Thursday, August 2, 2012

I think I'm going to do it

Get more chicks that is.  Honey is still broody and I think she'd be a fabulous mama.  And I've always wanted to have that experience of watching a hen raise young.

I found my biggest hesitation was around Ginger.  And it still is.  But if I build out a small barricaded area inside my run to protect them, then I should be good.  I can put Honey in there with chicks and keep them physically separated for several weeks till the chicks are big enough to understand they need to stay away from big, bad Ginger.

And even though I only want two more chickens, I think I'll pick up more chicks than that, maybe 4 or 5.  This will help ensure that I end up with two hens.  I worry about just buying two and having one turn out to be a rooster or heaven forbid, we lose one.  Both have happened to me before.

And the chicks would have a bigger safety in numbers statistic against Ginger.

I don't think I'd have any trouble selling or giving away the extras.  The hardest part would  be the emotional aspect of seeing them go.  But there are plenty of people in the area who have chickens and have no desire to raise them from chicks.  Which I can totally understand.  It's a commitment for sure.

So a few things need to play out just right.  Honey needs to still be broody Saturday morning.  The feed store has to have some Ameraucana or Easter Egger chicks that are no more than 2-3 days old.  And I need to find some time to get to the hardware store to get some hard wire cloth to build out a temporary pen for them.  And ideally, I should do that tonight and put Honey in there to give her a few days to acclimate before Saturday.

Keep your fingers crossed for me and I promise to post lots of cute photos.

1 comment:

  1. I hope everything does play out right for you. I will be wishing you luck and can't wait to hear what happens next. I can't wait to see cute baby photos too.

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