Sunday 12 July 2009

Chicks Galore

We have hatched out 21 chicks from our laying hens. Beautiful little critters. Americuanas and some mixes from our Buff Orpingtons. They are growing well and very perky. We have been adding buttermilk to their water at John's suggestion to avoid giving them medicated food. It seems to work well.

We also have 87 meat king chicks. They are not as pretty. They start out cute and fuzzy but after a week or 2 they are sort of gross. They become fat and soft. They are basically meat producing machines and after 6-8 weeks will have reached their marketable size. Kind of creepy. We have tried to raise some of the heritage breeds but they take so long to get to a reasonable size