
Baby Chickens for Sale in Donahue, Iowa
Keeping Busy with Baby Chicks
We raise chickens. We didn’t plan to really. We fell into it through a program called the Chick Chain with a local 4H Club. Our then 9-year-old son received 25 one-day-old chicks to raise for about 4 months with the agreement he’d bring his 5 best to the local County Fair. These chicks would then be auctioned to the highest bidder, and those funds used to buy chicks the following year for the program. What we didn’t expect is our son Mo received the Reserve Grand Champion award, which meant his chickens were the 2nd best of the show.
And from that moment on we were all hooked! I’m sad to say Mo’s affection for the chickens has worn off, but me and our three Littles love to care for them and they offer me a form of therapy honestly. There is just something therapeutic about watching them interact and to learn their language. They actually DO have different clucks and calls that mean different things. Now I’m not a chicken nor do I speak chicken, but I do understand a lot of their language. I come running out the back door for instance if I hear our rooster sending out a distress call, and I now know why our grandmas used to say “Now don’t go getting your feathers all ruffled” because I’m here to tell you the ladies most definitely DO ruffle those feathers at a certain time … or rather, after a certain event involving the rooster.
Fast forward a few years and we’re knee deep in chickens. Black sex-links from 4H, New Hampshire Reds from last year’s Spring chicks we raised and a lone one I believe is a Bantan. On March 25, we went on a whim one day to the feed store and picked up 12 new chicks. We chose 6 Bantam pullets and 6 Buff Orpinton female chicks. We were so excited especially about the Buffs as we’ve always wanted some and they are so sweet and fluffy! Up until May 7, our babies were growing and had also outgrown the brooder. We did lose one of the Bantams on the second day they were home, finding the pullet one morning on the bottom of a pile of chicks. This can happen as they all huddle together to stay warm. We do use heat lamps for them as well, but they naturally like to stay close together just as they would with a Momma hen.
Unfortunately, we had a tragic circumstance with a stray dog we found across the street and had taken in as our own. He was so curious of the chicks and one evening while we were all away, he was able to enter their fenced pen and also breech the metal locker, which we’ve used two years for our chicks when we transition them outside but before we put them in with the adult hens. We had thought they were safe and he was safe from having access to them, because we knew he wasn’t ready to be alone with them off-leash. Our chicks had been outside only a week when the tragedy occurred. They were just 7 weeks old, but we were already loved them very much. This last collage shows the last photos we have of them, and they were all taken the last week of our sweet babies’ lives. We will always miss them! They all had names and we had great hopes for them in our flock.
It is a tough lesson for our Littles to endure and honestly it hit me hard as well, but we’ve learned that sometimes farm life involving animals can leave us facing circumstances that are just heart-breaking and difficult to walk out. We will always remember those weeks we had with our Bantams and Buffs, and one day again we will have more Buffs. They are just too sweet and cute. The photo at the top of this post was taken of one of our Buffs when she was a couple of weeks old.
Just a week before we lost our early Spring chicks, we had 5 chicks hatch from our new incubator. These babies are all from our own flock, which is a first for us! They were born on April 30 and May 1!
We still have a lot to learn as we discovered that 13 of the 18 eggs we incubated were in fact fertilized, but for some reason only 5 of the 13 hatched and of those 5, only 3 survived. They are doing so well and are now 5 weeks old and were more than ready to be transitioned outside. We kept finding them walking about the garden shed where we keep the brooder, presumably having flown the brooder! On Sunday, we moved them to our second pen to begin their acclimation to the outside world. They have spent time outdoors under our watchful eyes, and they are always chasing bugs that fly into their brooder. They are spreading their wings literally, practicing flying and just so precious!
While the keeping of chickens is hard work and the pay-off monetarily doesn’t make sense practically speaking, there are rewards and gains that can’t be measured in dollars and cents. Our children are learning valuable lessons in responsibility, nurturing of creatures, putting others’ needs above our desires, and that farm fresh eggs really do taste better! Nothing is honestly more thrilling in the simplest of ways than arriving in the henhouse right at that moment when one of our ladies has just laid an egg, and we gather it up noting its warmth and thanking her for her hard work!
I hope to share more posts about our chickens as I revive this oft-forgotten blog. Please let me know what you’d like to know about chickens and I will try my best to make this as educational as possible!
Our chicks from our own flock are now about 6 weeks old and we just moved them out to the pen and small hutch! They were scared at first, but now they love it and are exploring and testing their flying skills too! They are just adorable! I will add more photos; these were taken within the last two weeks.
Baby Chicks Breeds in Donahue, Iowa
We have many Rare Chicken Breeds for sale in Donahue Iowa, including Sussex Chickens, Welsummer Chickens, Turken Chickens and more. Be sure to check out the Bargain Specials, as you can combine different egg layers in smaller amounts and buy as an assortment. Donahue Iowa also has poultry equipment for sale, game chickens for sale in Donahue Iowa, bantams for sale, ducks for sale, geese for sale, turkeys for sale, guinea for sale, peafowl for sale, pheasant for sale, chukar partridge for sale, bobwhite for sale, many different breeds of baby chicks for sale in Donahue IA.Baby Chicks Supplies in Donahue, Iowa
Thumbing through a baby chickens for sale in Donahue Iowa catalog is a yearly traditions in many houses. My kids and I eagerly await the Murray McMurray Hatchery catalog. We love looking at all the cool and different chicken breeds available. Catalogs are free so head on over to their site and request one if you are interested.Typically hatcheries online offer both standard breeds
and bantams. Bantams are fun hardy little chickens, they lay tiny eggs
that kids especially love collecting. Bantams typically weigh less than 2
pounds when full grown. Just like ordering anything online there are pros
and cons to ordering baby chicks online. Pros of buying baby chicks in
Donahue Iowa * Big Selection - If you are wanting a large
variety of different chicken breeds and egg colors, you will find the best
selection at an online hatchery. * Both Bantams and full sized chickens
available * You get to choose what sex you want. If you want a mixture of
both male and female then choosing a "straight run" will save you money
and you will get a mixture of male and female chicks. You can also choose
all males or all females too. * Weekly specials. Hatcheries have sales on
chicks, you are likely to get a good deal if you are flexible with the
breeds you are wanting. Cons of buying baby chicks in Donahue
Iowa * Order early to get the best selection. Certain breeds sell
out fast, sometimes as early as 6 months in advance of shipping! If you
are wanting a certain breed it's best to order your chicks in the fall
before their orders sell out.
Baby Chickens Eggs For Sale in Donahue, Iowa
Quantity - you must order a certain number of chicks. Typically hatcheries will require you buy a minimum of 25 chicks at a time. The number is necessary for the chicks survival during shipping. All 25 chicks are put in one small box without heat. They are crowded in the box and produce enough body heat to arrive in good shape. * The wait - If you choose to buy chicks from a feed store you will have them the same day but if you choose to go with a hatchery you have to wait until they are ready to ship and then wait for the chicks to arrive. Ordering baby chicks online in Donahue Iowa is easy and has always been a very pleasant experience of me. It can be a little frustrating waiting for the chicks but it's so worth the wait. When the post office calls and you hear all those little "cheeps" or "chirps" in the background you'll know the wait was worth it! How to Care for your new baby chickens in Donahue, Iowa Baby chicks are really charming as well as challenging to stand up to, yet it's ideal to plan for their arrival prior to you get them. Prepare initially by compiling not only the right materials, yet likewise the appropriate knowledge to care for them. Raising baby chicks is reasonably straightforward, you merely have to give them with the following: A tidy and also cozy habitat Lots of food and also water Focus and love Habitat Your environment could be a basic box, fish tank, feline service provider, or guinea pig cage. Line it with old towels and coverings (without loosened strings!) to start, and after a couple of weeks use straw over paper. Keep in mind: Avoid using just newspaper or various other slipper surfaces-- or your chicks legs can expand malformed. You additionally require something to dish out food as well as water in, such as a chicken feeder and also water dish from the feed store, or a pickle container cover for food and also an animal bird water dispenser from a pet store. Likewise, as the chicks grow older you could present a perch right into the habitat to get them educated on setting down. Warmth To maintain your chicks heat you should provide them with a warmth resource. This can be as easy as a 100 watt light bulb in a reflective clamp design lamp from a hardware shop, or an infrared reptile warmth bulb additionally work effectively (my recommendation). Chicks require this heat 24/7 till their downy fluff is replaced with feathers (which can use up to two months). The freshly hatched out need a temperature in between 90 and 100 levels, and each week this can be reduced by about 5 degrees or so. The heat resource should be on simply one side of the cage to allow chicks a range of temperatures. The chicks are your finest thermostat- if they are concealing in the contrary edge of your heat light, you need to decrease the temperature. If they are smothering each various other under the warmth (not just cuddling), you should add some heat. Home cleaning Sanitation is key and also it maintains your chicks healthy and balanced. Make certain to transform the bed linens commonly and also always give tidy food as well as water Food as well as water. Chicks expand extremely quickly which calls for a lot of tidy food and also water. Provide sufficient whatsoever times as well as inspect typically to avoid parched and hungry chicks. Chick food is different compared to adult chicken food, as well as it is available in both medicated and also non-medicated ranges. Feed chick food for the very first 2 months, after that switch over to a grower food (~ 17 % healthy protein) for an additional 2 months, then to a slightly reduced protein feed or a level feed (if you have levels). Soil Some chicks want to get a running start on taking filth bathrooms, while others will not take up that activity until they are older. If you have the area in your chick room, introduce a tray of sand or dirt for them to shower in. Interest and also love There are a couple of benefits to spending quality time with your chicks. First off, they will certainly most likely bond with you as well as not run away as grownups. Second, if you analyze your chicks daily as well as watch their behavior, you could catch health problem or various other troubles previously. Keep an eye out for wheezing, hopping, or other harmful signs. Make certain to likewise take a look at their poop, as diarrhea could bring about matted plumes as well as clogged up cloaca. Last but not least, it is essential to look out for social problems, such as the tiniest chick getting picked on. Vacant nest syndrome So your chicks are currently fully feathered as well as its time for them to leave the safety and security of your residence and also relocate outside right into a coop. Take a look at our section on chicken coops to get more information concerning coops as well as proper cage habitats.Baby Chickens Eggs For Sale Baby Chickens And Baby Ducks
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