Baby Chicks

This afternoon I bought 25 baby chicks from Rural King. They are now happily ensconced on my back porch with chick starter, water and a heat lamp, They are so funny and cute..now. There are at lest 2 itty bitty bully roosters already trying for supremacy. Even with a heat lamp they have decided to huddle up together on the opposite wall. The Bully Boys want to be on top for all the warmth and to dictate pecking order.

I really didn't want 25 baby chicks, but that is the way you had to buy them. As I live in a town I didn't want to smell up the neighborhood. The Bully Boy Rooster may eventually wake up the neighbors. You know what roosters do in the morning!

If half these chicks produce I will have lots of fresh eggs and I will let them roam the garden eventually and devour bugs and insects. Their droppings can go into the garden later. If I am lucky enough to get too many eggs I can share them with others.

If chickens are properly cared for they will produce large eggs with hard shells and have yokes of rich yellow. Once they get a good start they are happy to eat anything including vegetable skins and scraps. You can use egg shells ground up in a blender to add to their water for the extra calcium that is needed to form hard shells on the eggs they will lay.

I am tired of going to the store to buy eggs that have very thin and/or cracked shells due to poor feed and forced/factory living in mega hen houses. I can raise them better, tastier and happier. Already these little chicks are enjoying the open space and some are even trying to fly(the bullies, of course).

I know not every city dweller has the luxury of having a garden or a few "pet" chickens, but try it if you can. It is educational for the young and even for some older people as well. Eggs don't just come a store in a carton.

The woodchuck lucked out. The box trap captured an Opossum instead. 'Possum was set free to roam as he pleased. Hope he is smart enough to stay away from the box trap. Really need to catch the woodchuck critter.

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