A Chick’s First Month

A chick’s first month is tumultuous! Hatched in a Hoover’s Hatchery incubator, as soon as that baby girl chick’s fluff dries off, she’s gently placed into a shipping box The combined body heat of many babies keeps them warm as the box bounces along in a truck heading for the airport Soon she’s zooming through the sky to some place she’s never been to or even heard of It could be New Jersey, Miami, California, or even Canada Then she’s trucked again to a farm store and put into a big brooder awaiting customers A family buys her and

Incubation Timeline for Chickens

Hatching your own eggs at home is a really fun way to add to your flock  You’ll want fertilized eggs to hatch  You can either get these from your existing flock or you can purchase fertilized eggs from another farm  The process of incubation can take place either artificially with an incubator, or with a broody hen  We’re going to discuss the timeline of developing eggs and how you can manage them if you’re incubating them artificially

 

Chick Development

It takes chicken eggs 21 days to hatch  There’s a lot that goes on in those

Week Two With New Chicks

The Rudd Rangers are growing right before my eyes! We have had them about 1 week, and they have grown from an average weight of 33 grams, all the way to 95 grams! Each day they grow more curious, more playful, and certainly hungrier Even though they are still fluff balls, I am starting to notice them getting more muscular and tall Their wing feathers are coming in, but I will not have to worry about them flying out of the brooder for a few more weeks still
They are relatively low maintenance at this age

Week 4 With New Chicks

Our Rudd Ranger chicks are turning from babies into teenagers right before our eyes!

They are growing more “real” feathers, and just like true teenagers, love to act silly and play rough with each other One of their favorite things to do is run as fast as they can into another chick and at the last second, fly over its head! I gave them a couple branches in the brooder for entertainment I can see how they would easily get bored in the brooder, but it is still the safest place for them