Chick Delivery Day. . .

Many of our farm visitors are often fascinated to hear us describe the arrival of chicks to our farm.  So for those of you who have never heard about chick delivery day, we thought we'd give you some insight. 

Our Freedom Ranger chicks come from Amish country Pennsylvania via the United States Postal Service.  They hatch Wednesdays, ship, and arrive in Ellijay around 5AM by Friday and are in our brooder shortly thereafter.  Chicks usually fare well with shipping, as they can easily go without food or water for several days.  This is due to the fact that in nature, a hen will wait on a nest until all of her eggs have hatched... so the first-hatched chicks are born with the ability to wait out their later arriving siblings.

Once at Holden Creek Farms, the main focus is to get the chicks in the brooder with heat, food, and water.  Each and every chick is unloaded by hand and has its beak carefully dipped in the waterer to encourage drinking.  They usually catch on pretty quickly.  We use a vitamin/mineral supplement with probiotics mixed in the water for the first week.    The chicks have access to heat lamps for warmth.  Our GMO-free chick ration is sprinkled on newspaper, which the chicks enjoy scratching and pecking before they figure out the other style feeders.  Within a short time, the entire batch of birds is eating, drinking, and scurrying around the brooder like small roadrunners.  The chicks stay in the brooder for 2-3 weeks before "moving day" when they begin their life on pasture... a story for another newsletter!

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