6 Little Chicks in TN

[EllyHood]

If your chicks were raised by a hen, they'd be out scratching in the dirt around day 3, so that's alright timewise. Mine would also be eating (or trying to eat) kitchen scraps, so I don't see the other things you're talking about being a problem. I don't wet feed down at all, my birds always eat dry feed just fine.

Not familiar with the scoby, so can't really speak to that.

I can tell you your barred rock chick isn't a barred rock, it looks like maybe an Australorp. A barred rock chick would have a white spot in it's head, to indicate it is barred. Your bird looks to have a solid head and has more white on the underside than barred rocks. I also don't think the first chicks is an ee, it looks more like a Wyandotte.

Actually, looking back, the orpington may not be, either.....orps should have white legs and yours look pretty yellow. Sorry to be a negative nelly, you just might have way different breeds than you thought!

Crud. She also ordered Black Australorp so I very well could have grabbed one of them instead of the barred rock. I was looking at pictures on my phone trying to figure out which were which. I'll call her asap to get it switched. The Buff Orpington's wings are already a lot bigger than the rest of theirs and it's starting to look pretty different than the golden comet. The only yellow chicks she had were the Brahmas (this chick doesn't have feathers on its feet so it's not one of those), broilers (it's not big enough or yellow enough to be one of the cornish crosses), and the golden comets (it's getting more yellow and doesn't have any specific red markings like the one I know for sure is a comet does). I think I'm safe with that one, but It does seem like the "barred rock" is an Australorp.

 

[EllyHood]

Would it be ok to give them a SCOBY from my kombucha?
I'm not familiar with this but I googled kombucha and believe it's a tea-based drink? If so, and it has caffeine in it, then no. See the attached for a list of what chickens can and should not eat/drink. A little probiotics will be helpful (they have those small packets you can buy for a few dollars). This will spur good bacteria in their gut. You can also give them a splash of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) that is non-pasturaiszed and "with the mother" in their water. You can get this most places, even Walmart stocks it. ACV is reported to kill bad bacteria in their gut.

I know a lot of chicken keepers give their chickens scobys. The scoby itself is just a big chink of porbiotic bacteria and yeast and doesn't have any caffeine in it. Sadly, I've been having trouble finding ACV with the mother here. I'm going to start making my own when I find some local organic apples; probably next month.

I'll start catching them bugs! We have a ton of green leaf hoppers I'd love to be rid of. We don't use any chemicals (yes, water is a chemical, but you know what kind I'm referring to) in or around our home or on/in our pets.

 

[EllyHood]

The more I watch them, the more I'm convinced the EE is a silver laced wyandotte. So my barred rock is an australorp and my EE is a wyandotte. I have a couple options. I could

A) Keep the chicks I have and just deal with not having the ones I wanted.

B) Return the 2 incorrect ones and swap them for the correct ones. The gal still has 2 barred rock chicks so that switch wouldn't be a problem, but the EE went to her friend's house so she'd have to get it from her and then get it to me. I'm worried about coccidia with all this switching back and forth and I wouldn't get to pick the EE I want so who knows what color or condition it would be. :/

C) Return the australorp to my friend and get an EE from the feed store. I didn't want feed store chicks because I didn't want ones that were stressed out from being excessively child handled. This option would at least get me an EE and I'd have a laced instead of a barred.

I would love to just keep the ones I have AND get a barred rock and an EE, but my coup really is only big enough for 6 chickens and I'm in the city and we can only keep 6. What would you do?

Also, the buff orpington's wings have significantly larger/longer feathers than the rest of the chicks. Is that an indication of gender?

 

[mattsinger]

hard to say ....I'd go for the Barred Rock. I got my first two this year...they are great birds. My EEs dont have the best attitudes..so I dont think I'll try them again.

 

[GuppyTJ]

I have 4 Barred Rocks and 3 Black Australorps. I like both breeds very much but really love the Barred Rocks because they're more gregarious and friendly, all 4 of them. I picked a Barred Rock to be my rooster and I had several other breeds to choose from. Also, my lead hen is a Barred Rock. They're funny chickens. My husband thinks the lead hen Barred Rock acts more like a puppy than a chicken!

On the other hand, my 3 Black Australorps are all very sweet, much more shy and less assertive. They are lower in rank in the pecking order with the other chickens and just more shy of me even. They are very sweet birds.

I raised 2 of the Barred Rocks and 2 of the Australorps from week old chicks. I acquired 2 more Barred Rocks and 1 more Australorp at 8 weeks old from a local hatchery. But regardless of which group they came from (raised from chicks or 8 weeks old), these personality traits are the same within the breed. Who knows if it's their individual personalities or the breed. But it's very clearly different between these 2 breeds in my little handful of chickens.

So, if I were you... I'd just add a Barred Rock and go with 7. The reason is... illness or a predator could take one somewhere along the way anyway. As hard as it is, it happens. I would not swap out the Black Australorp for a Barred Rock or the Wyandotte for an EE at this point. I just wouldn't. Also, if I had to pick between an EE and a Wyandotte, I'd take the Wyandotte anyway but that's just my personal opinion!

Good luck! Cute bunch you have!
Guppy

 

[EllyHood]

I've decided to switch the black Australorp for the Barred Rock and the Silver Laced Wyandotte for the Americauna. Hopefully that trade can take place tonight.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share some pictures of each chick to show how much they've grown. Their little wings are starting to come in and they spend their day stretching and taking practice hops.

Lucy the Buff Orpington:​

​

Gertrude the Golden Comet:​

​

Scarlett the Rhode Island Red:​

​

Ethel the Golden Laced Wyandotte:​

​

Black Australorp:​

​

Silver Laced Wyandotte:​

​

 

[EllyHood]

This morning I swapped the Black Australorp and Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks for my Barred Rock and Araucana/Ameraucana (aka Easter Egger). They had been in a flock with 22 other chicks and were a little worse for the wear, but they're perking up. Despite being a bit dusty, having some matted feathers from getting wet somehow, and the Easter Egger having some sores on its feet, possibly from damp bedding or a wire brooder floor, they're integrating with the others well and are eating and drinking. I was a bit worried about the Easter Egger since it was getting pushed around a some but it seems the others have accepted it into the group now. I'll be keeping a close eye on her to make sure her feet heal and that she doesn't get bullied too much.

So far I am very happy with the decisions I've made as to how I'm raising my chicks. They are VERY active and healthy. From day 2 they've had granulated garlic and dried oregano in their food. It not only helps with intestinal parasites, it makes the brooder smell a lot more pleasant. They got 1-2 drops of molasses in their water the first day I had them and now they get a splash of apple cider vinegar every few water changes. If the 2 chicks I got today seem a little lethargic tomorrow, I'll be giving them some molasses water to help them perk up. I gave them all a scoby from my kombucha on Tuesday, but they didn't seem interested even though I sprinkled some of their feed on it. I'll have to offer it to them again when they're older to see if their tastes have changed. They're about 1 week old and I finally switched their littler from puppy wee-wee pads to pine shavings. We'll see tomorrow how well they're doing with the change.

Scarlett the Rhode Island Red:

​

Lucy the Buff Orpington:​

​

​

Gertrude the Golden Comet:​

​

Ethel the Golden Laced Wyandotte:​

​

Betty the Barred Rock:​

​

Mable the Easter Egger:​

​

You can see that the new girls are a little matted and dusty. Neither of them really opened up their wings all the way for me like the other girls do. I'm hoping that after some stretching and R&R they'll be more perky.

Here are all the girls playing together in their clean brooder:​

​

These are the sores on the EE's feet. I don't think it's bumblefoot since she hasn't been outside as far as I know. The box she and the Barred Rock were given to me in had dirty (DARK BROWN AND WET) straw and packing peanuts (IDK what the thought behind that was....) in it. I'm hoping the apple cider vinegar in the water and the garlic and oregano in the food help her heal from the inside.

 

[old1953]

Could soak the feet in a bit of epson salt water. Don't let her drink it!

 

[jdoane]

I hope the little ones improve under your diligent care. Sounds like they were in a rough spot.

 

[YvonneM]

From the pictures I have to say, the moment I saw the "EE" baby pic I thought "This looks EXACTLY like my silver laced wyandotte". My EE or Americauna looks totally different, pretty yellow.