I saw a frugal tip recently that said you want something, let your friends and neighbors know because they might know somewhere you can get it free or cheap. Guess what? We mentioned to our close friends that we were going to get some new chicks. This led to a friend of a friend contact who is a teacher in one of our local elementary schools. She hatched chicks in the classroom this spring as an experiment and was in need of new homes for them. We got five chicks for free!
We had enough warning that Papa was able to clean out the chicken coop and set up an area with the heat lamp for the chicks as it still gets cold some nights. They seem to be doing quite well as they have already lost most of their fluff:
We’re no experts in sexing birds, so we’re still not completely sure what we have. We knew we were taking a risk that we would only get males, but hey! you can’t pass up free. Papa is pretty sure we have at least one hen, which is what we really wanted.
Personally, I’m almost hoping four of them will turn out to be pullets (roosters). Why? Well, because I know Papa had a really hard time a couple of years ago butchering three of our chickens, so when it came time to dispatch 20+ we took them to the Amish. Seems silly to take just one or two to the Amish (although they have really good rates and were quick!).
Also … since we’re not completely sure of the status of Precious, or how many free hens we received, Papa went ahead and placed another order with Murray McMurray Hatchery for 15 more hens – in specific breeds. We also are getting our free rare breed bird again this time … I hope he’s an awful lot like Ludwig.