chick check

Way back on July 24th a special parcel arrived in the mail, expanding our farm population exponentially and sending us on a learning curve with the trajectory of a SpaceX mission... It's been two weeks and I finally have some non-blurry, non-eerie-red-heat-lamp glowing pictures to share. I was actually a little (okay, a lot) worried they wouldn't survive under my care, so I was hesitant to get excited about them, online at least. 

As lots of people have been asking questions, I thought I might try a little made up Q-and-A format for this post. If I miss something here, though, please ask in the comments below and I'll answer if I can!

Q: Hey dog, how many chicks did you get? 

A: We ordered 25 (the minimum order amount), but the hatchery "threw in" a couple extra -- yeah, like baker's dozen -- so we ended up with 27. One didn't make it past the third day, which is common and the reason for the "bonus" in the box, leaving us with 26.

Q: Hey dog, what kind are they? 

A: We have 4 different kinds -- the Rhode Island Reds and Red Sussex Cross are reddish (obviously) and really hard to tell apart. The Red Rock Cross are the black ones. All of these are "dual purpose", but we got pullets (females), so they will all be egg layers. The 9 remaining are Western Rustics -- distinguishable because they are growing at twice the rate of the others -- and these are meat birds. These ones aren't sorted by sex so we likely have a mix of pullets and cockerels. Yes, these ladies would also produce eggs, but they aren't ideal for that so that isn't their destiny. 

Q: Hey dog, do you need a rooster for the hens to lay eggs? Will you keep a rooster?

A: It's a common misconception but no, hens ovulate whether or not they've been, uh, serviced by a rooster. And yes, fertilized eggs are edible -- in fact refrigeration prevents a fertilized egg from developing, so there's no chance of cracking one open to an unpleasant surprise. Roosters are good protectors for the flock, but they're also noisy and not typically friendly, so we won't keep any. 

Q: Hey dog, did you give them names?

A: Yup! Here's the thing, though. It's pretty common for anyone with more than, say, three or four hens to give them all the same name -- like this blogger who named all her chicks Macaroni or or this egg producer who named all their hens Lola. So here goes...

The black ones (there are 5) are all Willi -- named after my plucky aunt who requested a chick be her namesake.

The red layers, both types, are all Layla. Of course. 

And the 9 meat birds.... they're all named Stu. Ahem. 

Note that I make a point of referring to each bird by name, as in "Layla did the cutest thing today..." or "Willi flew up to the sill" or "Stu is getting so big!". Not, "one of the Laylas...". You know how parents call all their kids "honey" or "sweetie" (instead of fumbling for the wrong name...)? They wouldn't refer to their child as "one of the sweeties" so I'm not going to talk about "one of the Laylas/ Willis/ Stus." Same name, but still individuals!

Q: Hey dog, when will you start getting eggs?

A: Not for awhile. Probably not till early spring. Pullets don't lay until 5-6 months of age, but for our girls that will be mid-winter. Chickens don't lay in the dark days of winter unless supplemented with artificial light. We'll let nature decide when it's laying time as it's healthier for the birds.

Q: Hey dog, how can you tell which ones are rooster?

A: Good question! It's actually pretty tough to tell till they get older. Ironically, male chickens do not actually have one of those appendages so crudely named after them. Go figure! 

Got a chick question not answered here? Obviously, after that last one, nothing is off the table so fire away in the comments below!