While visiting family in Clarksville a couple of weeks ago we love to make a stop at our favorite livestock supply store, Rural King. This particular store never lets us down with a wide variety of chicks that we always seem to feel; we must have. With it being January I was reasonably certain/hoping that they would not have chicks yet.
I was wrong.
In addition to getting 8 Blue Laced Wyandotte, we also got 2 Buttercups, 2 Americanas, and 4 Speckled Sussex. We weren't going home right away we still had another 24 hours in Clarksville before we went home. So, we had to buy chick food, a new waterer, and a heat lamp.
We took the whole lot back to Grandma and Grandpas house and looked up more information about the breeds we just purchased. We learned so much more about the Speckled Sussex that we decided we wanted to get more of those!
Some of the traits we liked best were: they are great at camouflage, which will aid in keeping them safe from predators. This was good news because that was a significant cause of death with a few of our other chickens. They also lay throughout the winter months!! Those were the primary two reasons we decided to get more. Other positives were, they go broody, they're friendly, which is very important having a kid that is scared of animals. They're also dual purpose and good egg producers.
Later that night as we were heading over to the other Grandparents home for dinner I sent my husband in to get 4 more chicks. He came out with 6!
This trip was the first time that I bought more chicks than I initially wanted, to try and buffer for loss. We lost one the day after we got home. But it's been a couple of weeks now, and we still have 21 chicks. I add Vi-Tal to their water, which is an electrolyte, mineral and vitamin supplement, and they're given Medicated feed.
We've been doing this for 3 years now it's been a rough, expensive learning curve. But I think we're finally getting it.
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