Spring chickens!

[Nutty Saddler]

I've got 10 week old chicks arriving next week !

I am going to be keeping them separated from the older ones for about 3 -4 months before introducing them - I have to keep them indoors ( got an old school building I can use ) because we have some foxes around that can cause a problem .

My current lot ( 5 hens - 2 roosters and a duck ) are a bit beaten up at the moment - the two roos got in a bit of a scrap last year, one got partially blinded and the other ended up with a broken leg ( which we set ) so one can't see where he is going very well, the other limps quite a bit - added to this a fox got in the other night ( I was a bit late putting them to bed ) and stressed them all out, but thankfully no fatalities as I arrived almost the same time as the fox - hope you don't have that problem where you are.

I will post some pics of the new arrivals when I have some.

[Indyhorse]

Nutty Saddler congrats on your chicks! I WISH mine had been at least 10 weeks when I got them. Really wasn't counting on babies. Ah well, they are doing good at least, and aren't in my bedroom keeping me awake anymore.

Thankfully, in my part of the country fox are extremely rare. Our biggest threat to the chickens is raccoons, but so far I haven't had any problems, my henhouse is secure, and once the babies DO get outside, they are only out during the day and supervised. Plus, I have 6 dogs - 4 of which are farm bred old time collies, who take their jobs as livestock guardians very seriously! I have not seen a single possum, raccoon, or skunk on the property since the first few days I moved in.

[Nutty Saddler]

Indyhorse - a bit of mis-read there ( my fault )

I have got 10 , 1 week old chicks arriving, the 2 month old chicks are about 3 times the price

[Indyhorse]

Nutty Saddler - ahhh I get it! Yeah, the little ones are more of a pain to deal with - and that much longer before you can count on them to start laying reliably! But they are sure cute and fuzzy when they are so little :)

[Nutty Saddler]

I'm not counting all 10 to be laying hens - the 5 + duck lay enough for me at the moment, I'm just preparing for them to go off lay as they are getting old , so no probs if they don't start until the autumn.