May 16, 2005

Noah gets his rooster, along with 80 baby chicks

Today the day-old chicks arrived at McCuin's Farm and Home store in Highgate. More than a month ago we had ordered 70 meat bird chicks, 10 laying chicks, and 1 rooster for Noah. Noah wants to raise baby chicks, so we'll see how that all turns out. As soon as morning chores were done, Noah dashed up to the house to get the truck keys so that we could head down to "Uncle Owen's store" to pick up our order.BabyChickExtremeCloseupMay2005.JPG

Donna, Owen, and Noah's cousin, Jason, boxed up the chicks for the ride home. The boxes were set inside the truck, right beside Noah. Tiny "peep, peep, peeps" muffled by the closed boxes could be heard all the way home. Noah and I unloaded the chicks into the waiting freshly bedded pen. We filled the waterer and grain feeder, and made sure the heat lamp was hung just right to keep the chicks nice and warm. "Fort Chickie", as Noah was calling the pen holding the chicks, was all set for now.

We checked the chicks several times through the day. They seemed to be settling in just fine. In about three weeks, after the chicks are well feathered and the weather has turned warm for good (it was 18 degrees here this morning), we will put the chicks out in the moveable shelter so they can enjoy the goodness of the grass and sunshine.

BabyChicksMay2005.JPGBabyChicksFeeding2May2005.JPG
--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont


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Posted by Blogger Chris at May 16, 2005 03:05 PM
Comments

Hi, I bought 15 chicks 2 weeks ago. They flew in from Texas to JFK and then by truck to Hillsdale NY. Ten layers and 5 buff orpingtons. I have them in the house! in a brooder. It sure is fun to watch them grow. I wish Noah the best. Hope the rooster grows up to be a nice guy. Helen

Posted by: Helen at May 16, 2005 09:19 PM

The chicks are so adorable (and Noah too!). What a fun way to give Noah some responsibility for his flock!

Hope you show us some pictures in a few weeks when the chicks move outside. I am sure they will be as happy as the cows were in your previous post. They looked ecstatic to be out running in the grass. How nice.

Enjoy the spring!! Hope Dena is feeling better!

Posted by: Chris at May 16, 2005 07:17 PM

What is the difference in the physical appearance between a 'meat' chick and a 'laying' chick?
Is the feed different?
Are they housed or treated differently?
Since you mentioned getting a rooster, are all the others females?
And this one may sound like a stupid question, but does 'chick' refer to female birds only?

Posted by: Laura Theroux at May 16, 2005 07:17 PM

What kind of meat birds did you get? Are they an heirloom variety? How many weeks do you grow them before they are butchered? & what kind of pasturing setup do you have for the birds?

Posted by: mIEKAL aND at May 16, 2005 03:30 PM