Here a Chick, There a Chick

It has been a while since my last post.  Almost 4 years!  Yikes, where did the time go. 

Peep had Wry Neck or Twisted Neck syndrome. It is a vitamin deficiency condition that chickens get. Their necks turn toward their backs or flop on their sides.  This can lead to death because the chicken cannot eat or drink without help.  So I hit the boards at www.backyardchickens.com, which offers a wealth of advice.  After much information gathering, I called my cousin the veterinarian.  He confirmed Wry Neck and advised a regiment of a vitamin E capsule (no more than 400mg) once a day for a week (cut the top off) and Selenium in liquid form.  For the Selenium, I broke a pill in half, dissolved it in water (2 tablespoons of water), and I filled a baby syringe with the liquid vitamin solution.  I also purchased a bottle of Poly-Vi-Sol, which is an infant vitamin solution. 

The vitamin E can be squirted into the beak, but you need to be careful with the liquid. Chicks can aspirate on the liquid.  The liquid needs to be dropped into their beak a tiny bit at a time over a period of time. Not all at once.  So give a little liquid, wait and offer food.  For the food, I made a mash of chick starter with a little water. I placed it in my palm and let Peep eat it out of my hand, then gave a little more liquid and more mash. I traded off the Poly-Vi-Sol and the Selenium mixture until gone.  I gave 2 droppers of the Poly-Vi-Sol for the first 3 days and backed off to one dropper.

Yes, it took a long time, but she was much calmer while sitting on my lap during that time.  So the final results?

Completely healed.

It is a good idea to give one vitamin e capsule to the chicks once a month as a precaution.

We wait in line at the post office.  Ethan is a bundle of nerves and can’t contain himself he is so excited.  When it is our turn to get to the counter, he rushes up and says, “We are here for our chickens.”  The woman goes to the back and brings out a small white box that is peeping.  I am praying that all are alive and well.  I would hate for him to open it up and find one had died.  We take our box to the car and Ethan asks to hold it for the ride home. 

Boy are they loud.  Peeping all the way home.  They must be so thirsty.  When we get home we rush into the kitchen and open the box.  Out jumps one of them. 

It is August 18, I know that they are supposed to be in sometime this week, but I have a feeling it will be today.  Ethan and I got up early and have been waiting around the house anxiously awaiting their arrival.  Ok, just called the post office to see if they are here.  Not yet.   The woman I spoke with told me that they were not on the early truck, but she is expecting another shipment, from the main post office, in about 20 minutes and  promised she would call the minute they arrive. 

It is 3:30 and the post office just called.  The chicks are in.  Ethan and I are off and running to pick them up!

Who knew that chickens need so much stuff.  I am on the hunt for an appropriate brooder box (something that the baby chicks can stay in until we move them into their coop).  Ethan has been a big help and we finally decided to go with a GIANT blue bin from Target.  It will also contain pine shavings, which I just purchased from the pet store. A 4.0 cubic foot bag of pine shavings! Who knew that they come in such big amounts.  Ethan and I also went to Red Barn (Gotta Love this Place) www.redbarnfeed.net  to purchase a feeder, feed, canary pebbles (chicks don’t have teeth and need rocks to break up the food in their gut) , and a waterer.  In our garage, I found an old dowel, which I cut down so it would fit across, for the chicks to use as a roosting pole.  Also need a temperature gauge and the heating element (250 degree red bulb.  Red bulb to help with sleep.  Somehow this is better than a white bulb, not sure why.) Also some kind of top to keep those flying birds in.  I hear they fly — will have to see when that happens.

Eric and Ethan have the top underway.  Eric took chicken wire , cutting it bigger than the container, cutting off the rough edges and covering them in duct tape and folding it down along the back. 

So far, so good.   Just need the inhabitants.

So I did it!  I pushed the order button.  Our day-old-chicks will be here the week of August 17.  So now I can sit and anticipate what it is going to be like.  As it gets closer to the date, I will start buying all the stuff I need for the brooder box — a place that the chicks are kept until they are 6 weeks of age.  At 6 weeks or older then can be moved outside to their coop.

It is June, 2009.  I have decided that three chickens would be ideal.  Since they are flocking birds, they need friends and I really don’t want more than that.  Also each hen will lay an egg a day — given that they are healthy and stress-free.  So that will be plenty of eggs. 

I decided to order the chicks to try to ensure no roosters and of course the designer chicken factor.  We are only allowed hens, so my odds are better with www.mypetchicken.com

After looking over all of the chickens that they offer and reading about the different breeds, a Silkie, an Australorp, and an Easter Egger will be the ones that I order.

So I added everything to my cart and am having the hardest time pushing the order button.  A little nervous, I guess.  Need to think this through.  Do I really want to start on this journey?  What am I getting myself into?

I seem to be the chicken expert.  It’s now March.  I have been reading books and doing web searches on chicken keeping.

My neighbor, Shari, loves the idea of chickens.  Her husband nixed the idea for them, but Eric, my husband, said why not — so why not it is.  I have found a great site, www.mypetchicken.com that I can order, what Shari and Eric call, Designer Chickens. 

It also seems to be not that weird of an idea.  Lots of people have backyard chickens.  It is just another way to be closer to your food and I hear that they make great pets!

It’s Jan 2009 and I am thinking about chickens — not eating — raising.  I have always wanted chickens and for the longest time tried to convince darling husband, Eric.  Finally he is on board, I think because he has finished the book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan.  I could be wrong, but probably not. So why is it so weird that I want chicks?  My friends and family think I am crazy.  “You don’t live on a farm!”  “Chickens in the burbs?  What is that?”  “Are you going to eat them?”

So to answer a few questions:  You’re right, I don’t live on a farm, but I probably should be.  I love that life, but since that is not a reality, I say — Why not chickens and no, I don’t plan on eating them.  They will be pets, who give the added bonus of eggs; albeit when they are 6 months or older, but still we get fresh eggs. 

So I am off to do research.