Well it finally got finished enough to the point where I could ORDER MY CHICKS! I chose to order from a hatchery for a few reasons :
1- locally I couldn't find any of the breeds I wanted. I wanted good egg-layers that are social and friendly (very important with my crazy little boys).
2- locals are charging way too much and also required a drive across the island (approx. 4 hours round trip).
3- I wanted chicks, not teenagers, so they could grow up being handled from the get-go. Again, I need them good with the Littles.
I chose IDEAL HATCHERY because they ship to Hawaii, shipping price was not exorbitant, and they didn't have insane minimum order requirements. They were also very friendly over the phone. The only minimum involved spending $25 which came to 10 chicks. I figured some would die on the three-day trip to Hawaii so I would order extra chicks no matter what.
My chicks hatched around 10 am on Tuesday, and I got the phone call from the post office at 8:30 am on Thursday that I had a peeping package to pick up. I was surprised and excited that my package got here so quickly!! AND every chick was alive. I'm very impressed with Ideal Hatchery! If I'm ever to do this from chicks again, I'll use them again. It ended up only costing $3.70 per chick, after shipping price and all. I have 10 now, but only intend on keeping three. Maybe four... But the coop was built for three.
I got:
Rhode Island Red / Rhode Island Red
Rhode Island Red / Delaware
Rhode Island Red / Barred Plymouth Rock
Silver-laced Wyandottes
They will all be good egg producers and will hopefully be awesome little friends with the Littles. They're currently living in a brooder, which is just a plastic storage bin next to the tool bench, and a brooding lamp clamped on the neighboring tool bench. It will only last about a week until I have to use a bigger bin, but considering the amount of crap and bins in my garage, I'm sure I have a perfect one. I have the old pet-block from the old back screen door laying across the top of the brooder so my cats can't get in. I've been constantly checking the temperature in the brooder just because I'm nervous about it getting too hot in the already-hot garage, but so far it's a steady 92 degrees under the lamp and the chicks seem happy and moving about, and drinking and eating lots.
Here's a pic of one little gal getting a drink. I'll get in to my cheap and simple waterers in another post
