Baby Chickens for Sale in Hardy, Virginia
Baby Chickens for Sale in Hardy, Virginia
We have backyard chickens!
And they’re the 3 best friends that anyone could have….
Meet Momma Chicken (a Barred Rock)…
Red (a Welsummer)…
and Liberace (a Blue Cochin Bantam)…
Suburban or backyard chickens seems like a new concept but people have been keeping them in non farm-like areas for years. They are low maintenance and pretty fun to have around. We have 3 chickens that roam around our suburban backyard. We’ve had them for a few weeks now and we sure have learned a lot!
Before we got out chickens, we checked with the city’s planning department to see if it was even allowed. According to the city’s “chicken ordinance”, we are allowed 1 chicken per each 1,800 square feet of our property. Assuming I did the math right, that allowed us 3.33 chickens!
Our next step was to get a coop for the chickens to nest in. We saw from Williams-Sonoma and, after seeing the price, thought we could build it ourselves for much cheaper. A few weeks (months) went by and we realized “ain’t nobody got time fo’ that”. So my mom found at Costco.com and we ordered it. Way cheaper than building one from scratch and so little effort; just the click of a mouse. The quality is probably nothing compared to the one from Williams-Sonoma but I don’t think the chickens mind. The website says it’s built for 2 chickens but our 3 seem pretty comfortable in it.
After we got our coop, we needed some chickens. My husband made some phone calls and found us some chickens at in Orange, CA that needed new homes. Not only do they sell baby chicks but they also take in hens that people can no longer take care of and need new homes, kind of like animal foster care. My friend Kristen and I went to pick them up. Because the store didn’t have .33 chickens, we settled with just 3. The owners son gave me an extensive lesson on chickens before we left with them. He was awesome! We also picked up a 40lb bag of food, a giant bag of shavings for the coop, a feeder and waterer. Thankfully, we took Kristen’s SUV.
We got back to my house with the box of chickens and then had to get them into the coop. Before that day, I had never touched a chicken. A live chicken. Kristen thought it would be funny to record me putting them into their coop. Here is the video of that experience.
We have 3 different breeds of chickens; a Barred Rock, a Welsummer and a Blue Cochin Bantam. Liberace, our Bantam hen, has fluffy iridescent feathers and they cover her feet. She’s the cutest thing ever! Also, she’s considerably smaller than the other two. One of them lays light blueish eggs (not sure which one yet) and the other two lay brown eggs.
Here is what we’ve learned so far since we’ve had backyard chickens:
1. They are just a little messy…just a little I swear!
They are really not messy at all. They poop alot, like, alot alot. Most of our backyard is covered in grass which isn’t a problem when is comes to chicken shi poop. It’s great fertilizer. They do poo a lot in their coop but it’s easy to clean up because it’s covered in shavings like a hamster cage. The top section has a tray that pulls out so we can just dump it out into the trash and fill it up again. Hands free poo cleanup. When they poo on the concrete we can just hose it down. We are in a drought I know but they spend most of their time on the grass or locked in the coop so it’s very little poo cleanup.
2. They are quiet animals.
They don’t make a lot of noise unless they are laying an egg and even then it’s not very loud. They make soft “gobble gobble” sounds but nothing to make the neighbors call the cops let alone suspect we even had animals in our backyard.
3. They fly!
I never even thought about this until I was doing dishes in the kitchen sink and saw one of them staring at me from on top of the a/c unit. When I got to the backyard to get her down, she had gotten onto the fence and was walking the perimeter of our yard. She jumped down and came to me as soon as I put my hand out like I had food. Which brings me to my next lesson…
4. They love treats!
Our backyard chickens love corn and grapes especially. I keep a plate or bowl next to the kitchen sink and when we are done with a meal I put our left over food in it. In the morning, I take it outside and the chickens come running to me like I’m Cinderella! It’s pretty cute. They also love leftover meat. We’ve given them leftover steaks and ribs and then found clean bones when they were done with it. They eat pretty much everything except oranges and apple cores which are not good for them. I’ve even heard that you can give them cooked eggs and chicken but I just can’t bring myself to do that. It seems so wrong.
5. They don’t produce a lot of eggs.
We were pretty excited to have fresh eggs every morning until, well, we didn’t have eggs every morning. We thought we would have an egg a day from each chicken but it’s been way less than that. We’ve been getting about 5-7 eggs a week. Two of our chickens seem to be on egg laying strike.
6. They go to bed at sunset.
As soon as the sun goes down our hens go into the coop and go to sleep. We have one that sleeps in the nesting box, one that sleeps on the roosting pole and one that sleeps right next to the door in the nesting area.
7. They dig.
Or scratch but it’s pretty much digging. They do this around the edge of our yard looking for bugs. It’s kind of creating bare spots in the grass where they do this so we don’t let them run free all day, every day.
8. They eat your plants.
My husbands dad gave me a cutting of one of his plants, a night blooming cereus, so I could have my own. I wasn’t watering it enough so I put it in the backyard in an area where it would get water from the sprinklers. I looked at it one day to see how it was doing and most of it was missing. Goodbye night blooming cereus….it’s been real.
9. They are very friendly.
So far they haven’t pecked at any of us and they love company. They run to us when we go in the backyard and if we pick them up, they stay calm and let us pet them. They like to travel around the backyard together and seem to stay close by when we are out there.
I’m looking forward to bringing you some egg recipes soon with our fresh eggs! If these chickens amp up production anytime soon….
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Baby Chicks Habitat in Hardy, Virginia
We have many Rare Chicken Breeds for sale in Hardy Virginia, 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. Hardy Virginia also has poultry equipment for sale, game chickens for sale in Hardy Virginia, 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 Hardy VA.Baby Chicks As Pets in Hardy, Virginia
Thumbing through a baby chickens for sale in Hardy Virginia 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
Hardy Virginia * 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 Hardy
Virginia * 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 Chicks Order Online in Hardy, Virginia
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 Hardy Virginia 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 Hardy, Virginia Baby chicks are quite adorable and also hard to stand up to, yet it's finest to prepare for their arrival prior to you obtain them. Prepare first by collecting not just the right materials, yet additionally the appropriate knowledge to take care of them. Raising baby chicks is fairly simple, you simply have to give them with the following: A tidy as well as warm and comfortable habitat Lots of food and also water Interest as well as love Habitat Your environment can be a basic box, aquarium, cat service provider, or guinea pig cage. Line it with old towels and also blankets (with no loosened strings!) to start, and also after a few weeks utilize straw over paper. Note: Avoid utilizing just paper or other sandal surface areas-- or your chicks legs can grow misshapen. You additionally need something to provide food as well as water in, such as a chicken feeder and water dish from the feed store, or a pickle jar lid for food and also a pet dog bird water dispenser from an animal shop. Also, as the chicks get older you could introduce a perch into the habitat to get them educated on perching. Warmth To keep your chicks heat you need to offer them with a warmth source. This could be as simple as a 100 watt light bulb in a reflective clamp style light from an equipment shop, or an infrared reptile heat light bulb also function effectively (my suggestion). Chicks need this warmth 24/7 until their downy fluff is changed with feathers (which could use up to 2 months). The freshly hatched out require a temperature level between 90 as well as 100 degrees, and every week this could be minimized by about 5 degrees or so. The warmth source ought to be on simply one side of the cage to enable chicks an array of temperatures. The chicks are your finest thermometer- if they are concealing in the other edge of your heat light, you should lower the temperature. If they are surrounding each other under the warmth (not merely curling up), you should include some heat. House cleaning Cleanliness is essential and also it keeps your chicks healthy and balanced. Make sure to change the bed linen usually and consistently offer tidy food and water Food and also water. Chicks grow really quick which needs plenty of tidy food as well as water. Provide enough whatsoever times and also check commonly to avoid dehydrated and also starving chicks. Chick food is different than grown-up chicken food, and also it is available in both medicated and non-medicated ranges. Feed chick food for the very first 2 months, then switch over to a grower food (~ 17 % protein) for an additional 2 months, and then to a somewhat reduced protein feed or a level feed (if you have levels). Soil Some chicks prefer to obtain a running start on taking dust baths, while others will not use up that task until they are older. If you have the room in your chick enclosure, present a tray of sand or filth for them to bathe in. Focus and love There are a couple of benefits to hanging out with your chicks. First off, they will certainly probably bond with you and not flee as grownups. Second, if you analyze your chicks daily and watch their behavior, you could capture disease or various other issues previously. Watch out for wheezing, limping, or various other unhealthy indicators. Make sure to also take a look at their poop, as looseness of the bowels could cause matted plumes and clogged cloaca. Lastly, it is essential to watch out for social issues, such as the smallest chick getting teased. Vacant nest syndrome So your chicks are currently totally feathery and its time for them to leave the safety of your home and also relocate outside into a cage. Check out our part on chicken coops for more information concerning coops and correct coop habitats.Baby Chickens Sale Baby Chicks Price
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