First Time Chick Parents, Spring 2016

Date sort Score sort
Got two babies this past Thurs so here they are at four days old
Wilma the welsummer
400

And Betty the cuckoo maran
400


They are a little timid yet bc I couldn't spend much time with them Thurs or Friday but yesterday and today I've been sitting with the brooder/crate open letting them get used to me.

One question I have is are they going to get along ok with the 7 that get delivered this week? Or am I going to need to separate them? Or is that just a case by case situation? They'll be a week old when the new ones come.
 
KiminPA said:
One question I have is are they going to get along ok with the 7 that get delivered this week? Or am I going to need to separate them? Or is that just a case by case situation? They'll be a week old when the new ones come.
Click to expand...


Should be fine. With seven you'll have too many to be targets, even though your week olds will be bigger. In fact, the older ones will be able to show the new ones about the water, food, etc.
 
Yooper said:
Thank for your reply and information. Up early this morning looking at 2 or more inches of new snow and it is still snowing . pretty chilly out there yet. stoked the fire and enjoying coffee. We only looked at the TSC chicks. We went to a feed store in Escanaba and got a way better price, the breeds we wanted and a lot of info from them about our endeavor. We may put our chicks our earlier depending on the weather. Let us know how those predator lights work out. We bought that heat tape for our water bucket and will have both food and water inside the coup for those bad winter times. Good luck with your girls. We may have bitten off more than we can chew by ordering 17 chicks but time will tell. We also want to free range and will have to come up with some sort of barrier for the garden. I hear "weeder geese " is the way to go with gardens. but well go slow in that arena. can you put up a pic of your coup and run?
Click to expand...

Our coop is 5x6 and our run is 6x8x6...so not huge coops. We bought from out of state in Pennsylvania from the Amish. We will probably make additional coop and add to the run if we get more chicks. We shall see how it goes...I am hoping i don't lose too many to predators. I guess it would be better in the long run to have more chickens in case we do lose some. We will be putting the girls out of Friday. It seems the lows are going to be decent after this early start of the week, temp. wise. Ya, i am done with the snow right now. At leats not enough to have to shovel and plow. I am worn out from this winter. Ready for Spring. I did a boo-boo and planted my young thimbleberry plants last week. I am hoping they will make it. They seem kinda droopy and yellow. Ugg! Anyways...here are a few pics.



 
KiminPA said:
Thank you. That was my thought too but with no experience I wasn't sure.
Click to expand...

I agree. I had 3 initially, then added 1 a week later, and then 2 more two days after that. And all mixed breeds so different rates of growth, and I had no issues. I would just keep an eye initially on your new ones that they are making their way to get water and food, and like said before, the older ones will likely show them the way. That was my experience. My older 3 were already scratching the ground searing for goodies and I noticed the newer chicks would watch them and then clumsily attempt to scratch. Super cute. Good luck!
 
I returned from the swap meet with my new Chicks! These two ladies (hopefully) were hatched by a road island red mother and a black copper maran father. So friendly and pretty!

400


400


This chick (same in both pics) was sold to me as a New Jersey Giant. When I went online to look at pictures of what she will look like when she's older I noticed the chicks do not look like her
1f627.png
Any thoughts???

400


400
 
Last edited:
KiminPA said:
Got two babies this past Thurs so here they are at four days old
Wilma the welsummer

And Betty the cuckoo maran


They are a little timid yet bc I couldn't spend much time with them Thurs or Friday but yesterday and today I've been sitting with the brooder/crate open letting them get used to me.

One question I have is are they going to get along ok with the 7 that get delivered this week? Or am I going to need to separate them? Or is that just a case by case situation? They'll be a week old when the new ones come.
Click to expand...

I introduced a group of 3 (1 day old chicks) to a group of 4 (1 week old chicks). I had been told that when they are all that young, there usually aren't any problems. I still had to show the new chicks where to find heat under the Ecoglow, but the older chicks did the rest. There were absolutely no problems!

Good luck!
 
Our Orpingtons are 9 weeks old now and I'm starting to understand just how chicken math happens. I look at them and the 5 week old silkies....and want tiny fluffy babies again
1f602.png
1f602.png
1f602.png
 
And the 2 BO pullets finally have names.....previously "green" is now Mary Ann....and she's the funniest of all the chicks. So spoiled. She runs over as soon as she sees me and if I don't have treats she starts with the upset noises and gives me the stink eye. Previously "yellow" is now Ginger (she has orange legs, so it seemed appropriate lol). She's calm and sweet.

My fiance keeps trying to name the big cockerel ("Red") Skipper, but I keep reminding him not to name him until we know whether or not he'll be our for sure keeper.
 
crystalane26 said:
I returned from the swap meet with my new Chicks! These two ladies (hopefully) were hatched by a road island red mother and a black copper maran father. So friendly and pretty!





This chick (same in both pics) was sold to me as a New Jersey Giant. When I went online to look at pictures of what she will look like when she's older I noticed the chicks do not look like her
1f627.png
Any thoughts???



Click to expand...
Cuties!

From what I know, JG should have yellow on the bottoms of their feet, and their eyes are almost entirely black, and their beak is black fading to a smidge of yellow on the very tip. So according to those descriptions, it looks like you do have a possible JG on your hands. They regularly are mis-sold as JG when they are actually Black Australorps. A Black Australorp chick will have grey legs with white on the bottoms of their feet, also they are suppose to have white first feathers that will eventually molt into solid black. JG are a breed that is somewhat endagered, am I correct? So I would guess that improper breeding could play a role in that. I could be that you do in fact have a JG, but perhaps just not from the most perfected line. Not a bad thing! She is a cutie!
 

Similar threads

ChickenTenderz
    • Love
Newest chicks
Replies
4
Views
488
Lacy Duckwing
Lacy Duckwing
Lovemylilcluckers
Baby Chicks & Tractors
Replies
4
Views
662
Lovemylilcluckers
Lovemylilcluckers
Ceecee23
Outdoor baby chick water temp
Replies
1
Views
155
rosemarythyme
rosemarythyme
S
Baby chick cries until we pick her up
Replies
2
Views
161
Starrponies
Starrponies
blazzin
    • Like
    • Love
Starting a New Flock!
2 3
Replies
24
Views
1K
blazzin
blazzin

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom