Tractor Supply.
That's where I got these here peepers:
Ran down there yesterday afternoon in search of a starter set: half a dozen chickies of various egg-oriented breeds, suitably compact food & water dispensers, starter food, and bedding. We already had the bunny cage, which seems like the right combination of being big enough for a few teeny flooves and having the bars close enough together to keep the critters from slipping out and chasing the cats.
Speaking of whom, the cats seem worried about the newcomers. What are these things? Are we supposed to be doing something about them? (Top Hat seems least worried; she seem to figure the funny little things are just one more thing to watch.)
These specimens seemed perky enough in the store, but after the trip home they were acting very stressed and tended to take naps in the basic "dead bird" posture. By early morning they'd perked back up, and now they're a lively bunch. At least one has already gotten ambitious enough to fly up to the top of the food silo.
Once they grow a little, we'll move them to a larger cage (with greater bar spacing, hence not suitable for them at this point), and consider populating the bunny cage with duckies.
Meanwhile, time to go Read The Feathery Manual.
The best brooder ever! http://www.plamondon.com/brooder.shtml
Posted by: Rob | Monday, 23 May 2022 at 09:48
Hm. Bookmarked, in case we do decide to scale up. The bunny cage seems to be good enough for a few birds under current conditions (hot weather; air conditioning set to "bearable").
I also need to build a proper plant brooder (grow lights plus heat plus humidity, for starting plants from seed in the basement in winter).
Posted by: Eric Wilner | Monday, 23 May 2022 at 10:09