Surrounded by chicks

Got my first order of day-old chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery the other day. I ordered 25 (they sent 27) of their "all heavies" (heavy breed) special. The reason that these type of chicks are so inexpensive is that they are the males of typically-egg-laying type of chickens, and therefore aren't very desirable. So, hatcheries basically give them away (I think the shipping cost as much or more than the chicks themselves!).

The chicks arrived in good shape, but over the next few hours, four died... and another died the next day. It's sad to see them die like that, but they go through a lot in shipping and, well, it's nature taking its course, really. The other chicks are doing very well and of course are as cute as all heck. (Murray McMurray, by the way, took care of my "problem" immediately and I received a credit -- as I requested -- for the next time I order birds from them. They definitely get an A+ customer service rating from me.)

Reality check: I'll raise them to about three months, and then butcher them and freeze most of them and I'll give a few away to friends.

Next time I order chicks, however, I'll likely order the White Rocks from Murray McMurray, or, alternately, I may try the "Ranger" (similar to the "Label Rouge," see my last post) type chicken. I intend to keep a few for myself, but will probably sell the rest at my local farmers' market. I'm definitely going to stay away from the "Cornish X" type of birds (a.k.a. "frankenbirds"), for several reasons. I'll probably not be raising the "heavy breeds" special again, as they're a bit too un-uniform for sale to customers. The White Rocks and the "Ranger" type of chickens are pretty standardized/uniform, and the White Rocks are more easily cleaned (i.e. de-feathered or plucked, due to their white feathers) by hand, since I do not currently have an automatic picker.