Six quick chicks come

Yesterday, we went to Foster Feed & Garden to pick up some new day-old chicks. They are the earliest place in town to get chicks - most feed stores start getting them around the first of March. They're also closer than the place I usually go - Linnton Feed & Seed.



I had previously decided to get an assortment from Murray McMurray, but after thinking it over, we decided that we didn't want the hassle. Sure, we could get a bunch of ornamentals, crazy feather-feet, huge combs, long tail feathers - exotic stuff - but we'd get 25 chicks and have to subsequently sell off the others via Craigslist. That just seemed like too much trouble for our little flock.

We ended up getting a few nice breeds - two Rhode Island Reds, two Barred Rocks and two Araucanas. Sarah grew up with chickens on her family farm, some of which were Araucanas, and the other two breeds and good cold-tolerant layers. Should be a nice mix-up of colors and attitudes once they mature.

Lily is working on the names. We think they'll be kinds of candy, since "candy and chickens are good to eat." (She's a carnivorous pragmatist.)

Right now, they're in a 20-gallon rubbermaid-style storage container in the corner of the kitchen with a 250-watt infrared brooding bulb hanging overhead. They're bedding on straw, which is fine so long as I clean it out every other day or so. They're eating a lot and drinking enough. When I bought them, I got to stare into the cage for a while to pick out the excited, strong ones. In a few days, I'll start sprinkling grit on their food, and in a few weeks, I'll move them into the basement. I still need to finish fixing up the coop - put in a bigger, human-sized door, reinforce the poultry netting at the fence edges to foil the coons, and re-hang the door. Maybe I'll be able to eliminate the coons before the chicks move outside.

Now I just need to figure out when they start to like kitchen scraps. So far, they've snubbed pears, banana peels, some polenta cornmeal sprinkles and cucumber peels.