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I've been raising chickens for about three years now and my assortment of chickens keeps changing, mainly because I use either lose them to predators or butcher them for meat. Last year I had 22 meat chickens that now reside in my freezer LOL. I also have lost about 35 chickens to a big hungry bear that insists on visiting my farm every few months. I lost one to a hawk and a couple have just passed away from unknown causes. Right now I'm down to ten assorted chickens, several of which are about three years old and a few about a year old. Today I just received my new baby chickens! I have 27 baby Rhode Island Reds and one 'mystery' chicken that the hatchery ships with every shipment. I bought these from McMurry Hatchery where I get all of my baby chickens. Once these birds are big enough to keep outside I plan on butchering all my other chickens and keeping only Rhode Island Reds. I plan to raise these for the eggs, meat, and for hatching the eggs in my incubator to keep my flock fresh (if I can keep the predators at bay!).
 
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Here's my baby chick progress day by day! I received these on Day 3 from hatching so I'm starting with the day I received them (Day 3). They were born on May 23, 2009, on my birthday! These chicks are Rhode Island Reds from McMurry Hatchery. In the photos below I'm just picking up several random chicks. You'll notice that they vary quite a bit on coloration. Enjoy!
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Day 3 (The day I picked them up at the post office)
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Day 4
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Day 5
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Day 6
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Day 7
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Day 8
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Day 9
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Day 10
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Day 11
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Day 12
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Day 13
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Day 14
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Day 15
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Day 16
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Day 17
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Day 18
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Day 19
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Day 20
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Day 21
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Day 22
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Day 23
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Day 24 (The Roosters?)
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Day 25
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Day 26
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Day 27
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Day 28
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Day 29
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Day 30
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Day 31
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Day 32
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Day 33
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Day 34
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NOTES:
- All of the baby chickens were alive when received in the mail.
- I'm providing baby chick food scattered on newspaper and in feeders around the clock. I'm changing the paper once a day and the water twice a day. Marbles were put in the waterers to keep the chicks from drowning the first week.
- On 'Day 3', the first day having the chicks, the 'mystery chick' appeared to be very weak and would not hardly move at all. It died the first day.
- On 'Day 5', two days after receiving the chicks, one baby chick became very weak and would not walk or eat. All other baby chickens seem to be very healthy and active. The sick chick died on Day 5.
- I noticed on Day 9 that three of the chicks had large 'plugs' on their rear end. Dipped their rears in water to get rid of stoppage.
- On Day 15 one of the chickens flew off of the cardboard when taking it's photo! Luckily I was able to catch it mid flight. They started 'flying' and running at the same time a few days ago back and forth across the cage.
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