Hatchery Babies!

Last fall I became determined to get ducks. My mother was raised eating duck eggs and boasted about their awesome flavor. Most hatchery's stop selling ducklings in the beginning of summer, I thought about getting full grown ducks instead but I really wanted to start with ducklings, so that meant waiting  a few months. I spent those months looking into different Hatcheries and birds, trying to find the right breeds and the right Hatchery for what I wanted. I decided Cackle Hatchery was the best for my order.

As the months passed, I realized the list of birds I wanted was getting longer.  I needed a few new pullets  to replace my old laying hens, I wanted more boiler chickens this year, and oh, why not get a turkey to raise for thanksgiving dinner? And hey, they have a special where I can get geese too!

What started out as a few ducks turned into 10 Easter Egger pullets, 5 Welsummer pullets, 6 Khaki Campbell females, 1 Khaki Campbell Male and a Happy Cackle Special. I was definitely going to have my hands full.
I should mention that the most amount of chickens I've ever owned at one time was 26 and if I added my current layers, the month old chickens form Wilco and the hatchery order, it would put me over 70 birds. What can I say? I got a little excited.

While I waited for my Hatchery chicks to arrive I finished reading my poultry raising books and started setting up brooders and outdoor pens for all of them, I had a lot to get done. I have raised chicks before but never this many at once and I had never raised ducks and geese, let alone a turkey!

The 3rd week of May came, I warned the post office early in the week that I was expecting chicks. Bright and early on Friday the 23rd I got the call, they had arrived!

 I hadn't yet had my morning coffee when I rushed to our little post office. As soon as I entered the building I could hear them cheeping through the wall dividing us.

I couldn't believe all of them fit in this box and when I opened it to inspect them, I was reminded how small they all were.

The amount of cute inside this box was undeniable, the gosling and turkeys were the most curious, while the rest tried to hide in corners, often piling onto one another. I quickly took them home to their awaiting brooders.

The chicks brooder was made with pallets cut in half, nailed together in a box shape and lined with cardboard before getting filled with pine shavings. The size of this brooder would hold them for a few weeks while I finished with the other enclosure. All but one little chick survived the trip, he/she was a little black with white top polish. The hatchery had planned ahead though and given me two extra chicks from what I ordered.

This is one of the black with white top polish (I like to call them top hats), I got three of these guys (including the one that didn't make it). They were the easy ones to identify with their puff of down on their heads.

This is another top hat, its a golden laced polish. They were the cutest to interact with,  always posing for the camera.

Part of the fun of having the Cackle Special was guessing what breeds of chickens I got. In this photo a little top hat is drinking while a yellow chick watches the camera (I believe this yellow chick is one of my light Brahmas)

I spent hours watching these guys, trying to narrow down breeds they could be. In the special it gives you 10 brown laying pullets, 1 rooster, and 10 assorted chicks from their Rare chicken breeds. I'll let you see if you can figure out what breeds I have.

All of these photos are from the first week of there arrival, so in some photos they are more feathered then others.

My goslings are also a mystery as to what breed they are, but the hatchery only has 4 kinds, and based on their coloring they are either the Toulouse or African Grey geese. I'm hoping to make these guys people friendly so I can keep them for flock protection, but if they get aggressive they will become dinner. The little one pictured is the male, the hatchery color coded the male ducklings and gosling so that's why he has an orange stripe on his head.

Here's a mystery breed duck from the special. I think he's a Peaking because of his coloring. Him and his female buddy are going to be meat ducks. It's hard to think about it when they are so small and fluffy like this, it's a good thing they don't stay this cute forever.

The ducklings and goslings checking out their new home. I thought I would fawn over those ducklings,  they where the reason I got this order int he first place, but those gosling stole my heart. I take them out everyday for special attention so they get used to people.

The Turkeys! Also a surprise on what breed but  I'm thinking they are the Blue slate turkeys. The hatchery sent me an extra one, so this trio settling in. I was amazed at how calm and nice the turkeys were, they would take turns curling up onto my hand when I came to visit them and were always wondering what I was doing.

The chickens brooder was set up in out pump house while the ducklings and turkeys were set up in the upstairs of my house. I could here their happy chips while watching TV downstairs. It will be exciting watching these guys grow up!

The animals of Boots n' Roots Farm

Alright, here's a quick introduction to the animals of Boots n' Roots farm. You'll be seeing a lot of these guys in the future posts. This is what we had the beginning of spring 2014.

This is Egon my Easter Egger /Americana Rooster. I don't know if he qualifies as a true Americana so I just call him an Easter Egger. He's just a year old now and loves his ladies. I'm planning on incubating some of his offspring next year and can't wait to see what he produces.

Egon's in the back, watching over the photo shoot of some of his ladies. These girls are all a year old. I have Easter Eggers, Black Australorps, Silver laced Wyandottes, and Rhode island reds currently (not including my new babies, I'm saving them for a separate post)

My horses Left- Dubba (5years old). Right- Cally (16 years old)

Cally is the only mare out of the 4 horses on the property, she was my 4-h horse when I was younger and now my sister uses her for 4-H and WASET. I hope to breed her in the next year or two before she officially retires to be my trail buddy again.

Dubba is my current riding project and I am gearing him up for the local open shows next year, he's the official fence tester and general trouble maker of the farm, he's also a huge cuddle bug which might explain the reason he gets away with so much.

This is Hemi (5 years old)

Hemi is a retired racehorse that my sister got for her 16th birthday, he is her project horse and will eventually take over Cally's job of her 4-H and WASET partner. Until then he's putting on weight and being lightly trained. He also is a snuggler and prefers to rest his head on your chest.

Blue (32 years old)

Blue doesn't really have a person here at the farm. My parents took him in because he had been abandoned by his former owners and was on his way to the auction house, where he probably would of ended up in the kill pen- bound for the slaughter house. He's a spunky old guy that still trail rides soundly. He's usually the one giving pony rides around here and my cousins little boy loves him to pieces.

This is Layla (1.5 years old) our  Shiloh shepherd/Malamute/Wolf mix. We got her a few days after moving into the little house, so shes still a puppy. She plays tag with Dubba in the horse field and gives him kisses on the nose. She also protects our chickens and herds them if they get out of their pen. Shes the most gentle dog I have ever known.

Juno is the newest addition to the house, she's just 6 months old, she is a pug mix, and the biggest mamma's girl you'll ever meet. I call her my little pigette, because she eats everything, I mean it, I haven't found anything she wont eat - this girl loves her vegetables.

This is Abby (1 year old) she's tiny, feisty, and a big cuddler. She just started going outside during the day and is an excellent mouser, she puts our barn cats to shame with her skills.

Elly (14 years old)
This is my boyfriend, Mr. Beam's cat. She is either whining or sleeping. She's a house cat unless outside to bask in the sun or on top of my car. If Mr. Beam is home, she is right next to him.





There are other cats and dogs on the farm, belonging to my parents and brother.

 Dexter, a 3 year old mini Aussie belongs to my brothers. He's a shy little guy that loves to be scratched once he warms up to you, unless you have a hat on, then your evil and he wont trust you until the hat disappears.

Chewy, a 9 year old Pug/Chihuahua mix is my mothers. He's the sweetest one of the bunch and often guest threaten to smuggle him with them when they leave.


They also have 5 cats; Romeo (orange), Licorice (black), Bagheera (black), Toby (gery tabby), and Tinkerbell (blue eyed seal point). The last 3 being outdoor only cats. They are pretty elusive when a camera is out so I don't have any picture of them, but I'm sure I get some in the future.

Other than the egg laying chickens, our animals are companions. In the next year I plan on expanding our animals and raising our own meat on the farm, starting with chicken and ducks, and moving onto pigs in the future.