As the title implies, I got 9 baby Ameraucana chicks, who came into the house in our den by the back window, in a giant dog kennel, so they got light and could see the comings and going as well as I could keep an eye on them when I was upstairs by looking down at them. They have food, water, tiny grit, and a heat light.
Here is what they looked like the day I brought them home:
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv57/GreySorrel/d9614cf9.jpg
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv57/GreySorrel/64ddccc1.jpg
I am in love! They are so cute! They peep and 98% always seem content, there are a time or two they got scared or someone laid on someone else and a shrill peep was heard but for the most part, they seem happy, healthy and active. This is also my first time raising peeps without a mother hen. So, I do have a few questions.
I have the heat lamp up as high as it would go, they are nicely feathering out, still have some down on them and I have observed them laying in a nice line just on the outskirts of the light. They have always just laid down, their little wings spread a bit and their head slowly drops down, is this normal?
This is what they look like as of yesterday:
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv57/GreySorrel/07299fc4.jpg
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv57/GreySorrel/b7de070f.jpg
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv57/GreySorrel/34be87a3.jpg
Our weather during the day has been very nice so during the day I put them in a small round pen with chicken wire over the top and at first only left them out for a few hours, slowly building up the time till yesterday, with food and water of course, I left them out all day. They seem to love it, dancing around, flapping their wings, flying a few feet, chest bumping and when they got tired, able to go back into the small kennel if they want to sleep or get spooked.
Am I doing okay? I do give them a little broken up meal worms as a treat and they love them, running to me and pecking them out of my hand, crawling all over my arm and hand. Any other treats I have slowly introduced they look at it like it is going to eat them, any helpful hints of what to do there so they will easily accept things?
Soon my husband and I are going to build a second coop for the babies when it is time to go outside. They will be fenced off from my 11 hens, who are older, and my older roo Chief, till they get bigger and I know that they will be easily accepted. It was a decision to get more hens when people started to realize that how I raise my chickens and treat them as well as how well they look and are taken care of, wanted to buy our eggs as they liked what they saw. Since my original flock is older, some hens are as old as 4 or 5, 3 are a year old, and then these 9 hens. I have a very eclectic mix.
Here is what they looked like the day I brought them home:
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv57/GreySorrel/d9614cf9.jpg
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv57/GreySorrel/64ddccc1.jpg
I am in love! They are so cute! They peep and 98% always seem content, there are a time or two they got scared or someone laid on someone else and a shrill peep was heard but for the most part, they seem happy, healthy and active. This is also my first time raising peeps without a mother hen. So, I do have a few questions.
I have the heat lamp up as high as it would go, they are nicely feathering out, still have some down on them and I have observed them laying in a nice line just on the outskirts of the light. They have always just laid down, their little wings spread a bit and their head slowly drops down, is this normal?
This is what they look like as of yesterday:
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv57/GreySorrel/07299fc4.jpg
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv57/GreySorrel/b7de070f.jpg
http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv57/GreySorrel/34be87a3.jpg
Our weather during the day has been very nice so during the day I put them in a small round pen with chicken wire over the top and at first only left them out for a few hours, slowly building up the time till yesterday, with food and water of course, I left them out all day. They seem to love it, dancing around, flapping their wings, flying a few feet, chest bumping and when they got tired, able to go back into the small kennel if they want to sleep or get spooked.
Am I doing okay? I do give them a little broken up meal worms as a treat and they love them, running to me and pecking them out of my hand, crawling all over my arm and hand. Any other treats I have slowly introduced they look at it like it is going to eat them, any helpful hints of what to do there so they will easily accept things?
Soon my husband and I are going to build a second coop for the babies when it is time to go outside. They will be fenced off from my 11 hens, who are older, and my older roo Chief, till they get bigger and I know that they will be easily accepted. It was a decision to get more hens when people started to realize that how I raise my chickens and treat them as well as how well they look and are taken care of, wanted to buy our eggs as they liked what they saw. Since my original flock is older, some hens are as old as 4 or 5, 3 are a year old, and then these 9 hens. I have a very eclectic mix.
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