Check out these Chicks!

I finished getting the space ready for the chicks in the chicken run this morning. I went back to town to the Rural King for the purpose of picking up 25 Rock Cornish Cross. At this point, I still was undecided about what I was going to do about layers. After having my car T-boned in the parking lot and dealing with all that (Arrgh!), inside I went to choose my chicks!

I did decide on some layers, too. I chose Ameraucanas and also Leghorns out of the several types that they had. This time, the right guy was there who could tell me what each of the breeds were. These were too old for me to try to guess at the gender. Someone once told me that an easy way to sex day old chicks was to look at the pin feathers on the wings. The pullets' pins will be more advanced than the roos. It was still kind of iffy, but four years ago when we last bought chicks, this method gave us almost 65% pullets. I think we would have done better, but I may have forgotten to check every one in the excitement of the moment! Those who know better will sex the chicks by squeezing out the poop and then they can squeeze a little more and see if there is a little 'nub' (roos) or not (not roos)! I tried to do this, but just couldn't handle this method. Oh well, maybe someday I will have someone show me how. I can only hope that out of the six Ameraucanas and the three Brown Leghorns, that I will get a few pullets out of it. They did have Sex Links, but I wanted something a little more interesting.

Here is the set-up that we put together for them. The shelter is an overturned sand spreader hopper that goes in the back of a pick up truck. This was a factory second that was given to us. I knew right away what I would use it for! So I have it setting up on cinder blocks. The bedding is loose straw with a layer of wood shavings over the top of that. I have the heat lamp hanging from above, plywood on top to cover the opening and I have covered the whole things with a couple of blankets for the night. Last, but not least, there are flakes of hay around the entire thing to keep it snug and warm. I will remove the flakes in front during the day so they can move freely in and out. It is supposed to get down to 34 degrees F tonight, but the rest of the week will not drop that low. I will go out and check on them later to see how they are doing.

The ICYouSee
Handy-Dandy Chicken Chart