A Flock of Tiny Toothless Theropods - Pictures and Stories

Demonwolf37

Songster
6 Years
May 21, 2016
144
359
206
Wisconsin
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.

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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,

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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.

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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...
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Is that not the cutest possible thing? If you moved her to be with the others, she'd move right back up here.

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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.

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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.

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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.
 
So cute!!! They are super adorable! Hope raising them is healing for you all.

I made a 1/2" hardware cloth lid for my large plastic tub by bending the edges of the hardware cloth down over the top of the bin and securing the hardware cloth to wooden stakes with zip ties. Also stacking firewood on top of the hardware cloth for weight. You can use aluminum foil as masking to help keep the heat off the firewood if the lamp hangs close to that. Anchor well if there's any possibility of a breeze. Good luck!!!
 
So assuming they were about a week old when I picked them up (and anyone feel free to correct me if you have a better estimate), then the babies should have turned 4 weeks old today (or yesterday, since its after midnight, whoops).

Thinking about moving them into the coop for acclimation next week, so they can get used to Slurpee and be ready for release into the coop and run proper at 6 weeks. Heat certainly isn't an issue, since with the weather I've had the heat lamp off for the past two weeks. It's bewn WARM here, and other than huddling up at night, they haven't seemed distressed without it. If anything, its probably been too warm.
(Seven of Nine actually scared me half to death when I came to check on them after bringing them into the house on the hottest day where it was nearly 110 outsode and not much better inside. The rest of tbe chicks were curled up on one side of the brooder, but SHE was FACE DOWN on the other side with her wings spread. I really thought she had overheated and died. Perfectly fine though, and it was not the only time I've seen her sleeping in weird positions.)

Anyway, without further ado,

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Here we have Riker, who is by far the largest of the bunch. I have some rooster suspicions, but am bad at guessing, so feel free to leave input on either him or Janeway. He's a curious chick, but doesn't really like being picked up. He's okay with being petted though. He has a funky behavior where when he sees hands, he immediately shoves his face in between the fingers like he's expecting food. I have not given them any treats yet, so I'm not sure why he does this to be honest. It's pretty cute though.

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Janeway. Not nearly as cuddly as they used to be - although to be fair, we haven't been handling them as much as we should. Janeway accepts pets, and tolerates handling a bit. Unsure on sex, their comb is getting a bit more red than the others, but nothing crazy here.

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Uhura. Kind of shy. Doesn't like pets very much, but tolerates a bit of handling. She likes to hang out with the group. Still super cute.

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Seven of Nine. Regretting not naming her Data just a bit. Or Odo. Very quirky little chick. Also not fond of pets, but accepts them with a few chirps of annoyance. Caught her sleeping with her toes, chest, AND face touching the corner of the brooder tub. Very bizzare to see. All of the chicks often sleep in a "Chicken Cube" in one of the corners - so perhaps the Borg name is fitting after all. Due to the insane heat wave the last week, I've brought them in from the patio which is unairconditioned, and set them up on the bed for a bit. Oftentimes they'll all sleep in the corner closest to us. Which is cute, but doesn't really justify having chickens IN bed with you. There's just no room on the floor at the moment. Poor planning on my part, there's some remodeling going on in the house right now.

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And finally, Jadzia Dax. Very friendly and the smallest by far of the bunch. Should be easy to tell her apart from Riker even if they wind up looking similar. The rest of them are about the same size, but Riker is huge and Jadzia is tiny. She doesn't come running up for pets or anything, but she tolerates pets and handling better than the rest.

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So there's our lot. They'll hopefully be keeping Slurpee company soon. I plan on sectioning off a corner of the coop for them and letting them get used to each other for a week before letting them mingle. Depending on how they get along, they may be separated at night for another week after that. I worry more about them picking on Slurpee than the other way around, so I'm not sure how to best avoid that. Normally the existing flock picks on the young ones, but in this case the "existing flock" is just one hen...
 
The babies are out in the coop today 😭.

My current coop is not really designed with an integration chamber, so I've essentially just moved the brooder into the coop. They definitely need more space, but this is the best I've got for now.

Slurpee heard them chirping and seemed bewildered by the sudden appearance of new birds. Not at all interested in meeting them through the fence though, she kept her distance while I had the chicks in sight of the run.

Seven of Nine however seemed interested in meeting Slurpee, and quickly reminded me that young birds can slip through the "garden fencing" (no idea what it's actually called, the big rectangle fencing) that I have on that side of the coop. Luckily I caught her before she slipped all the way through and I'd have had to catch her.

I forgot to actually take any pictures of the chicks other than these few of Janeway perched very nicely on my arm while I petted them.
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The run is now completely overgrown with grass and weeds. When it was first built it was a section of mowed lawn. The Ice Cream chicks DESTROYED any vegetation within the confines of the run (and whatever they could reach outside it as well).

The fact that it's this overgrown is honestly fine by me. Slurpee at least seems to love foraging for bugs and whatever else she spies with those big eyes of hers. I'm sure it'll cut back down once the Trek chicks are out there eating grass and weeds, but I'm hoping it retains some ground cover. The grasses and weeds cover up the fenced floor of the run - which while the run was barren, looked uncomfortable on the birds feet.
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I got a new phone recently, and used the Poultry Eye Photo contest as an excuse to test out the new camera. The regular settings are far superior to my previous phone, but aren't as astounding as the ultra high definition photos which will quickly eat all of my memory if I take too many.
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As promised, a full update and pictures of all the babies.

So to start with, the chicks have not wanted to stay in the coop the past few nights, and had to be coralled back in at night. Obviously not ideal, so they are locked in the coop for the next week while they start to learn that it's hone now.

Slurpee will be let out in the morning and let in at night, but the babies will be locked in.

They do seem to be getting along though. They seem curious about each other, and the chicks want to be near Slurpee. She mostly just gives them curious looks from what I've observed.

I'm still suspicious about Riker and Janeway being cockerels. Riker is of course huge, and he's starting to develop his wattle a libefore the others. Nothing for sure in my eyes but something I'm keeping my eyes on. Janeway has some suspiciously pointy tail feathers, but they're still a little young for that to be a sign.

So here's Riker at 6 weeks now:
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You can kind of see that they're STARTING to get some wattles in.

And here's Janeway:
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With those slightly suspicious tail feathers, and more reddish comb.

Uhura, who absolutely would not sit still for a photo:
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I believe Riker, Seven of Nine, and Jadzia are peering through the fence at Slurpee (I took them OUT out for the pictures, so they're all peering in at her).

Seven of Nine, who is certainly very chicken like already:
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She's being photobombed by Janeway here.

And Jadzia Dax, who is still noticeably smaller than the others:
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She's meant to be a Buckeye, but she was also in a bin with mixed bantam, so maybe she's actually a bantam. She looks like a Buckeye though, as far as I can tell. So maybe she's just a slow grower.

No pictures of Slurpee today (at least not with her as the subject. She's in the background of a number of shots though.

I also fid this little cheat-sheet for my grandmother, so she has an easier time remembering and telling the chickens apart.
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I'm sure they'll look a little different as they get older, but for now I'll help her keep them straight in her head.
(I'll do some more serious art of them later too. I just find the chibi chickens easy and fast to draw, so she has something to reference.)

I'll likely have another update next week, and hopefully I'll be a little more sure on the sex of Janeway and Riker by then.
 
So upon further review and looking at wynadottes at similar ages, I believe Janeway is a cockerel.

Still no idea on Riker, but now I'm really hoping they're a pullet.

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