How much does it cost to brood (raise) baby chicks? The goal of this post is to at least give you the tools to answer that question. It depends upon a lot of factors that will be unique to your situation, so the answers aren’t specific but are more like estimates. However, again, you should be able to use the information to figure out how much it costs in your situation. I have organized it around the things you will need, and I have assumed an order of 25 chicks.
A Brooder: A brooder is just something that you will keep the baby chicks in until they get big enough where they will not need a heat lamp anymore. This obviously depends upon the weather, but that usually means about four weeks. The above is [continue reading…]
Our Barred Rock pullet chicks that we ordered on February 20 have now arrived. They are pictured above in the top picture. The second picture is of the little gals who arrived about one week prior to that.
I would say safely, but that isn’t quite the case. This order reflects the greatest loss we have experienced thus far in transport. Upon opening the box, we found we had exactly a 25 percent loss. The hatchery will credit our account for loss up to 48 hours, which is very fair we think. Thankfully, the rest seem healthy and happy as can be.
For someone who wants to get into raising chickens for the first time or for someone who has been doing it for years, a decision has to be made as to where to procure the baby chicks. In some places, this will be easy as there are no local options. However, in other places, such as central Virginia, there are both local options (like us) in addition to the hatcheries. So, which should you do: order the chicks from the hatchery yourself or buy them from a local farm? (Again, like us.) The following will present some of the benefits to you of buying the chicks from a local farm. Of course, in addition to these benefits to you, you also support the local farm and food network, which is a good thing.
So, here we go. Placing a chick order from a hatchery can be surprisingly expensive and daunting. At this point in the year, [continue reading…]
These little guys joined the farm on January 4, 2014. We went to New Castle to get them, and I held while the guy I bought them from “cut” them. (If you don’t know what that means, google it.) There are four boys (now, after being cut, “barrows,” or eunuchs, to use a more biblical term) and one girl (a “gilt”). They are about 8 weeks old and had been off their momma for about 2 weeks when I got them. They are Duroc/Yorkshire crosses. They should be delicious come next year! [continue reading…]
