On July 14, 2015, my family welcomed five one-day-old baby chicks (hopefully all pullets) into our flock. We wanted specific breeds, chosen for a combination of docility, hardiness, and egg production, so we ordered them online from My Pet Chicken. They are: Pepper, a Black Austrolorp who belongs to my son; Stella, Buff Orpington who belongs to my daughter; Henrietta, a Barred Plymouth Rock who belongs to my hubby; and Gwendolyn and Lynda Carter the Wonder Chicken, a Delaware and a Golden-Laced Wyandotte, who belong to me. Here they are on their first day home. They were one-day old in these photos:
Here they are at 6 days old (left), and 8 days old (right):
As of today, they are 11 days old. Here are some pics from their first play time outside!
The girls are growing so fast! Wing and tail feathers are coming in, they are starting to try to roost and to fly, and they are outgrowing their tote/brooder and will soon be moving into the coop. Our family is very happy to have these girls with us. I'll post more pics as they continue to grow!
UPDATE 8/10/2015:
I am astounded by how fast the girls are growing!! Going to post a few pics here to show the transformation. The last pics, above, they were just about 2 weeks old. They are now 4 weeks old. Pics below are from 3 weeks old, and from today... What a difference a week makes in the growth of a baby chick!!
Here they are at 3 weeks old, right after they moved into their coop (read about that in my post about that):
And here they are at 4 weeks... Oh my goodness!!
I'll keep updating as they continue to grow... I am amazed with how big they are getting so quickly! Gwendolyn is even starting to cluck already!
UPDATE 8/24/2015:
So, a week from my last update, I took another look at my Gwenny Henny (the Delaware) and decided that she might actually be a Lenny Roo! Folks here on BYC concurred, and I am still going with that conclusion. Thankfully, so far at least, I'm thinking Lenny might be the only Roo. With such a small flock, two roos wouldn't be a good idea. Here are a few pics of Gwenny/Lenny from 5 weeks:
As you can see, "her" comb started to turn reddish and waddles are coming in too. "She" had an awful lot of markings for a pullet, and from other BYCers were saying, the barred feathering of the tail is a dead giveaway... Also, s/he was "herding" the other birds, keeping them in line, which seemed odd until I considered that maybe she was a HE! And so, "Gwenny" has now be renamed "Lenny"... we haven't heard any crowing yet, so I guess we aren't 100% sure, but yeah... pretty sure.
And here are some pics from yesterday. The babies are 6 weeks old today, and look nothing now like the little balls of fluff we picked up at the post office. It really is amazing how fast they grow!!
They now spend most of each day with freedom to roam the yard. Despite having a large yard to explore, they are content to spend most of their time playing in the dirt right next to the coop, or under the azalea bush a short distance away. They've all starting making quiet sort-of-clucking sounds now, and they've even learned to put themselves to bed at dusk! When we first started to let them roam freely, we had to catch them and put them back in the coop one by one, but now they go into the coop all by themselves, so we just have to do a headcount and lock it up... They are such smart birds! <3
UPDATE: 1/2/2016:
So, our Delaware did, indeed, turn out to be a Lenny Roo, but of our original five he was the only boy. We tried to keep him, but he eventually grew aggressive, tried to attack some guests of my kids, and ended up being rehomed. We miss him, but still get updates on him regularly from our friend who took him in, and he is doing very well, with a new harem and some duck friends. We are happy to know that he is doing well, and is not destined for freezer camp Here are some photos of him from his last day with us:
In exchange for our Lenny Roo, our friend who took him in brought us a young Easter Egger, Princess Victoria. Her acceptance into the existing flock is a work in progress, but all in all it is going very well. Here are some photos of her from the day of her arrival:
And so it was that Princess Victoria gave us our first egg, last month; and since then, the four ladies from our original 5 have all started laying too! Here are some photos from a couple days ago. Victoria, who was hatched in about February and is therefore older than the other girls, has gone into a molt; but hasn't let that get her down, she is still giving us eggs routinely! Here are some photos of our current flock, taken just a few days ago (in order: Lynda Carter the Gold-Laced Wyandotte, Stella the Buff Orpington, Princess Victoria the Easter Egger, Henrietta the Barred Rock, and Pepper the Black Australorp):
They're all such good girls! <3
Here they are at 6 days old (left), and 8 days old (right):
As of today, they are 11 days old. Here are some pics from their first play time outside!
The girls are growing so fast! Wing and tail feathers are coming in, they are starting to try to roost and to fly, and they are outgrowing their tote/brooder and will soon be moving into the coop. Our family is very happy to have these girls with us. I'll post more pics as they continue to grow!
UPDATE 8/10/2015:
I am astounded by how fast the girls are growing!! Going to post a few pics here to show the transformation. The last pics, above, they were just about 2 weeks old. They are now 4 weeks old. Pics below are from 3 weeks old, and from today... What a difference a week makes in the growth of a baby chick!!
Here they are at 3 weeks old, right after they moved into their coop (read about that in my post about that):
And here they are at 4 weeks... Oh my goodness!!
I'll keep updating as they continue to grow... I am amazed with how big they are getting so quickly! Gwendolyn is even starting to cluck already!
UPDATE 8/24/2015:
So, a week from my last update, I took another look at my Gwenny Henny (the Delaware) and decided that she might actually be a Lenny Roo! Folks here on BYC concurred, and I am still going with that conclusion. Thankfully, so far at least, I'm thinking Lenny might be the only Roo. With such a small flock, two roos wouldn't be a good idea. Here are a few pics of Gwenny/Lenny from 5 weeks:
As you can see, "her" comb started to turn reddish and waddles are coming in too. "She" had an awful lot of markings for a pullet, and from other BYCers were saying, the barred feathering of the tail is a dead giveaway... Also, s/he was "herding" the other birds, keeping them in line, which seemed odd until I considered that maybe she was a HE! And so, "Gwenny" has now be renamed "Lenny"... we haven't heard any crowing yet, so I guess we aren't 100% sure, but yeah... pretty sure.
And here are some pics from yesterday. The babies are 6 weeks old today, and look nothing now like the little balls of fluff we picked up at the post office. It really is amazing how fast they grow!!
They now spend most of each day with freedom to roam the yard. Despite having a large yard to explore, they are content to spend most of their time playing in the dirt right next to the coop, or under the azalea bush a short distance away. They've all starting making quiet sort-of-clucking sounds now, and they've even learned to put themselves to bed at dusk! When we first started to let them roam freely, we had to catch them and put them back in the coop one by one, but now they go into the coop all by themselves, so we just have to do a headcount and lock it up... They are such smart birds! <3
UPDATE: 1/2/2016:
So, our Delaware did, indeed, turn out to be a Lenny Roo, but of our original five he was the only boy. We tried to keep him, but he eventually grew aggressive, tried to attack some guests of my kids, and ended up being rehomed. We miss him, but still get updates on him regularly from our friend who took him in, and he is doing very well, with a new harem and some duck friends. We are happy to know that he is doing well, and is not destined for freezer camp
Here are some photos of him from his last day with us:
In exchange for our Lenny Roo, our friend who took him in brought us a young Easter Egger, Princess Victoria. Her acceptance into the existing flock is a work in progress, but all in all it is going very well. Here are some photos of her from the day of her arrival:
And so it was that Princess Victoria gave us our first egg, last month; and since then, the four ladies from our original 5 have all started laying too! Here are some photos from a couple days ago. Victoria, who was hatched in about February and is therefore older than the other girls, has gone into a molt; but hasn't let that get her down, she is still giving us eggs routinely! Here are some photos of our current flock, taken just a few days ago (in order: Lynda Carter the Gold-Laced Wyandotte, Stella the Buff Orpington, Princess Victoria the Easter Egger, Henrietta the Barred Rock, and Pepper the Black Australorp):
They're all such good girls! <3