This bitter cold weather makes me think of one thing. It’s almost Chick Days!!
Chick Days is a period of time in late winter/early spring where Tractor Supply sells chicks. I love going there and checking them out. I wish I could take them all home because they are so darn cute.
Our oldest chicken is from our first tractor supply batch. Fluffers, the giant silkie.
A noble hen.
We usually buy one batch of chicks every year… or usually say we’re going to buy a batch and then end up buying another batch later in the season. Here’s last year’s batch (part 1):
That batch was two Sebrights, two d’Uccles, two game Bantams. I split them with my neighbor, right down the middle, so we got one of each.
Rupert, the game bantam rooster, Y’grette, the Sebright, and Poffins, the wanna-be chicken. Not pictured is Twank, who’s way too independent to hang around with her childhood friends.
I’m actually surprised by Tractor Supply’s variety. In last year’s second batch, I picked a porcelain d’Uccle. To make it even better, it turned out to be a hen.
It’s the slow motion run from Bay Watch, in hen form.
I do love chicks. They are so cuddly, and fluffy and super cute. But there’s a downside. They die easily, sometimes for no apparent reason. They require a lot more care than adult chickens. As they get older, they get out of their brooder and run around their room, pooping everywhere. And then it’s time to move them into the adult coop, which scares them, the other chickens pick on them, and sometimes they’ll run away from the coop and not know how to get back. And that’s the last I see of them. Except in the case of Dora the Explorer, the speckled sussex, who oddly recognized me and returned to me. I think I wrote about that here.
I even told my husband I was done with chicks this year. Too much of a hassle. I have 13 chickens now, do I possibly need more?
But the answer was obvious. The empty spots on the perches in the giant coop I built says yes. Pack them in!
Rather than even wait until Chick Days starts, I ended up ordering a bunch of chickens online, to be delivered in June. That will be after Chick Days ends. I’m asking myself now, can I actually go into Tractor Supply, see all those fluffy little chicks and not bring some home? I doubt it. Plus I want more silkies. They are so darn fluffy and cute.
Even if you don’t want to buy chicks, check out your local Tractor Supply to see the cuteness. They have ducks sometimes too!