Well, we finally replaced our city chickens.
We got the baby chicks at tractor supply. 3 brown and 3 white. I don't remember the type of birds they are. When choosing them we pick the most active peeps in the bunch.
We got Luckey because you don't know if you're getting a hen or rooster. We ended up with all hens.
When they were tiny, we kept them in a plastic bin under a heat lamp. Added some wood shavings and kept them in the house. After a week they were strong enough to jump out. So I put a wire screen on top.
After 3 weeks they started to stink and were getting crowded in the bin. So, I moved the to the garage. Used 4x8 sheets of plywood to make a pin. After 6 weeks they were able to jump to the top and get out of that pin as well.
They were purchased in July so in the daytime we turned the heat lamp off because they would get too hot. Then start to pant.
They will need the heat lamp until they get their full adult feathers. When their little fuzz balls they cannot regulate their body temperature and will die without a mother hen or heat lamp.
It takes 5 to 6 months for the to start laying. Our first eggs came the first week of January.
I did threaten them with repainting the coop to resemble a KFC. Not sure if that helped but we did get eggs.
They have to be comfortable, feel safe, and have a clean coop to lay so we have to stay on top of the cleaning.
This is what they look like now. They are a year and a half old.
This was our first try. It went well. We expected to lose at least one, but they all survived until maturity. Now the girls are cranking out eggs.
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