Before I start, let me state something. The person I got the eggs from, I have never had a good hatch (won't get more there again). The chickens aren't fed very well and have poor housing I found out after the last hatch. Eggs are porous and thin shelled.
So from roughly 50 eggs to hatch in December, I got a dozen or so chicks. Only eight made it to two weeks old. So very upsetting. And from maybe a 80 I got from the person, there has been seven black chicks, one gold and two brown. The eggs I cracked open, other then a few quitters, there was fully formed chicks that never pipped.
I'm going to assume the brown chicks have such high mortality, is because the dad is very old and has issues as well it appears.
So when I got home from shopping Christmas Eve morning, I was surprised to find a gold chick. She actually didn't have a bloody navel like her other three gold siblings who where in cups! I soon removed her from the incubator; she kept knocking the cupped chicks over.
When she was all fluffed out and walking well, she had slight toe curling. And when you held her, you could here her breathe. It was almost like her lungs where underdeveloped. It wasn't a sick sounding breathe, just loud. I decided to keep a eye on her and her bandaged feet.
January sometime, someone took five chicks, so I was left with three. Ebony, Fish (unnamed at the time) and Cam (also unnamed). Can was pretty derpy. She just acted off. She hated being held. She would squeal, and then pant at a loss of breath. Her brother Ebony loved to be held.
The next week, I got her brother Dixon back, thinking I could have my flock of hens be managed by two roosters. Perfect, right?
Later in February, I just couldn't keep the chicks in my house much longer. I kept the two younger chicks, Cam and Fish in the house, and put Dixon and Ebony outside with a heat lamp. Here, it was maybe 10F in the day, negatives in the night.
Ebony(left) and Dixon. Can you see why I thought he was female???
A week or so later, I put Cam and Fish out with their siblings
Flash forward; March 2nd, 2015.
Figuring out from BYC that Ebony was indeed a male the week before, I was in a predicament. Which rooster do I get rid of? They where all so nice. But my flock couldn't handle three.
Fate took its path, and I found Dixon dead that afternoon.
A few weeks later Fish found a home, and I was left with Cam and Ebony. Frostbite hit my flock hard, Cam lost the tip on one toe ans all of her nails but two fell off(they are deformed though).
Young Cam in the snow
Cam started to act lethargic. She was standing like a penguin. I brought her inside, fed her and watered her well, and kept her in till it got warm. She got better.
Cam loves to perch on my back, and Ebony is the most friendly rooster ever.
Ebony can never sit still for the camera. Ebony didn't start crowing until he was almost 30 weeks old!
Cam's full name is Camillie Clarice Cameron. Quite long. My friend insisted Clarice, so its her middle name. Camillie just kinda hopped in; from a TV show actually. And the Cameron part is from an old show called House MD.
That is it for this set of chickens! I just wanted to write their 'story' somewhere. I hope to add more pictures soon.
So from roughly 50 eggs to hatch in December, I got a dozen or so chicks. Only eight made it to two weeks old. So very upsetting. And from maybe a 80 I got from the person, there has been seven black chicks, one gold and two brown. The eggs I cracked open, other then a few quitters, there was fully formed chicks that never pipped.
I'm going to assume the brown chicks have such high mortality, is because the dad is very old and has issues as well it appears.
So when I got home from shopping Christmas Eve morning, I was surprised to find a gold chick. She actually didn't have a bloody navel like her other three gold siblings who where in cups! I soon removed her from the incubator; she kept knocking the cupped chicks over.
When she was all fluffed out and walking well, she had slight toe curling. And when you held her, you could here her breathe. It was almost like her lungs where underdeveloped. It wasn't a sick sounding breathe, just loud. I decided to keep a eye on her and her bandaged feet.
January sometime, someone took five chicks, so I was left with three. Ebony, Fish (unnamed at the time) and Cam (also unnamed). Can was pretty derpy. She just acted off. She hated being held. She would squeal, and then pant at a loss of breath. Her brother Ebony loved to be held.
The next week, I got her brother Dixon back, thinking I could have my flock of hens be managed by two roosters. Perfect, right?
Later in February, I just couldn't keep the chicks in my house much longer. I kept the two younger chicks, Cam and Fish in the house, and put Dixon and Ebony outside with a heat lamp. Here, it was maybe 10F in the day, negatives in the night.
Ebony(left) and Dixon. Can you see why I thought he was female???
A week or so later, I put Cam and Fish out with their siblings
Flash forward; March 2nd, 2015.
Figuring out from BYC that Ebony was indeed a male the week before, I was in a predicament. Which rooster do I get rid of? They where all so nice. But my flock couldn't handle three.
Fate took its path, and I found Dixon dead that afternoon.
A few weeks later Fish found a home, and I was left with Cam and Ebony. Frostbite hit my flock hard, Cam lost the tip on one toe ans all of her nails but two fell off(they are deformed though).
Young Cam in the snow
Cam started to act lethargic. She was standing like a penguin. I brought her inside, fed her and watered her well, and kept her in till it got warm. She got better.
Cam loves to perch on my back, and Ebony is the most friendly rooster ever.
Ebony can never sit still for the camera. Ebony didn't start crowing until he was almost 30 weeks old!
Cam's full name is Camillie Clarice Cameron. Quite long. My friend insisted Clarice, so its her middle name. Camillie just kinda hopped in; from a TV show actually. And the Cameron part is from an old show called House MD.
That is it for this set of chickens! I just wanted to write their 'story' somewhere. I hope to add more pictures soon.
