Remember these little cuties? We took them up from their not-really-their-momma, that little duck hen in the garage, so that she could finish brooding her own eggs. However, there have only been just these two chicks. Unfortunately two really is the loneliest number when it comes to chickens so we used it as an excuse to order another round of meat chickens.
Yep. We busted clear thru another "never" - we are getting some summer meats. We really do not like having meat chickens in the summer. I couldn't help it tho - we are getting low on chicken. After the supper I made the other nite I just can't wait until fall for more chicken dinners. Goes without saying I won't be buying store chicken any time soon.
Much to my surprise, I couldn't just call up any old hatchery and demand an order of chicken! Most of the hatcheries are sold out for several weeks if not into July. I was desperate.
Lucky for me, tho, I called up Meyer Hatchery here in Ohio on Monday morning and asked if they didn't even have a small lot of meats somewhere? They did! I received excellent service and they placed the order quick as a flash. They only had 11 creepy meats but that was OK because I was looking for a small lot. As much as I love chicken dinner I do not like butchering in summer. This small lot will be just two (short) days work and we'll be having chickeny goodness until the fall.
The order taker was really great - she reminded me that I could save almost $15 on shipping if I ordered 4 more chicks (to meat.. I mean "meet" their 15 chick minimum for regular shipping). The chicks were flying off the shelves as we were talking but she was able to get four peeps for the reduced shipping costs. Now I just have to wait around for the call.
Depending on who is working at our local post they will either call me any minute now... or at 9:30 when the counter opens. I have a feeling the guy with zero sense of humor is working or they would have called by now. He won't ever call for early pick up. Maybe he likes the peeping but it drives the other lady nuts so she always calls. He's like the mail nazi - no rule breaking for you! For the record, that guy does not think I am funny. At. All.
So until I get the call I'm going to round up the dogs and head out for some early morning garden work. It's supposed to be 86* here today! Just two days ago it was so cold that I had to wear two sweatshirts and a warm hat with my shorts. Today, tho, it's already creeping toward "maybe I should turn on the air conditioning...."
THEY JUST CALLED! Yay! Ok this is a great day - yay peeps!
Happy Wednesday everyone! Anybody else waiting for a heapin' box of peepin' fun?
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5 comments:
No heapins-O-peepin here. We got our box of 80 peepers in mid-March. Our 46 meats will be 9 weeks old Friday(butcher day). It's a good thing we'll be done Friday. That'll be our first day over 100 degrees this year.
I don't know if y'all have old cotton strippers sittin around your part of the country, but if you do, they make great tractors. Just take the basket off, flip it up-side-down, make a little chicken door and a man door and you're done. The reason to flip it over is because the bottom of a stripper basket is sheet metal and the top and 3 sides is expanded metal. I recommend making one more side solid so as to give a little extra wind protection. It's extremely easy and very cheap.
We also let our daughters set 12 eggs in the bator last night. Who knew chicks were addictive?
No more peeps for us this year, other than the ducklings we're hoping for (between my scovy's nest, scovy eggs under my chickens, and scovy eggs in the incubator). Our 25 icky chickies are two short weeks from freezer camp, thank god. We always try to have them done around Memorial Day weekend before it gets too hot. Looking forward to not having to feed them anymore (and getting attacked by the ravenous hoard). Grody birds.
Sounds like Meyer has super customer service. May have to try them if we ever order birds.
This is completely off topic, but Ohio produced my favorite band of all time and you are from Ohio. I really just made that connection.
Anyway I am excited about your chicks. I suppose they will outpace your two lonely ones growth-wise.
Sorry to hear that your postal guy has a stunted sense of humor.
Oh hooray! I can't wait to hear all about it. :) If butchering goes ok with this batch (the fox left me 8 so far), I'm considering doing a second batch as well. Good to know Meyer's minimum is 15; I had thought it was 25. Makes my decision a lot easier.
wow, CB! great work! and heh heh heh... i knew they were so addictive
;-)
Rae - i cant wait to hear how your butcher day goes! and yeah... grody birds for sure!
hey Amanda.. ok so now you have to tell me which band? and yep these meats will get much bigger, faster but thats ok the "real" ones can hold their own. my new goal in life is to make that postal guy smile. its going to take all my effort.
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