The new chicks are here!

Friday, Jane picked up a batch of new chicks from Schlecht Hatchery in Miles, Iowa. This is the time of year that we order our replacement chicks. Schlecht's is not too far from us, so it is a convenient place for us to get chicks, and they are good people to deal with. Jane picked up 80 chicks of 8 different breeds. So far, all the birds are doing well.  Jane likes a lot of color in the flock so she gets a good assortment of breeds. Our egg customers seem to appreciate the variety of egg colors as well. Our son Nick will show some of our new girls at the county fair this summer. He will have a good selection of birds to choose from when deciding which ones to take to show. The breeds that we were able to get from Schlecht this year include White-laced Red Cornish, Blue-laced Red Wyndotte, Anconas, Golden-laced Wyndotte, Mille Fluer, Sex Link (Red Stars), Buff Orphington, and Americauna.These birds will spend the next couple of weeks in the house. It's just way too cold to move the fragile chicks outside. Once they are a little larger, have feathered out, and it's a little warmer out, they will go outdoors. By mid-summer, they should be laying eggs with the rest of the flock. It is then that they start to earn their keep. 

Anconas chick.