Each time I walk out to our chicken coop, I’m greeted by soft, friendly clucks. Our flock expanded earlier this spring after a weak moment in a farm store. What started as simply an enjoyable Sunday afternoon stroll through the aisles of a farm supply store came to a screeching halt when the metal stock tanks full of various poultry came into eyesight. I hadn’t planned to get my next batch of chicks that day, I knew what I wanted and had been strategizing on what hatchery to order my favorite breeds from. I am not generally an impulsive person when it comes to adding animals to our menagerie…
Previously, I had bought the chickens that made up our original flock from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, MO. Seventeen fluffy little babies showed up in the mail, their soft peeps reaching out through the holes of their cardboard carrier. A plywood crate was constructed under a heat lamp in the brooder house and they eventually grew up into a wonderful flock of birds. Minus one.
The rooster that accompanied our girls turned out to be a terrible creature. At some point in life, he decided that regardless of how kind the humans were, the backs of our legs were meant to be flogged. It got to the point that I had to carry some means of self-defense just to venture out to the chicken house. From pitchforks and long-handled hoes to an empty tube that had held baler mesh, I wanted something sturdy to ward off attacks. Eventually he was no longer with us and our yard became a safer, more peaceful place to wander through.
Fast forward to the farm store and my mind began to mull over the idea of taking home a few chicks. They didn’t have the exact breeds I wanted – I had planned for our next flock to be comprised of Dominiques, Golden Laced Wyandottes, and some Easter Eggers, simply for the novelty of colored eggs and because I had never had any.
The stock tanks were beckoning me though and once I began to seriously entertain the thought of taking some home, the idea wasn’t leaving. Forget that I had no place prepared for them yet, we could make it work, I reasoned to myself.
As we walked out those sliding doors later that afternoon, we carefully guarded the two boxes of peeping babies that were now under our protection. I had gone with half Barred Rocks and half assorted Easter Eggers.
Barred Rocks are very similar to Dominiques with one of the most noticeable differences being the rose comb that Dominiques have as opposed to the single comb of the Barred Rocks. Having had both breeds (and excluding the violent rooster), the hens have been an absolute joy to have on the yard. There was a little frustration establishing a pecking order when the youngest chickens recently joined the flock, but now they can even roost together and seem to get along just fine.
There are perks to buying chicks through either method, whether using a hatchery’s website online or in a farm supply store. Online you will be able to browse a greater selection of breeds, while in store you have the advantage of hand-selecting your individual chicks. (From picking the color of chick to checking for pasty butt, this can be an added benefit.) Either way, it’s important to pick up some medicated chick feed along with your chicks (or have it ready and waiting for when they arrive) and a warm place that can be quickly prepared to house your new babies.
It’s about time to head outside now and check on everybody, they’ll be wanting let out before too long. The yard is too tempting with its promised grasshoppers and other creeping little insects.
This article was originally published PGC’s bi-monthly column in the Grass & Grain newspaper.
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