2026 Chick Thread!

[akroberts1085]

Orpington with a bit of Sussex. A mix of abundant colourful patterned feathers, docile personality plus good size table birds and pretty good egg layers too. View attachment 4287792

Are there 4 babies in the picture?

 

[DonyaQuick]

Last month I put in an order for at Cackle for a few exhibition buff orpington chicks mid-April. My very first chickens were 6 feed store BOs. Almost five years later, I only have 2 of them left. Nevermind the fact that I have 33 other chickens at the moment...I just have a need for a minimum buff count in the mix lol.

Not sure yet if I will hatch more this year. I have one flock with abysmally low fertility rates that I've only been able to get one offspring from so far, and she is amazing all grown up...so I might throw some of those eggs in the incubator on a timeline to sync up with the mail order arrival in case I can get another lucky egg.

 

[backyardbyfire]

1. What breeds are you getting?

2. How many?

3. Are you hatching, getting day olds or started pullets?

4. Are you going to raise them yourself or let a broody do it for you?

Hatched some RIRs (4) and Black Star (2) chicks a couple days ago. First time incubating eggs and had some issues with a borrowed incubator not keeping a constant temp. Still, managed 6 of 8 fertile eggs hatching. I think that we have 4 pullets and 2 roos, Black Stars are sex linked, the RIRs I am guessing. 3 of the RIRs are giving off strong hen vibes to me, and now have sprouted wing feathers where as the two I suspect of being roos have not.

Had a nice success story with the RIR I believe to be a roo, who couldn't stand upon hatching. Seems he had a case of spraddle leg and was moving himself around with his wings because his belly was on the ground. I did a lot of research to figure out what to do, this post was probably the most helpful thing I came across:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...and-caring-for-the-special-needs-chick.72163/

One night in a "chick chair" got the little chick's legs in the right position and an hour in a little glass gave him the muscles tone to keep himself up. He only needed about 2 hours in the incubator before he returned to the flock in the brooder.

Here are some pictures of the chicks, the first born cuddling with the other eggs, and the little one standing with the other roo. I didn't get any pictures of its ailment, but I sure am glad we were able to get him up and going!

 

[gimmie birdies]

I use 2 ND hand place matts too. I don't use wood chips. Roll up a placemats and toss when soiled.

I usually put a desert plate under the water to catch splashes.

 

[Chicken_overlord]

1. What breeds are you getting?
Ameraucanas (Isabel, Ermine, Silver, Calliope) and Silverudd Blues

2. How many?
78 Eggs on order

3. Are you hatching, getting day olds or started pullets?
Hatching! If I have a broody I might tuck some under her.

4. Are you going to raise them yourself or let a broody do it for you?
I just finished building a new brooder in my garage. I may give a broody a few to raise. As much as I love having my broody do the work, I'm hoping to socialize these chicks as much as possible!

Where are you getting your silverudds blue? I'd like to add some more to my flock, but they're notoriously difficult to find. I absolutely love them though! They're probably my favorite out of my two flocks.

 

[Echelontheory101]

I keep going back and forth with myself on whether I want a rooster or not. I have 11 hens now and I plan for either 8 more hens and 1 rooster or just 9 more hens and I'm so torn on which direction to go lol. I was thinking of getting a blue splash Ameraucana rooster because then I can breed for the pea combs because I live in very cold climate and I can make all sorts of fun egg colors with his two blue genes and I find thsoe roosters adorable. But then I know my chickens aren't 100% free range they have two massive runs connected by 200 ft of chicken tunnel into an 8x16 ft Coop they have plenty of space but I know adding a rooster to that scenario can really shake things up, I obviously don't want to stress the hens out and honestly ordering from the hatcheries has been very successful for me in the past so if I want more chickens I could just order more but I also just love the idea of making my own mixes and breeding for traits that I want. I'll go one week absolutely sure yes I'm getting the rooster to the following week being like no what's the point I'm just adding extra stress to the hens and the flock and myself I'm not getting a rooster and then the following week right back to where I started

Editing to add the breeds, forgot to add that part lol
Currently have 1 CCL, 2 OE, 2 EE, 1 exchequer leghorn, 1 black splash marans, 4 blue splash ameraucana. Adding 3 speckled Sussex, 2 black australorp and 2 BCM. and then rooster conundrum above haha