Chicks Arrive and Brooder Build

The Chicks Arrived!

After following their progress online, the chicks finally arrived at our local post office in early May 2012. I got up Sunday morning and saw that the tracking number said they were in, but I hadn't received a call so I decided to head down and get them anyway. I’m glad I did because the postal employees didn't seem to know what to do with them. I had been proactive and called the post office to let them know of the order and they said they would call as soon as they arrived. Everyone could hear them cheeping, but it hadn't dawned on anyone that they were supposed to call me. This is something the people of Juneau should know. The valley post office doesn't handle live animal shipments very often so they don’t seem to know the standard procedure.

The chicks weren't any worse for the trip, so home with me they went, all 26 of them.

As I mentioned before, we accepted a free exotic chick from Murray McMurray Hatchery, so we were excited to see this little yellow fluff ball mixed in with the Brown Partridge Rocks, Orange Buff Orpingtons, Black Barred Rocks and White and Black Silver Laced Wyandottes.

The kids were really excited to see the new chicks. It became a daily reward to get a few out to handle them.

Easy Rubbermaid Brooder

I put together a quick brooder using a Rubbermaid tote, scrap wood, hardware cloth and a piece of cardboard. It worked fine for the 26 chicks and then the 7 we kept. I hung a light with a 100 watt infrared bulb to keep them warm. I used some 1x3’s to form a lid that fit over the tote. One side had hardware cloth and the light sat on top of it. The other side was a flap of cardboard that was stapled down and served as the door. I kept a can of chick starter on it in case they tried to jump out, but was never an issue.

Here’s a video of the brooder: