I thought perhaps there were enough people interested in the meat bird process that a weekly update would be good? Let me know if I’m wrong and I’ll just give you cute pictures and not all of the details…

This morning the call from the Post Office came at 7:45 am. Just after I’d gotten to work and well after Mike was a long time from home. It’s not clear if they really got here late Thursday and they didn’t call, or if they actually got here that early this morning. Anyway, the PO was in a big hurry to have us pick them up, but they had to wait until I could sneak away at lunch. Shortly after noon the loudly peeping box was mine and I dashed off to the barn to get them settled and go back to work.

Hard to believe that this box had 55 chicks in it, but it did. And actually, during a cooler time of year it could have held up to 100. They had only 13 - 15 in each corner due to the heat we’ve been having.

Luckily we were all set up and ready for them so it was just a matter of plugging in the lights, filling the waterers and putting out some feed. All easily accomplished. Then each chick got its beak dipped in the water and set on it’s feet. They were immediately on their way to doing what chicks do best - eating, drinking, pooping and sleeping.

I tried to trick Lucy into taking a couple of the Welsummer chicks, but she just tried to peck them to death. I rescued them and put them back in with the rest of the fluff balls. Oh well, they’ll just have to hang with the meat birds until they get their feathers. Lucy has been banished back to the hen shack where I’m working hard to get her off the nest. She’s lost quite a bit of weight in the futile 6 weeks she’s been sitting and it’s time to end it. Black Langshan’s don’t make very good mothers from what I’ve recently read, so I’m wondering if she actually killed the two chicks that hatched herself…

After a false start with a brand new heat lamp bulb that conked out in less than 6 hours (gonna return that sucker!) everyone seems to be doing fabulously. The setup is basically a third of a 10′x10′ box stall with 2 heat lamps, 4 1-quart waterers and 2 two-foot chick feeders. That’s likely going to last a week or two and then they’ll graduate to “big chick” tube feeders and metal waterers and get access to the entire stall. We’ll be using one pair that I already had and then going to have to pick up another pair either at the feed store or through Craigslist.

Here’s some cute pics for you from tonight, costs to date noted at the bottom.

The whole crew, all 50 red broilers and 5 Welsummers, soaking up some heat.

They eat…

They drink…

They sleep…

Wherever they are.

*****
Costs to Date (broilers only):

$69.50 - 50 chicks at $1.25 each plus $7 shipping
$60.25 - 2 chick waterers, 2 chick feeders, 1 heat lamp, 2 heat lamp bulbs, 2 bales shavings
$67.00 - 2 50# bags of organic chick starter
———-
$196.75 - Total ($3.94 per bird)

Supplies we already had: 2 chick waterers, 4 quart mason jars, 1 heat lamp, extension cords, 1 18″ chick feeder that I’ll add in tomorrow plus a 2 gallon metal waterer and a 14 lb. tube feeder.

We’re still trying to decide if we’ll feed organic all they way through or not. These guys have to go all the way to 12 weeks and the price of organic feed is going through the roof. But they’ll get it at least until 5 or 6 weeks as I’m not a big fan of medicated chick starter and that’s the only other option at the feed stores around here.