We got our new chicks from a hatchery in Michigan back in May. It was our first time ordering chicks through the mail. They were shipped out on a Monday and arrived on Wednesday. To our dismay, we had one casualty. So, the kids held a funeral service and buried it near the compost. We still ended up with 10 chicks. The hatchery sent one extra Easter Egger just in case one didn't make it. Four months later and they're all grown up. We moved them into the larger coop at the beginning of September. Each night for about a week, we went out late evening to catch each pullet to place in the coop. The first day, I helped the kids. We put each pullet on the lowest roost after the older hens had turned in for the night. While it avoided them fighting during the evening, it didn't do much for the squabbling that would occur each morning when discoveries were made. It really didn't matter to some of the older, more aggressive hens that they had been looking at these pullets through a fence for two months. I guess some just couldn't wait to get their claws on them. Well, it's been three weeks. Very little fighting is going on at this point. Occasionally, one of the big girls will nip at a smaller one for taking too long to drink water. They may scramble to snatch a stray blade of grass or tomato. Other than that, they are getting used to one another.
The pullets finally know to follow the crowd into the safety of the coop before it closes just before dark. We mainly check to make sure everyone is inside. We have foxes, racoons, possums and an occasional coyote, so it is important that everyone is accounted for and secure. It is so exciting to wait for that first egg, especially when everyone else is molting. It won't be long before that creamy, rich, goodness comes along. We purposely waited until well after spring to purchase so we'd get eggs all through the winter. We'll see how it goes.
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AuthorI'm a wife, mother, daughter, educator, writer and hobby farmer. Welcome to my world of simply living. Archives
December 2023
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