Our little hens have finally gotten their new home out on the pasture, and they love it! It’s similar to the pen for the meat chickens in that it moves every day, but different dimensions and has nesting boxes and a perch. They were a little tentative at first, but then they settled right in scratching and pecking and eating grass and any bugs they could find.
Hej då!
Lisa
Here is a couple of minutes with ‘tee bone’ and ‘rib-eye’ especially for Annika!!
We had to build some new feeders for the broilers. They did not have enough feeder space and it was like a feeding frenzy trying to get them all around the small feeders we had. The new feeders are 4 feet long and the birds can eat from both sides, that’s 16 lineal feet of feeder space. Next up – we have got to figure out the waterers – they seem to keep going dry for some reason.
Today’s 2 minute video blog is showing what it looks like to come up to the brooder first thing in the morning. The birds are 13 days old in this video. There are 74 or 75 birds in the brooder. We’ve had no ‘deadies’ in several days. I still have the warming lights on – as the nights have been staying cold.
Greg
Yay! Our first batch of chickens arrived on Wednesday. It is a wonder to me that you can order living things and the post office will deliver them to you. And, that these little creatures that were just born/hatched are able to survive the trip without food or water or warmth. Then, when you take them out of the box, they just instinctively know how to peck the feed and drink from the waterer. Incredible!
So, they will be in their cozy little brooder for three weeks, and then out to the pasture they will go. Where they can scratch and peck all the bugs and grubs and worms and ticks and fly larva and anything else they can find to their hearts content while soaking up lots of sunshine and breathing the fresh air.
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We ordered 50 Jumbo Cornish Cross meat chickens and 25 mixed breed laying chickens. They sent along a few extra. Good thing, as about that many haven’t made it. Heartbreaking when you find them. The layers have proven hardier than the meat chicks, and they are vastly cuter.
It really is amazing how quickly they grow. So much so that they seem to get bigger right before your eyes!
Hej då!
Lisa
Check out our little brood. Sorry it’s a little shaky. But hey, I’m new to this, cut me some slack!