The Layers arrive

Today my son purchased 23 laying chicks. There are 13 Rhode Island Reds, 5 Barred Rock (or Plymoth Rock), and 5 Aracauna (otherwise known as Easter Eggers because they lay colored eggs). He also order 2 Bovan Brown chicks, but they haven't come it yet. This makes 25 layers for his flock.

He had such pride as he held the box in his lap on the way home.

The littles watched their big brother put the chicks in the brooder. We divided the brooder up into 2 different spaces. We read that we should keep the meat bird seperate from the layers because they require different feed and the meat bird grow so much faster that they sometimes bully the smaller layers.

T1 took the chicks out one by one and dunked their beak/heads in the water before letting them go into the brooder. He read that dehydration is a common problem among the baby chicks, so it's important they know where the water is first thing.

These chicks were hatched yesterday and shipped right out. They are so tiny and cute. The cornish cross already look so much bigger than these new arrivals.

So far we haven't lost any and I'm hoping for the best. We'll keep you posted.