Today’s post was written by Chitter.
Being a mother to six baby chicks is no easy work, and it makes me think of all the mothers out there with real babies, not the chicken kind.
Currently we have four chickens: three hens, and one gigantic rooster. The rooster is named Bo, and he is a gentle and kind rooster.
One of the hens is named Polly and she is eight years old which is ancient for a chicken, but she still looks pretty good and she still lays eggs.
We’ve been wanting more hens for a while now, and during these uncertain times, I decided to go ahead and buy them. I ordered six new chickens from an online hatchery and they came to me in the mail.
I went to get them and the box was chirping loudly so I knew they were anxious to get warm and settled.
The post office called me at 7:00 a.m. that morning and said “We have a box full of chicks, and they sound hungry, come get them!” Funny right?
We have four Speckled Sussex chicks and two White Rocks.
There’s much joy and pleasure in raising chickens and best of all you get rewarded with lots of eggs!
It’s true chickens aren’t the brightest creature, but they are fun.
I am a momma to six baby chicks and I wouldn’t have it any other way 🙂
Chitter
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LOVE this !!!!!!! Brings back so many great memories. Thank You !
Oh, Chitter! You bring back good memories. My husband ordered baby turkeys & couple goslings once. He knew all about them. When he got home after work he’d take them out in the yard. We’d turn over rocks & pieces of wood & those babies Loved to catch the crickets! They would gobble down a cricket I didn’t think they could possibly swallow.
He would crouch down & stick out his elbows & cluck… Those baby turkeys would run under his ‘wings’ for safety & comfort!
Good luck w/yours!
Be careful, Chitter. We know a man in Brevard that bought one chick for his daughter for Easter, probably 20 years ago. One thing led to another, and the last I heard, he and his wife were harvesting about 750 eggs per day!
They are so cute! I love baby animals.
I know that your daughter’s like rocks. Here is a website that might be of interest to them. G-Burg Rockz PA
Beautiful babies!
Thanks so much for your interesting post, Chitter. Growing up I did the same exact thing. I remember being responsible for 3 in a box at a very young age, and being kidlike I tried to drag the box around all day as I played or did chores–I wasn’t a very good chick Mama at a young age, but I improved. I set the box down outside, and one of the chicks disappeared without a trace. I looked everywhere, and it wasn’t until I grew older that I realized our sweet family dog probably just could not resist. I have no idea why, but I actually was permitted to raise a tiny guinea, I was as attached to that little thing as I have ever been to a pet. It would follow me around and perch on my shoulder. After it became older I could no longer keep it in the house, so it was taken outside to join all the other farm critters. I checked on it for awhile, and always had a special interest in all our little chicks that hatched out. For some unknown reason a Mama hen can take a dislike to a chick and peck at it. We rescued those unfortunates, and I actually checked on the progress of the Mom and babies often. We had quite a few for a time.
I have a tendency to go on…wax philosophical. But, I’m just going to say this is exactly what I needed to read this morning.
Good luck with those chickens! Wonderful thing to read on this snowy quatentine day!
I don’t know if you have named your chickens yet so here is some I thought might be good for them. Dumpling, Barby Q,
Spicy, Crispy, Herb, Curry, Nugget and Alfredo. You’re Welcome!
Tipper,
And Chitter,
When I was a little thing, a hen brought her new gang to the front yard to show off her new brood. She had 14 little fellers and she was so proud of ’em. One time a hawk was circuling above, and dropped down and got one before our Fiests could help out. The mama flew off with the baby chick, to feed her little ones. (That’s the way when you live in the Mountains.) It’s usually a nose-drippin’ posseum that causes Trouble, and of the night when the chickens would go to Roost, that’s when the posseums would do their meanness. Almost every night, me or my brothers would hear the Fiests and go and shake one out. The dogs could see of the night, and anything that fell out, they got tore up too. …Ken
Love reading about your chickens and chicks. Bo sounds like a great Rooster, too. When I was 9 or 10 my Dad ordered a whole gang of goslings. I remember, the mailman dropping them off at our house…it was an ear splitting noise. I loved taking care of the goslings and watching as they grew into geese. They roamed in my dads pine tree field beside our house and ate morning glory vines. Don’t remember eating the eggs, but I remember how big i thought they were, compared to chicken eggs. Good memories.
I’ve always wanted some chickens myself.
O their sooooo cute. We have raised so many grom babies. It is fun to watch the stages they go through of growing. Theres the cute, ugly and the final beautiful. Chitter its nice to know your roosters name is Bo. Thats what my nickname is. My oldest brother name me that when we was just little tots. He wont call me nothing else. I love it. Love today’s post Tipper.
Congratulations Moma! Have you taught them how to eat and scratch for their food yet? That was usually my job growing up. I added some fine grit to the bottom of their box so they could learn to forage for food. It also helps with their digestion. How about teaching them to drink from the drinker? They learn quickly! Good luck, and remember what ever mischief they get into, a mother’s love is unconditional.
While it could be true that chickens aren’t the smartest creatures, they recognize the person who feeds them. Someone down the road moved away and left 10-12 chickens. Every time I went down the road I took them bread or corn. I watched them ignore the neighbor as he passed by, but came flying when they saw my car. There is only one chicken and the rooster left. They have all been killed by critters at night or hit by cars on the highway.
Nice, hope all goes well. Chics have been a hot item around here also, folks bought them all up I hear, I thought about raising some but there are so many hawks around here it would be really be hard I’d think, we actually have a family of hawks that raise every year down in the woods below our house, one year the young hawks would use our front porch rails to sit and watch the squirrels, they decided to try to catch one and it would run around the tree and the young hawk would bounce around on the ground and follow that squirrel around the tree, it was funny and then the dumb squirrel thought he’d hit the ground and the young hawk actually acted like he or she was scared of it, this went on for a while we just watched from the living room window and got a kick out of it.
Hope they aren’t too nerve racking. Them younguns can disappear the quickest, just blink and they are off and running. I’ll bet your Momma can tell you about that.
One of my sometime jobs when I was a kid was to find the settin hens. They try to hide and mislead any watchers about where their nest is. I don’t know how she did it but my Grandma knew when hens were wanting to “set”. Besides keeping them safe, that was one reason for keeping them penned, so they couldn’t hide out. She also had some glass (?) eggs that could be put under a hen that would start them settin.
Good luck!
I saw those baby chicks the other day, they are precious…and what’s more precious is the way you take care of them. You all should just see Chitter clucking at those babies of hers. There will be lots of eggs around before you know it!
I’m also anxious to hear their names!
Aw, that is so sweet! I think it is wonderful that, during these uncertain times, you are sustaining life. You are finding hope in nurturing the little chicks and caring for them so diligently. May God bless you and all of the chicks to grow and thrive and produce eggs for you and your family for many years. Sending love and hugs to all of you!
Well Chitter let me tell you about the hen and future chicks that almost weren’t. The young man that lives over the hill has some free ranging chickens. I was mowing grass the other day in a spot I seldom mow. The spot was tall fescue up close to the bamboo. I just happened to look down and my deck was only 3 or 4 inches from a setting hen. I backed off and won’t mow until her eggs are hatched. My next pass would have got her and her eggs.