Baby Chicks and Duckings

Good morning all,

Today is Kevin's birthday, so I have some plans in the works. I plan to pick our cherries and make him a pie. Since I do not like cherries, I won't be tempted to eat any. (grin) Can't eat the crust.  Being gluten intolerant is a pain, worse even than diabetes, but it is what it is. Ok, enough of the whining.

 Kevin is on vacation this week, and we have been so busy. We worked Monday getting the brooder area divided and ready for the ducklings and chicks. They were supposed to come in the mail today, but 7 a.m. yesterday the post office called to tell me my chicks had arrived. Yikes. I didn't have the heat lamps on or their feed and water out. I had to scramble to get all this done before I went to pick them up. I am so glad that I made the trip to Orschelns on Monday to get the feed and heat lamp bulbs for them. Something told me they may be early. (grin)  Oh my goodness, they are so cute. Here are the baby chicks. They are just running all over their brooder area. LOL

Aren't they cute? I have 5 Buff Orpington pullets, 5 BO cockerels, and 6 Barred Rock pullets. The hatchery sent me an extra BR. I love this hatchery. We have always had wonderful luck with their poultry. Their customer service is so good. This is Cackle Hatchery  in Lebanon, MO. I just can't say enough about this family owned business of 75 years. If you need some baby poultry, they are a great place to buy them from.

The hatchery recommended that I spread their food on a paper towel for the first day. They now have a nice chick feeder.

Here are the ducklings. I know they are messy, but they are just so much fun to watch. What characters these already are. LOL They found their food immediately. Much quicker than the chicks, and they eat like little pigs. I have 5 Pekins, 5 Khaki Campbell, and 6 Rouens. They sent an extra Rouen. So I have 16 chicks and 16 ducklings.

They dart over to their food, then run to the water. I stood for a long time just watching them. I was kind of concerned because it got down into the lower 40 last night, but those 250 watt heat lamps did their job. They were all running everywhere waiting for the food this morning. LOL

I'll try to get some better pictures now that they have settled down.  My brooder house is 8X8. I used a large cardboard box opened up to divide the ducklings from the chicks. The ducks eat different feed from the chicks and are so much messier. They need to be separated. Unless we get a duck house built this summer, they will share the hen house this winter, but adults do ok sharing.

I hope you enjoy seeing my new babies. Paula, I know you will be squealing. LOL I wish I could get good pictures like you do, but photography isn't my thing. LOL We also have rabbits now. I will do another post on them, so Blogger doesn't get upset with me for too many pictures. LOL Also want to do a post on my first 'big stitch quilting' project.

Everyone have a great day. Thanks for visiting.