Fluff ball season

The phone rings early in the morning. It’s the post office, announcing that our baby chicks have arrived from the hatchery. Mom and Steve load up the van to run to town to fetch them, while I finish preparing the coop to receive the tiny fluff balls.

The day before, we had stapled fresh cardboard to the walls of the coop as a clean barrier and to help round out the corners a bit. Then we spread wood shavings on the sanitized concrete floor. On top of this, we spread a nice layer of shredded newspaper, which covers the shavings and helps the chicks learn to eat their food instead of their bedding.

From the ceiling we hung heat lamps as well as plugged in a free-standing coop cozy that the chicks can run underneath like a large mother hen. The morning of the delivery, I fill the feeder troughs with the custom starter mix we have made locally and prepare the waterers with warm water, sugar and electrolytes.

All is in readiness in the coop that started our chicken adventures back in 1999 — a converted shower house from a resort that had stored a generator for a hunting cabin back in the woods. Mom really is right that nothing goes to waste on the farm, as the old building is still going strong for overwintering turkeys and broodering chicks in the spring.

The morning is threatening rain, though the day before had been warm and sunny, perfect weather for travel from the hatchery further south in the state. Mom and Steve pull up in the van just before the rain hits, and we escort the perforated boxes into the warmed coop. Mom scoops each one out, and I crouch amongst the bedding, dipping each beak to help the little ones learn to drink. Some immediately scurry off to explore, while others just stay right where they are and guzzle more and more water, delighted to hydrate.

This group is 150 red ranger meat chickens, and their fluff ranges from a light tan to a medium brown, a few with a hint of stripes on their heads or backs. Sometimes the chicks arrive cold (which is why we use warm water when they arrive), and they huddle in packs under the lights. But this group proved to be especially spunky, racing around and exploring every corner without fear. It’s amazing how sometimes the smallest and youngest animals can be the bravest!

And the loudest! The cheeping is incessant, and I keep having to move to a different waterer so that I can find space to dip more beaks. The fluffy chicks are fascinated by my boots, wanting to scurry under, over and around them. As I try to step to a new point, I look rather like a Monty Python silly walk, having to hover as a chick darts right where I had planned to place my foot.

“Kiddos, please! Move out of the way!”

Soon they are all stuffing their faces with the feed, settling into their new life.

In another coop, we’ve just moved out the hen chicks we hatched from our own flock, which had been hanging out far too long in the house as we waited for the freezing weather to subside. They are a couple weeks older than the new arrivals and are growing a bit feathered now as well as reaching the roadrunner racing stage in their development. This is when the chicks can be especially spooky, scurrying to corners as soon as the door opens.

“I come in peace!” I offer, but somehow, they aren’t listening. As the birds grow older, they’ll calm down.

All stages of chick life are adorable, if a bit scraggly at times as their feathers come in amongst the fluff. The poultry on the farm is our theme for the Down on the Farm live Zoom session for the month, which is May 21. If you’d like to register to join us, visit northstarhomestead.com/down-on-the-farm-live-zoom-sessions.

Time to go and check on the little adorable fluff balls again. I’m sure they’re ready for more food as they focus on growing! See you down on the farm sometime.

Laura Berlage is a co-owner of North Star Homestead Farms, LLC and Farmstead Creamery. 715-462-3453; northstarhomestead.com.