Here a chick, there a chick, everywhere a chick-chick

I can't help but wonder at the strength and resilience of animals. Imagine chicks at a hatchery. Within a few hours of struggling mightily to break out of the egg, they're packed into a box and spend the next two days being shipped across country.

Newly hatched poultry still have an internal reserve from the egg yolk left in their system. It's enough to nourish them for three days. Pretty amazing, huh?

I ordered my chicks from Cackle Hatchery.  They offer a wide range of poultry species and breeds. I was looking for a specific breed of chicken and they were one of the few hatcheries that had what I was looking for and at the ship date I wanted.

This is a photo of an adult Golden Laced Cochin chicken.

I chose this breed of chicken for a few different reasons. First, I think they're beautiful. They aren't plain Jane looking chickens. Second, they are a tough breed suited for this cold climate. They have feathers on their feet which protect them from cold. And they have very small combs so there's less risk of them getting frostbite there. Third, they are a dual-purpose breed, which means they are good for both egg production and for meat. 

This is the chicken coop that came with our homestead. 

It's huge, but needs some repair work before I can put the chickens in it. The roof leaks, some of the boards on the walls need replaced and it's not predator-proof. This makes me guilty of putting the chicks before the coop. But it also gives me a strong incentive for hustling to get the coop repaired. 

The chicks are shipped via airmail to the local post office. When I got there to pick them up, as soon as I opened the door I could hear them peeping loudly. The post mistress was laughing because it was obvious the chicks were not happy!

Once they were home, they took up residence in a storage tub doing double duty as a brooder box. I've nicknamed it the "Little Deuce Coop". 

That's an infrared heat lamp over on the left. To help the chicks learn to eat, I scattered some chick starter crumbles on a paper towel on the floor of the box. And to help them bounce back from the stress of shipping, I mixed a tablespoon of sugar into a quart of water. They'll get the sugar water for the first few hours only. After that, it's replaced with plain fresh water. 

As I put each chick into the box, I dipped its beak into the water to help it learn how to drink. 

I'd ordered fifteen chicks. The hatchery sent an extra one to help offset any loss during shipping. Sadly, I did lose one chick within twelve hours of their arrival. Another died two days later. 

The fourteen that are left seem to be doing well. Here they are two weeks later. 

It's almost time to move them into a larger brooder box....the Coop deVille. And I need to get busy repairing  their permanent home!