... 
Bi> Just got some new chicks myself, 25 of them - Buff Orpingons and 
Bi> Partridge Rocks. (Well, 27 if you count the bonus chicks the hatchery
Bi> threw  in.)  
LM> How nice....bonus chicks... mine are Rhode Island Reds and White
LM> Leghorns. Not fancy, just layers.
    Mine aren't all that fancy either.  They're just varieties of heavy 
breeds and I got them as layers as well.  I pick heavy breeds because I like 
the look of the larger birds.  They all would make ood broilers if I chose to 
butcher any of them (not likely) and they're all fairly consistant layers of 
nice sized brown eggs.
    The 2 bonus chicks:  Hatcheries routinely throw in an extra chick of each 
variety in case something goes wrong in transit.  In my case, they only threw 
in one extra of that type, an extra buff.  However, with a minimum order, 
they also throw in one of their rare or exotic breeds.  I have no idea what 
mine is, only that it's on the eggshell side of white, leggy, has dark eyes 
and dark skin on it's legs.  I've gone through their catalog over and over 
again trying to figure out which it is and can't make heads nor tails of it.  
The closest I come is that it *might be a Phoenix, one of the Japanese 
variety in which the roosters grow very long tails.  With my luck, however, 
it'll be a hen.
    What I didn't mention is that I already have 15 chickens: Barred Rocks, 
Black Australorps and Rhode Islands.  I'm getting great egg production 
(anywhere from 9 to 14 a day - one seems to be a rooster) and even get an 
occasional double yolker.  I'm sure you'll find your chickens to be wonderful 
egg producers.  Rhode Islands are the *best of the brown egg layers and 
Leghorns are veritable machines.  Personally, I know there's no difference 
between brown eggs ad white ones, but I prefer brown egg layers and stay away 
from the whites.
 
(...)
LM> And here i thought they were just missing their mother... its amazing
LM> how they are out like a light the very second i hold them...  I am
LM> afraid that they'll get TOO warm if i move the light any closer... i
LM> guess i should get a  different set-up then...
    Like I mentioned, these chicks have probably never seen an adult chicken 
(though instincts will still prevail) so they don't know about their mother.  
As far as getting too warm is concerned, as long as there is enough room in 
their enclosure for them to get away from the direct source of heat (an area 
that's cooler, they'll regulate their own temperature.
    My own broder is an enclosed area that I rigged with a "line voltage" 
thermostat.  That's one that take house current instead of milli-volts like 
the kind on your furnace, and I attached that to a plug.  They're available 
at most hardware stores for about $12-15.  If I lay a thermometer directly 
under my heat lamps, it registers over 100 degrees.  The thermostat is set 
for only 80 degrees, however (I've had my chicks for 2 weeks so a lower 
temp), and the lights turn on and off regularly.  When the chicks get too 
hot, they move well away from the heat source on their own.  When they need 
heat, you'll find them right underneath it.
    BTW, generally, if your chicks survive the first 10 days, they're going 
to do just fine, despite all the mistakes you (or I) might have made.  And 
don't for get to lower the temperature about 5 degrees a week until it gets 
to about 70.  Then you no longer need to supply an extra heat source.
(...)
LM> Take care..
    Thanks, you do the same.  And I hope youre enjoying your chicks as much 
as I am mine.
        Byrd Mann
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