Who wants chicks?
Since I’ve become a chicken-keeper 4 years ago, I’ve acquired only ‘point-of-lay’ hens. These hens are about 6 months old and are just about ready to lay eggs. Some have been more people-friendly than others, but they do tend to be rather skittish. I now have the opportunity to get ‘day-old’ chicks. Since we will be like their mamma, we should have more success with them being socialized to us.
One of our favourite breeds is the Barred Plymouth Rock. I am a big fan of getting chickens from a small farmer who has bred them onsite, and feel very fortunate to have connected with Brian who has Barred Rock fertilized eggs in his incubator as we speak. They should be hatching in about 2 1/2 weeks, after which time I could pick them up and raise them in a home-made corrugate box brooder. We will keep them toasty warm for about 6 weeks under a red light, and at 10 weeks we hope they will be ready to integrate with our flock of 3. Since the weather will be getting warmer, we’ll be able to take them outside on the grass during the day to get them used to their future home environment.
Brian has both Barred Rocks and Americaunas (blue egg-layers) available.
To contact him, email: brian.garcia@sympatico.ca