Chick News

We now have 4 chicks and 2 ducklings - newly hatched - under a heat lamp in our basement. Our local farm supply store just got them in yesterday, so the whole family drove through the snow yesterday afternoon to get them. We got white rock chickens and white pekin ducks. These varieties seem to do great around children, who inevitably chase them, pick them up, and drop them, almost constantly. The chicks are from the pullet bin, so they all should grow into to egg-laying hens (you know that's what matters to ME).

I wanted to try getting some guinea chicks. I have heard that they will remove virtually every single tick in your yard. That's good. But also, they are very loud (the hatchery literature says that they "sound the alarm" when someone comes into your yard). Partly good, but partly bad. So I was thinking we might try TWO guineas, and if they drive us nuts with their noise, we'd just eat them. We found out that you have to special order them, and the minimum order is FIFTY. FIFTY guineas! If those things are as loud as I've been told, who would want FIFTY guineas?!? Yikes!