Backyard Chickens - 7 Too Many
Well, this is a problem I didn’t prepare for. I ordered three baby Light Brahma chicks from Nature’s Hatchery, which is willing to ship small orders. Most hatcheries have a 25 chick minimum.
Since the hatchery is in Illinois and I’m in Oregon, I thought of many things that might go wrong. But getting too many chicks was not one of them. Not that I wouldn’t love to keep them all – but this is a backyard urban chicken flock, and I do need to stay in the good graces of my neighbors.
In fact, I ordered the Light Brahmas specifically because they were advertised as “extremely docile and quiet birds, good with children and excellent pets.” A Google search turned up many descriptions of them as the “perfect” chicken for people trying to get along with their neighbors. And besides, my tiny chicken house only has room for three grown birds.
I believe three of the mixed lot I received are the Light Brahma breed I ordered – the fluffy light gray ones with feathers on their legs. The two yellow chicks might be Buff Orpington, but they might also be Cornish Cross or some other light-colored chicken (they’re more yellow than they appear in the photo). The yellow chicks are the most active and aggressive birds in the box.
The red one could be a Rhode Island Red (or not…) and the two darker gray chicks with leg feathers might be Dark Brahmas (or not). I have no clue about the black one with the white spot on her head.The smallest one, white with black spots, may be a bantam breed. (One chick is outside the photo, in case you didn’t think I could count). I could take a better picture with better color by taking them outside, but they’ve had a rough couple of days in the USPS airplane and truck, so I’ll let them be. If you have any idea what kind of chicks they are, please let me know.
Now my dilemma: if this was a real farm, I’d gladly let all ten birds dig up (and fertilize) my future garden spot, and then put the extra 7 in the freezer. But I never intended for my three chicks to be anything other than pets who do a bit of work on the side scratching through my compost and laying an egg occasionally. Even though the “3″ morphed into “10″ for some reason, eating them really hasn’t sunk in as a reasonable solution to the chicken population problem. So the extras will have to be “farmed out” to a friend or relative. The calls are already going out.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Ah, I didn’t know you’d got your blog started!
The babies are impossibly cute, aren’t they? I hope you don’t have too much trouble finding homes for the extras. They probably sent extras in case some didn’t survive the trip, but then why throw in unwanted breeds?
I’ll be watching your experiment avidly! Good luck!
I already have a volunteer for the extras, but the living situation they’d be going to is not ideal. My friend keeps her chickens at the back of a dark barn – I have no idea why. So I’ll keep looking. I’m attached already!
It was inevitable with such cute little fuzz-balls. I look forward to seeing what art they inspire in you!
Good luck finding them a really good home.
Did You order from Murry Mc Murry? They always send extra’s. My fist start with the chickens from there involved me making brooders with old house windows that would fit on my dresser so I could watch them at night. Twenty five at a time turned into 28 or so. OH HOW cute. Ordered two more orders, same results. It didn’t take long to realize paper changing and keeping clean was a BIG chore. AND that they didn’t stay tiny and cute for long. Yep, outside and building like mad to make them all safe homes. On to going to chicken shows and being a proud mama with tears flowing when a judge gave one of my babies a Blue ribbon. LOL
I’m adding another picture of long time back fun winning Blue Ribbons. This is Archie, a White Laced Polish chicken. Loved him to pieces.
I ordered from Nature’s Hatchery, because they offer to ship smaller orders. I do wish I could have a reasonable-sized flock, at least 25 or so. But I live in a small city that has only recently allowed any chickens at all.
OH MY I just read the whole thing. Had written before with half reading. LOL Where in Oregon are you. I’m at Shast Lake, CA Two hours from the border.
Try this site. It will show you lots of the chicks and you can order a free catalog with tons of colored pictures. I loved dealing with them the years I was in the chicken world.
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/catalogrequest!input.html
Better picture to show you my Silver Laced Polish. Archie. Blue Ribbon winner several times.
umm, I hope you didn’t give the yellow chicks away as they are your light Brahmnas :0)
No, I kept all the Brahmas. I never found out if the ones I gave away were hens or roosters – and it was amazingly hard to find homes for them. (I’d like to have a turkey – or a goat. I don’t think I’ll ever get away with that, though…)