In my defense, I was PLANNING on waiting until Monday to get the chicks.
I clearly did not, but listen, they're very cute.
So after a bit of tragedy, Slurpee was left as my only chicken remaining, and she obviously can't be left all on her lonesome. So I went to the TSC, scouted out what chicks they had, and planned to pick them up Monday. And then after work today I got too excited and picked up 5 right away.
I got 5 different breeds this time, so that they're easier to tell apart and my grandma will (hopefully) be able to remember their names.
My only rule for naming them this time was that they can't be named after food. It didn't feel appropriate all things considered. So after some back and forth, we decided on a naming scheme for this batch of chicks. So allow me to introduce you to,
Riker, the Rhode Island Red. Unsexed, so they could turn out to be a rooster. My boyfriend picked them out from the crowd because they stole a pice of bedding that another chick was interested in, and he found that funny. Riker has these interesting light wings that the others didn't have, which also helped in picking this chick.
Janeway, the Golden Laced Wyandotte. Also unsexed and a potential rooster (really hoping I either get 0 or 1, not 2). Janeway likes people. While I was fighting with the extension cords for the heater, my partner kept all of the chicks under his shirt to keep them extra warm and cozy. All of them curled up on his belly except for Janeway. Where was Janeway curled up consistently? Well...
Is that not the cutest possible thing? If you moved her to be with the others, she'd move right back up here.
Uhura the Australorp. She's got a yellow/white underbelly and face with white wingtips. The person grabbing the chicks picked this one from my request of "whichever flees last when you reach your hand in". She still fled, but the staff member thought she seemed calmer than the others, so that's who we got.
Seven of Nine, the "Smokey Pearl". One of TSC's new breeds I guess. The person who picked these up for us said that she had a few at home and they were very friendly, so that's cool. Otherwise I can't find much about them. I realized after the fact that perhaps "7 of 9" might be an unlucky name, considering that 7 out of 9 of my last chickens were killed. But I'm too stubborn to change it, so wish her luck in surviving. I'd hate for her to actually be cursed because of that. She's got a gunky butt right now, which I cleaned up a tiny bit, but it's not so bad that it's pasted up her vent or anything.
And finally, Jadzia Dax, the Buckeye. Chosen because while the other chicks fled at the sight of a hand, she stuck around and didn't flee until after the hand started reaching for her.
(And yes, they are all posing on a can of chunk chicken breast. Listen, it was either that or a can of cat food, and this seemed less awful somehow.)
The brooder is still dirty from last time since I wasn't expecting to be browsing anymore chicks this year (and despite what my resume says, I am NOT a "clean as you go" type person), so these guys are stuck with the plastic tote for now. After the dusty experience of last time, and since it's now summer, they will be staying on the porch instead of my bedroom until they're ready for the coop. The porch is directly next to my bedroom anyway, but hopefully this will prevent the dust explosion of last time. I'm reasonably sure raccoons won't be a problem here, but I'm also positive that squirrels can get into the porch, so I'm thinking I'll duct tape the window screen to the top of the bin for safety. Currently there's 30lbs of cat litter sitting on the bin lid (which covers half of the bin), but I no longer doubt the abilities of determined predators.
The porch also gets a fair amount of sun, so while they're still little I've put in an empty soda case in there so they can hide away if the sun is hitting them. Or if they want to cool off and escape the heat lamp a bit better.
I'll update this as they get bigger and we handle them more and more. But for now that's it. Itty bitty babies.
I clearly did not, but listen, they're very cute.
So after a bit of tragedy, Slurpee was left as my only chicken remaining, and she obviously can't be left all on her lonesome. So I went to the TSC, scouted out what chicks they had, and planned to pick them up Monday. And then after work today I got too excited and picked up 5 right away.
I got 5 different breeds this time, so that they're easier to tell apart and my grandma will (hopefully) be able to remember their names.
My only rule for naming them this time was that they can't be named after food. It didn't feel appropriate all things considered. So after some back and forth, we decided on a naming scheme for this batch of chicks. So allow me to introduce you to,
Riker, the Rhode Island Red. Unsexed, so they could turn out to be a rooster. My boyfriend picked them out from the crowd because they stole a pice of bedding that another chick was interested in, and he found that funny. Riker has these interesting light wings that the others didn't have, which also helped in picking this chick.
Janeway, the Golden Laced Wyandotte. Also unsexed and a potential rooster (really hoping I either get 0 or 1, not 2). Janeway likes people. While I was fighting with the extension cords for the heater, my partner kept all of the chicks under his shirt to keep them extra warm and cozy. All of them curled up on his belly except for Janeway. Where was Janeway curled up consistently? Well...
Is that not the cutest possible thing? If you moved her to be with the others, she'd move right back up here.
Uhura the Australorp. She's got a yellow/white underbelly and face with white wingtips. The person grabbing the chicks picked this one from my request of "whichever flees last when you reach your hand in". She still fled, but the staff member thought she seemed calmer than the others, so that's who we got.
Seven of Nine, the "Smokey Pearl". One of TSC's new breeds I guess. The person who picked these up for us said that she had a few at home and they were very friendly, so that's cool. Otherwise I can't find much about them. I realized after the fact that perhaps "7 of 9" might be an unlucky name, considering that 7 out of 9 of my last chickens were killed. But I'm too stubborn to change it, so wish her luck in surviving. I'd hate for her to actually be cursed because of that. She's got a gunky butt right now, which I cleaned up a tiny bit, but it's not so bad that it's pasted up her vent or anything.
And finally, Jadzia Dax, the Buckeye. Chosen because while the other chicks fled at the sight of a hand, she stuck around and didn't flee until after the hand started reaching for her.
(And yes, they are all posing on a can of chunk chicken breast. Listen, it was either that or a can of cat food, and this seemed less awful somehow.)
The brooder is still dirty from last time since I wasn't expecting to be browsing anymore chicks this year (and despite what my resume says, I am NOT a "clean as you go" type person), so these guys are stuck with the plastic tote for now. After the dusty experience of last time, and since it's now summer, they will be staying on the porch instead of my bedroom until they're ready for the coop. The porch is directly next to my bedroom anyway, but hopefully this will prevent the dust explosion of last time. I'm reasonably sure raccoons won't be a problem here, but I'm also positive that squirrels can get into the porch, so I'm thinking I'll duct tape the window screen to the top of the bin for safety. Currently there's 30lbs of cat litter sitting on the bin lid (which covers half of the bin), but I no longer doubt the abilities of determined predators.
The porch also gets a fair amount of sun, so while they're still little I've put in an empty soda case in there so they can hide away if the sun is hitting them. Or if they want to cool off and escape the heat lamp a bit better.
I'll update this as they get bigger and we handle them more and more. But for now that's it. Itty bitty babies.