Ok, well maybe not but it sure feels like it !! I ordered chicks waaaaaaay back in February to be delivered in April. Do you know how hard it's been waiting......... (might explain why I had to have eggs for an incubator...lol)
Well they are suppose to ship out today from Ideal in Texas. Now I waited so long , chose a date when I thought the weather would be pretty good...yeah right. We are having a winter storm warning and it is snowing now. *bangs head on keyboard*
I'm so worried they'll get stuck somewhere along the way in bad weather and perish. I went to the post office yesterday and gave them a note in bold black magic marker using large letters giving them all my contact info to call me right away...lol.
Wish me luck !! I will post when I get my hands on them...lol
~Julie =0)
Oh yeah this is what I am expecting this shipment
Light Brahmas Pullet ~ 3
Black Australorps St Run ~10
Buff Orpingtons St Run ~10
Red Chantecler St Run ~ 4
Partridge Silkies St Run ~ 3
Blue Cochins Pullet ~ 2
Salmon Faverolle St Run ~ 4
Ameraucanas (Araucanas) St Run ~ 4
French Guineas St Run ~ 5
This message was edited Apr 11, 2007 3:39 PM
I'm on high alert !!!
Almost like its Christmas eve and your a kid again, thats pretty cool.
Reminds me of Ed Grimly on SCTV with his I can not wait for christmas I am going Mental....www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yu_CukF8Kc - 87k
Good Luck!
Got my fingers and toes crossed for you! Hopefully they will be fine! Meyer Hatchery put a little warming pad in with my chicks , Hopefully Ideal does the same! That pad was warm for 2 days after they arrived!
I'm in the same boat. I have chicks that were mailed from Ideal today too. I didn't order as many as you and they assured me they would include "plenty of males for warmth." I have no idea what I'm going to do with all those baby roosters. LOL
It's warmer here than where you are, I'm sure, but it's been pretty cold the last week. It was supposed to warm up today but didn't. Hopefully tomorrow we'll finally see the warmer temps.
Here's what I ordered, all pullets:
2 Rose Comb Brown Leghorns
2 Ameraucanas
2 Golden Laced Wyandottes
2 Barred Rocks
1 Black Austrolorp
1 Buff Brahma
I'm getting excited about their arrival. Spent half the day getting their brooder all ready and testing out various lightbulbs for the proper heat level.
Gold laced wyandottes are pretty !! I regretted after the fact I didn't order any but I just ordered some blue laced red wyandotte eggs from someone on a poultry forum and will hopefully have a little bit of luck with those. My problem is I want everything and I want it now....lol.
I had the chicks shipped to my work address in the next town over from my home. Reason being is very often I am on my way to work and pass the mail truck coming into my home town, therefore it would arrive after I have left home. I am more than willing to leave for work extra early and get my chicks. I have an area all set for them at home and work...lol. My chick area at work is smaller but it's only temporary (few hours) until I get off work and can bring them home.
I think I have a decent sized order for warmth but somebody will be on the "outside" of the huddle and probably feeling the chill. Then I think the ones huddling inside the middle will be squished..yeah I'm a worry wart. Heat pads would be nice !!! It's still snowing ....
Extra roo's usually go to freezer camp one way or another...lol. Maybe you can trade them at the feedstore for some chick starter.... ya never know.
I don't think my chicks will get to Michigan until Friday. Although on the phone they told me Thurs or by Friday. The woman I spoke with on the phone (when I called to see if they had my shipping address correct at the beginning of the week) was very nice. Then my worry was there would be a mix up between my home billing address and my work shipping address.
I'm going to go lay down but I doubt I will sleep...lol. Hart remember to post pics when your chicks arrive!!! Thanks everybody for the good vibes!!!!!
~Julie =0)
Look what happend to me after 7 days.
Tracey
Julie, my chicks arrived today and they look great - very perky. They included five roosters for warmth, no heat pack, but I don't see any signs that they were stressed by the cold. Everyone went right after the water and the feed too after I put that down. They're in the other room chirping happily and my cockatiel is answering them. LOL
I posted pictures in my other thread.
Can't wait to see your pics Julie - - - you got a really nice assortment on the way! Keep us posted!
Belinda
Julie,
Please read my post about fires.Sounds like you have a good choice of chickes on the way and please be safe with your light...
Tracey
Tracey, I saw your post. So glad your chickens are all okay. How did the light fall? Mine is set up so it couldn't fall under any circumstances. There's wire over the top of the brooder.
No chicks which was probably a good thing. We lost our power last night thanks to the freak snow storm and ice. Got 10" of very heavy wet snow.
My incubator full of eggs is gone. I wrapped the bator in a blanket and put it 2 ft from the woodstove but the temps still managed to drop down to 83* at the lowest point. I'm soooo bummed. I had brabanter eggs, faverolles, silkies and some really huge green Ameraucanas eggs.
The power was out for 20 hrs. I just now got it back and plugged it back in. I don't believe the eggs have a chance of surviving....I just can't bring myself to toss them on the compost pile yet. Maybe this weekend.
I hope my chicks show up in good shape tomorrow.
~Julie
I'm so sorry about your eggs, Julie. That's awful but I think you did everything you could. Maybe they'll be okay anyway.
One of the joys of country living is having no power when there's an ice storm or wet snow pulling down trees onto power lines. We were out for three days a couple of years ago and I was going nuts trying to keep the aquarium warm enough. Luckily, although it got a lot colder than it was supposed to, we didn't lose any fish.
I called on Monday because I was worried about the chicks being affected by the cold. The lady at Ideal said to call them if I had any problems. Thank goodness yours didn't arrive when you had no power.
I think the blue laced Wyandottes are even prettier than the gold laced. You still have those on order, right? Hopefully they'll all hatch fine for you.
I haven't tossed them yet and rolled them like normal this morning. My blue laced wyandotte eggs are suppose to ship today and I have another batch of silkie and frizzle eggs coming next week. I expected low hatch rates because of shipping etc so I had ordered plenty of eggs...lol. I just really had my heart set on seeing atleast 2-3 of each batch hatch. The green eggs are so huge. I may contact the ppl i got them from and see if they can sell me some more. I am going to give it a few days and candle everybody before I make any drastic decisions.
Besides which I think once I have my Ideal chicks here with me it will make it easier to part with the eggs if I have to. Although I will be honest and say I don't know if I will be able to tell if they have died in the shell or not unless I just go by no more development but that could take some time. All the eggs were in the early stages and I had planned to cull out anything not showing fertile by Sunday . The brabanters as a group were showing poor fertility but all the others were coming along nicely.
But today I am going to focus on chicks coming my way....
~Julie =0)
Julie
The light fell because the wire was not hung peroper by a friend
of the family. And it toke me a while to figure it out.. But its okay
now that we fixed the peroblem!!! All my chickens say hi to everyone..
Tracey
They're here, they're here !!!
The post office called at 7:15am . I was dressed and ready so flew out the door and made the 30-min drive. I could hear them cheaping from way back in the post office...lol.
I was in such a hurry to unpack them I didn't do a head count. The blue cochins stand out and so do the australorps. The others are iffy what is what...lol. I will do a head count when I pack them up to take them home.
One was dead when I opened the box, another is appearing to be in the throws of death (while I got it to drink it can't stand and is in a sep box under the light cuz the other guys are trampling him/her).
And another one is very deformed. It's head isn't right and the beak is off kilter (meaning it doesn't meet to close properly). The deformed one is able to drink and is skittering around with the others but I don't know if it can eat. Will have to see to that, if not I will put it out of it's misery cuz starving to death would be cruel and slower. I feel bad for it but it seems to have spunk , I'm sorta weird so if it lives it might become a favorite...lol
All in all they arrived in good shape. There was nothing in the box to keep them warm, like straw . I had expected to see straw atleast as a buffer to the cold. I've taken pics and will take more when "we" get home from work...lol.
~Julie =0)
I ran across something recently about the chickens with crossed beaks. Essentially it said they can survive and thrive but can't be show birds. (Well, duh, we'd never have figured that part out.) I'll see if I can find it again.
Sorry you had losses. I ordered more than I needed really to allow for that but so far, knock on wood, everybody is fine.
The box they sent me had lots of shredded stuff in it - probably half the space inside the box was this shredded excelsior type stuff.
I ordered extras because I expected losses. To be honest I had less loss then I thought I would, it's got to be a rough trip.
Ideal has a 100% live guarantee either re-ship (if you have a loss of more than 5 chicks I think) or credit for less than that. I plan to leave them positive feedback in the garden watchdog at this point in time.
I keep running in back to check on them...lol. Customers are asking what is that noise..lol
~Julie
Julie, so glad your babies arrived in good shape for the most part. With your cold weather - - - you even had me worried! I'm so sorry to hear about your power outage, you did all you could do, plus some. Its just one of those things that happen when we live out in the boonies like we do. Its a price I'm glad to pay! lol
Can't wait to see your pics - - - keep us posted on cross-beak, I'm rooting for him/her!
Belinda
I checked the book. Not muc but it says a chicken with a crossed beak can't be used for breeding and that they can be good layers provided they get enough to eat.
Good to hear they made it safe and sound.. You will make a great momma.
Tracey
Ok, here come the pics
another
and
here is a pic of "crooked beak"
the one eye doesn't seem to open and the beak is pretty off kilter
and another of "crooked beak"
Poor little thing. Can she eat okay?
They're so pretty, Julie. What are the striped ones?
The ones with the fine stripes on their heads are the guineas. They seem to be a little smaller and very quick....lol.
It's hard to say. The "crooked beak" chick pecks around but I can't believe it's getting anything or not much. I tried to hand feed it but it spits it out. Although I have just tried that with the starter mash. It has lots of energy so far, I guess time will tell. I believe the beak is too severe to trim or file.
~Julie
Did a search. They need a feeder deep enough for them to be able to reach in and get food.
Can it drink okay? Maybe mix some feed in with water and make a slurry.
Yayyy,for you Julie!!!!! I was worried about them with your weather turning so cold! Looks like you have a good brood though! I recieved a little cross beak last year, a Silkie Roo. He lived and did what all good chicks do for a year . then on maturing the others just sort of decided that he didnt fit in. I wish now that I had separated him but I didnt. He quit eating and we lost him when he was about 14 months old. He had such a hard time trying to get enough food ,with his beak crookedy. So we enjoyed him while he was here!
I tried making a mush soft food for it and that didn't go over well either. You have to remember each time you pick it up and try to feed it I am stressing it. I do have food in a dish that is deep enough for it and I have introduced it and the others several times. If it's eating it's certainly not getting enough in my opinion.
One of the blue cochins is down as well this morning. I will fret over them all while I am at work this morning. Normally I don't work Saturdays but have to go in and take care of some stuff wouldn't you know.
For the most part they seem to be content and happy scurrying around pecking at everything they see....lol
~Julie =0)
Julie, there is a thread from the summer or fall about a crossed beak hen somewhere on this forum, but I don't remember much about it.
and you are right about the power being out. I drive myself nuts trying to keepy my fish tank warm, too! LOL
Your chicks are wonderful, so sad about the little ones beak. You would think they would have checked that baby before shipping.
I had found the link about the cross beak on this forum and I looked at several others. Basically the recommendation is either trim or file the beak(s) so they are even and the chick can pick up food normally.
I believe this chicks beack is too "off center" to do that successfully. You have to remember you can only trim so much before you draw blood because like toenails there is a quick in there.
The second recommendation is that the chicks be killed because in the case the defect may be genetic and should never be bred.
~Julie
I know that would be really hard to do, but it might be kinder than letting it starve to death. I hope you'll call Ideal and let them know about the lost chicks and this one. If they can't send new chicks, they will give you a credit.
Just looking at the pictures, I don't see any way you could trim that beak to make it anywhere near even. It's so pitiful.
I called Ideal they are going to give me a credit. I'm now down 8 chicks. I saw a post on a poultry forum someone had gotten their Ideal order the same day as me and everyone was great then another somebody popped up and said his order came with everyone dead from Ideal, I guess they forgot to put in the warmer chicks. I truly think the wacky weather has a great deal to do with the chicks health on arrival and shipping is hard !! Out of 45 chicks I don't think 8 lost is excessive, I expected to have some loss it's just a bummer as we all know.
Crooked beak is gone and so is another of the Faverolle. I only got 4 of the Faverolle and have only 1 left now, I'm thinking perhaps a bad batch of that breed. I haven't read they are more "tender". The one left is doing ok, but easily gets run over by the "herd" when they all move at once. I did take it out and put it in a separate brooder yesterday but it peeped like mad even with a smaller friend and wouldn't snuggle.
The guinea keets and the silkie chicks are the same size (smallish) compared to everyone else but they are getting along great. I was sad to lose the blue cochin , I had only gotten 2 and had them sexed to boot...lol. Guess that means I will have to score some standard cochin eggs somewhere ;0)
On a very bright note some of my eggs (not many just a couple) are showing movement in the shell !!!!!!! I'm soooo happy not everyone died in the power outage !!! I culled the bulk of the eggs out last night and carried them off to the compost. Only the ones that showed absolutely no fertility, had shifted to just blood rings, had bubbles inside, or several had changed to black spots inside. Those all got pitched. Of course I am having difficulty on some of the very very dark green eggs, I guess I will have to wait it out a little longer.
None of the eggs were due to hatch until the 23rd and the 26th respectively. I have another batch of silkie and some frizzle eggs that both breeders were willing to hold off shipping until the weather straightened out along with my blue laced wyandottes and a small batch of runner duck eggs I thought I wanted to try....lol. I did place a low bid on some gold laced wyandotte and some blue orpington eggs at eggbid, so we will see what happens with those if I win or not.
Oh and before I forget here are some more pics I took this morning after I changed the chicks rubber mat. That thing sure makes things easy !!!!
~Julie =0)
let's try this one again
partridge silkie lookin at me...lol
and again more chicks
sure is tiring being a chick
it's gotta be rough sleeping standing up......
Poor little crooked beak. I'm sorry you've lost some of your chicks. I would guess it has to be the weather. Mine are all doing fine. Of course I got a lot fewer chicks than you too.
Great news about the eggs! Dumb question, but do you have to worry about a bad egg making the good ones go bad? My guy raises snakes and I know if there's a bad egg in the clutch and it isn't removed they'll all go bad, but they have a soft, leathery shell and not a hard one.
That little bandit in the top photo sure is cute. And it cracks me up the way they fall asleep.
Have you had guineas before, Julie? I would love to get some. I think they're so cute. They look like cartoon birds. And I've been told they would help with the tick problems here. Are they easy to keep?