I think that every victory garden should have some chickens so that's why I'm adding them to this blog. We decided to pick up some baby chicks this weekend. It was pretty last minute so I didn't have anything on hand to deal with them -- so I made due. I started with a laundry basket as a makeshift brooder then worked up to a shipping box. The bedding is shredded paper and newspaper. I only had to buy the feeder and waterer bases ($2.99 and $1.99, respectively) and was able to use them with some existing quart mason jars (from Spaghetti sauce.) The rest of the stuff I had on hand: clip-on desk lamp and thermometer to keep track of the temperature in the brooder. The desk lamp has a 40-watt bulb which gets warm but not burning hot.
The chicks cost $4.50 each and are supposed to be 95% pullets (hens) -- I decided on 4 different varieties. I also picked up 10-lbs. of chick starter crumbles ($6.50). Yes, that price is expensive for chicks if you ask me....
Here's the first one. She's first because she's the largest -- I'm guessing at least 2 weeks old. The guy at the feed store said 1 week but I'm positive now that he doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to chickens. This one is a Black Australorp that will give us big, brown eggs.
Here's #2. She's number 2 because she's the 2nd biggest one. I guess she's about a week old. She's a Plymouth Barred Rock. Great self-sufficient laying bird who will look a bit like a checkered black and white chicken. She'll lay brown eggs, I think.
Here's #3. Yeap, she's a tiny bit bigger than #4. She's a Red Sex Link (or Red Star). The chicks are a hybrid of 2 breeds where you can tell by the color of the chick's down whether its a pullet or cockerel. The pullets are buff/brown and the cockerels are yellow for this variety. Brown egg layer.
And finally, here's #4. She's a really cute Buff Orpington. Another brown egg layer.
All brown egg layers. I was getting tired of white eggs anyway.
This may not look like much but they came from our garden! These are the first of the 9 Blue Lake Bush Beans that were put into the ground on March 28. There are about 2 or 3 times this many beans left on the same plants. I've also followed the advice on the seed package which advises that we should plant a subsequent crop. There are now 8 new squares of green beans growing and another 2 squares of a soybean variety called "Beer Friend."
