It’s that time of the year which the children anticipate with delight. No…it is not Christmas. It is the day the baby chicks arrive!
Farmer’s Wife orders chicks once a year through a local feed mill. She and Farmer pick two dates that will work for the farm to receive the chicks. The mill and the hatchery pick the date that will work for them. And the order is set in motion.
Farmer has two chicken coops. One is the brooder house. It houses the hens and one rooster over the winter. In April, Farmer moves them to the hen house and cleans out the brooder house to make it ready to receive the new hatchlings.
The hatchery delivers the one-day-old chicks to the mill in a cardboard crate. The crate has four sections: each holds 25 peeping chicks. The peeping is so loud that their presence at the mill office cannot be kept a secret.
One gentleman from the mill takes responsiblility to deal with the chicken business for the mill. He is referred to as “the chicken man.” When “the chicken man” calls, Farmer’s Wife hustles off to the mill to pick them up.
She arrives within about a half-hour. The chicks sing loudly as they await the rest of their journey. Farmer’s Wife carefully inspects the fluffy cargo. She needs to know if the chicks are all alive before she pays for them. When she sees that all are well, she buys chick starter, a feed to get them off to a healthy start, and the chicks and they take off on their way to the farm.
You are welcome to view the Farm Building card in our store. It shows the coops.
photo credit: SMercury98 via photo pin cc
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