07/02/2009
Chick Peeps

Our new chicken peeps arrived yesterday -- 15 Light Brahma pullets and 2 cockerels. (Click here for a glossary of poultry terms.) This breed is large and docile and versatile. We got a couple dozen 3 years ago and have been very pleased with them. Their large size means they cannot fly over our fences so they stay in the pastures where we want them to be. They are also the most docile chickens we have ever had; we were very pleasantly surprised at how well they accepted the day-old muscovy duck peeps that one of our duck hens hatched about a month ago. So this year we are trying something new with the peeps: rather than raise them in a separate area fior a month as we have done in the past, we are starting them in a corner of the poultry shed. We hope that in a week or two we will be able to let them mingle with the adults. The cardboard you see in the picture is to keep out drafts from the spaces between the wall boards, and since it is summer, the light is a regular 100W bulb rather than a heat lamp.