Chicken Take Out

I’ve written about receiving shipments of 52 pheasants in the US mail. From what I’ve read online at many of the hatchery sites, it seems that the smallest shipment is 25 birds. In this number, the birds generate enough body heat to survive there one or two day trip.

While raising pheasants for release requires one kind of pen, and management, I wanted to start slower with chickens. To start with, I want a small flock of laying chickens, no more than six. Fortunately, many farm and tractor stores bring checks and ducklings into the store in the spring.

In some cases, these chicks are destined to be abandoned because of well-meaning, but short thinking, parents who buy them as “cute” Easter presents.

For people looking to add to their flock or to start a small flock, feed stores, tractor stores, and farm supply stores are a good place to pick them up. I chose six chickens to start with. One black sex link, one red sex link, to buff orpingtons, and two barred rock. All of the chicks are pullets, with the possible exception of the two barred rock. The barred rocks were sold as “straight run” chicks, meaning they were not sexed by the hatchery. With my luck, they’ll be two roosters, but I would be happy if there were as one rooster, or they were both pullets.