The Post Mistress found a chirping box on her counter when she got to work this morning. She called me straight away and I zoomed down in my little cooking oil car to collect them. I could hear the strident chirping the minute I opened the Post Office door. 
Forty Seven chicks survived their journey. And they were noisy and vigorous. Receiving chicks in the mail is such a joy. We must not lose our little Post Office’s. They are essential to rural life.
I brought them home and carefully picked each one up and dunked his beak in the water then stood him next to it for another drink on his own. Some people give the chickens electrolytes at this juncture, but after homing many packs of chicks I find the best way is to introduce each little fella to the water until he raises his head and swallows.
Once they had slaked their thirst they toddled over to their food tray and began to eat and eat and eat.
They were despatched on Wednesday and arrived Friday morning and they were ready for a good feed.
Don’t forget to have grit on their floor from the beginning. And speaking of floors make sure you have an Uneven surface for their little feet. Their feet want to curl over the floor, a flat surface like paper or cardboard will increase the possibility of deformed feet. I find trampled clean straw is the best.
I just scoop old straw and hay off the barn floor corridors where no animals have been and pop that down. They peck at it, and scratch in it and eat little goodies. Every day I throw a little more down and they pack themselves a nice clean floor.
When I began to raise chicks I worried about the temperature staying at 90 degrees. I used to have a thermometer. But now I just watch the chicks and regulate the height of the heating lamp to suit. If they are sleeping in a huddle risking suffocation then it is too cold, so I lower the lamp, if they are all sleeping as far away from the lamp as possible then it is too hot.
Sleeping together but with little gaps between them is what you are after. A bit like the picture above.
Make sure they are draft free and have plenty of space. I have pieces of drift wood that I will put in there after a few days for them to climb on.
Good morning. Yesterday I put another round of corn in the freezer and made more jars of sweetcorn pickle and sweet gherkins. In fact I worked until my feet ached. I did not get to the apples and basil. That I will pick this morning. But Daisy and Queenie are in a fresh field and Charlotte is at last on her own. She spent the evening barking and protesting but TonTon never left her side. Poor fellow was so worried. But her piglets just spread out and relaxed all over their pen. They appeared to be a little relieved not to have to dodge their mother with her restless feet of knives.
I put Charlotte right down the back in the rat house paddock (she followed me without any trouble) but then in the night a storm slammed straight into the farmy. So I got out of bed put my full length sailors oilskin over my nightie, and with my cowboy hat jammed on my head to keep the rain off my face and my bare feet in gumboots, I went out into this heavy deluge of a tropical storm complete with thunder and lightening and deck sweeping winds and brought her back into the west side of the barn. She was more than happy to follow me through the rain to a dryer space. Her little roof out the back was out of its depth. We got an inch and a half of rain very fast. So in a minute I will go out and lead her back to her own yard out of earshot. I hope she has not broken through in the night. Earshot is a funny word isn’t it?!
The day has risen fine and clear. All the new sky water is sparkling in dawn splashed puddles. I hope you all have a lovely day.
your friend, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
47 responses to “How to settle your 47 chicks in on their first day.”
I got a swimming pool filter in the post and you got chicks. What would we do without Mme, la Factrice? Better than getting bills, although you got 40 bills on 40 chicks, or do they have beaks?
Well, that filter will be welcome, i know how you struggle with the Green monster, so does Our John. c
Here’s to them growing up to be happy, fat and delicious. Looking forward to seeing your tractor. Did you take pic’s during the construction? Will you be training Sheila/Charlotte to move it daily? Sorry, too many questions 🙂 Laura
We have a few weeks before they go out on the field, they need feathers first. It will be begun next week, there will be lots of scrounging around for bits and pieces! It needs to be quite large, maybe we will need Sheila to pull it. Charlotte is not quite so eager to please! c
You are a good mama! For both chicks and pigs 😉
Good morning Celi
G
Reading poultry books about temperatures etc. can make us all a bit panicky when raising chicks. Good common sense is all that’s required and good observation of behaviour. Eating and drinking I feel is instinctual in new chicks – we’ve never had any of our incubated chicks not know what’s good for them! Yours are gorgeous by the way! How many weeks to maturity?
Christine
Common sense is the truth. Mine come such a long way without water I do worry about dehydration in the summer, but you are right, they stand and worship at the god of watertrough without much encouragement at all.. c
Not so ‘bird-brained’ after all!
Christine
I just love those calls from the post office when the chicks arrive. So fun.
The Post Mistress loves to come to work to the peeping too, she grew up on a proper old fashioned farm! c
Oooh I love baby chickens! Is there anything cuter? Well maybe baby pigs,and puppies, all creatures great and small 🙂 Yes earshot is an odd word. Have you heard the word/ term “earworm”? Have a wonderful day.your alabama fan.
Yes, in fact i have one now, it is ‘I got Plenty of Nothin’ from Porgy and Bess.. maybe I can pass it on! c
Chicks!! I’m looking forward to seeing their tractor!
It is a work in progress, lots of shade and lots of space are their main requirements! I have seen some marvellous ones on the internet .. though as usual I have never seen one in real life so who knows what we will come up with! c
I am struggling a bit with the idea of these tiny little creatures spending 2 days in a glorified egg carton without food and water, I think it is a bit of an animal welfare issue if three died on the way. I know going forward they will get lots of space and care from you and life will only get better for them.
We were very lucky with the weather, in fact this is one of the reasons i was able to go ahead, the three died in one corner so I assume they suffocated with them cuddling all together in the night. They are pretty resilient at this age and if I factor in the temps I usually have no trouble at all. How is Baby?.. c
Baby is very pregnant, maybe two to three weeks to go so I have to start preparing things now. I have a new dog, he is huge, a wolfhound crossed with an old english sheepdog He was very interested in Baby until he got zapped by the electric fence He thinks it is Baby not the fence as they were touching noses.when he got zapped and now he wont go near her, probably not a bad thing with the piglets coming. He has been getting a bit more of my attention as he settles in and Baby has missed out on her walks. Today I left him down a the house with a bone and let Baby out for a while. I gave her a good brush to help with the dry skin thing and I tried to feel for babies but every time I touch her belly she falls in an ecstatic heap on the grass! We are having a beautiful warm winter weekend here with no rain, so nice to hang at home with the animals
Is her udder starting to swell? How exciting, i wonder how many she will have. Have you got the creep organised. It is about the only thing I am sure of, they need somewhere else with straw to sleep in, away from their big mama’s. Next time i may have both farrowing at the same time and they can share a creep for the babies, that will be fun. It was also very useful for when I weaned them, they all raced in there after food and i just shut the little hatch, and she followed me out the other gate with her food.. greed got the better of her!! c
Her udder is starting to swell, there are kind of three layers, normal tummy, extended tummy beneath that where piglets reside I guess then another layer with her udder. The teats themselvis not started to fill yet though. Thanks for the advice, yes I will have a seperate creep for the piglets but I need to get on and organise that, at the moment logistics have got the better of me. I have a huge plastic dog kennel which will serve as an emergency creep if the piglets come early but it will not do for long. Also the floor of the pen is concrete, I know I have to take most of the straw out but I dont want baby to have to lie on the concrete what do you think about a layer of sawdust with a bit of straw on top? Can you see any problem for the piglets with using sawdust, paricularly at birthing? Thanks for sharing your experiences it is so helpful.
Hello farmy mama!
Glad the storm passed you over quickly! Those baby chicks are so adorable, should I ever look into getting my own I’ll have a little beginners guide here.
Love always,
Kiera
Morning Kiera, have a lovely day! c
First things first is it 37 as per your title or 47 as per your post.??
They do look good and healthy, and I look forward to the future photos..
The rain sounds good to get those hay fields going again…
Have a good weekend…
47.. I am fixing that now.. 3 arrived dead, but 47 healthy and happy so far. Exactly what we said this morning a good soaking rain will set the hay field to growing again nicely! Spoken like a true farmer BullDog. c
I love your hands on approach to all the work involved. How long did it take to ‘water’ the chicks?
Probably about 20 minutes. Not too long. I cannot believe how much they are eating already! c
Glad they are settling in!
They look yummy already. Heh.
Morning Bill honey!! c
After I read today’s blog out loud , Lar the Good Husband said “look at the good things you’re learning from Celi”. I thought – that’s true. Every day I try to learn something knew and fall short. Now I realize that every day I do learn something new and important and it happens when I visit The Farmy. Have a splendid week-end Celi. V.
I will have a lovely weekend, a tasty one too as I just made some of your french pesto! delicious! c
How exciting – nearly as good as pigs 😉
Somebody always has to stand in the midst of the food, don’t they? Thanks for sharing the care of chicks with us.