Against the odds hatching thread (with pictures and questions)

[K0k0shka]

Looks like a great run for them , can't believe how big they've gotten .

Yeah, they look like actual birds now. No more balls of fluff

 

[K0k0shka]

The chicks are starting to use one of the tall roosts (as an extension of their old favorite, the top edge of the brooder). Also, for the first time ever, they’ve started sleeping with their head under a wing. My babies are not babies anymore!

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Ooh, would you mind sharing any photos of yours? Especially if you have any photos around the age mine are now - 4 months - just so I can see what the pullets look like. I'm very confused by the lack of sexing information too, especially because this one seems like it would be so easy, with the gender-specific feather pattern. I'll let you know what the breeder says. Her Barnevelders have gorgeous double lacing - very high-contrast and well defined. I was surprised to see my chicks show so much lacing so early on, as most chick pictures of Barnevelders I've seen don't have a lot of lacing definition or coverage when this young. I guess she must be selecting for good lacing. Here's what her adults look like:
View attachment 2146088
The hen on the left in the front looks like she may even have triple lacing on her tail!


Yeah, she's totally unreasonable, which is the most frustrating part. She doesn't object because of any particular problem she has with the chickens (she hasn't even seen any chickens yet). She "just wants it all gone". That's it. Just get rid of it. The level of entitlement is just unbelievable. When you choose to buy a house in a thickly settled neighborhood, you are accepting the fact that you have to look at neighbors and their stuff, and that you can't control what they have in their yards. If it's not illegal, you just can't control it, I'm sorry. Ugh. Fence is going up soon.


I'm lucky to be able to work from home, so my company is in no rush to go back to the office. MA isn't doing so well infection-wise so there's no rush to reopen over here, and I won't be leaving the house for a good long while. My husband has a compromised immune system because of a chronic condition, and we can't risk him getting sick. Are you going back out over there?

This lockdown has had its benefits though. We're home all day to enjoy the chickens and go visit them whenever we want!

I'll get some pictures of the Barnevelder I have. I didn't see pictures of her flock but I suspect they're hatchery quality. Nothing like the amazing flock your came from. They're stunning!

I'm glad they enjoyed their romp outside. I bet they loved every second of it.

 

[K0k0shka]

The chicks are really enjoying their little piece of woods (while it lasts).

We had some learning progress today: on day 3 of going outside, one of them came out through the pop door and down the ramp on its own (but I had to help the rest of them), and in the evening, when I called them from inside the pop door, they all came running again, but only one walked up the ramp and came inside - I had to help the rest. Most of them are walking the last foot or so of the ramp though, and going in on their own. I just need to scoot their butts up for most of it. I can't tell if it's because they don't know how to get in, can't manage it physically for some reason (new surface), or they just plain don't want to leave their new playground I put them back in a little before sundown, when I have to head inside for dinner, because my run isn't 100% secure yet and I don't want to leave them unattended.

 

[K0k0shka]

I'll get some pictures of the Barnevelder I have. I didn't see pictures of her flock but I suspect they're hatchery quality. Nothing like the amazing flock your came from. They're stunning!

I'm glad they enjoyed their romp outside. I bet they loved every second of it.

Thanks! I want to see her mostly to see what a confirmed female looks like, as I'm still trying to guess what mine are. There's one of the Barnevelders that I'm quite sure is a boy (the one in the third picture from the grassy sequence above), but the other three I'm really not sure about...

 

[K0k0shka]

Question: when should I take the heating caves away? Some of the chicks sleep just outside the caves at night, huddled together by the entrance, but some still go under. It drops down to the 40’s at night. All but one are fully feathered. And that one is mostly feathered, with pin feathers and some skin showing on his back and top of the wings:

They may not all be going under because they’re outgrowing the height of the plate... Should I raise it?

 

[aart]

They may not all be going under because they’re outgrowing the height of the plate... Should I raise it?

Do they act cold...distress peeping and/or piling?
I guess better to raise it than have them pile.

Your ramp looks pretty good, nice low angle.....they're just 'chicken'.

 

[K0k0shka]

Your ramp looks pretty good, nice low angle.....they're just 'chicken'.

Here's a better picture of the ramp (disregard the unfinished faux ivy screen... I'll extend it all the way down to the ground to hide the a-hole neighbors until the new privacy fence goes up). It's a really easy slope. I'll give it more slats for better traction. Things went better today though - after I opened the pop door and called them out, about half of the chicks came out on their own! Progress. The first one out was the first one to figure everything new out - the crowd favorite, the former screamer - smallest, yet bravest and friendliest. It was also the first and only one to come back inside after I called them back in from inside the coop. It came in right away and came up to me to say hi It's looking more and more like a boy and we're all heartbroken.

Some of the chicks were so completely stumped by the ramp that they preferred to fly 6 feet straight out of the pop hole and into my face instead of even attempting to walk down

Do they act cold...distress peeping and/or piling?
I guess better to raise it than have them pile.

I can't really tell if they're piling or just huddling, but they're quiet - no distress calls or peeps of any kind. I don't have a picture from previous nights, just one from tonight but it was in the 80s all day, and still about 70 right now, so all of them are out from under the heater. But that's what they looked like on the 40s nights as well, only half of them were out instead of all of them:

I didn't raise it today because it was so hot, and expected to stay in the high 60s overnight. More 40s nights coming, though, so I might raise it tomorrow...

 

[em_dawson]

Yeah, that one definitely looks like a boy to me.

 

[em_dawson]

There's a white one that looks like a boy too. I saw a couple questionable ones in the pics but I can't say anything for sure.