Am I doing this right? 10 week old pullets

[Den in Penn]

Perfect set up for an ID photo.

 

[Zach123]

Stop worrying...NOW! Lol, just relax and have fun, thats whats its all about. I could just sit for hours, meybe even days, with these birds and its just makes everything slow down and calmer (when you have a generally stressed out personality like mine, man is it a nice break haha). Anyways... my first rule of chicken care is this: Take 99% of what you read, see, and hear as guideline, not a hard and fast rule that must be followed to a T.

BTW, you chick doesn't look sick to me at all, not even a little bit. I mean, unless its got snot running out of its nose or blood coming out of its you-know-where, its pretty difficult to say whether a bird is sick or not based soley on how its standing. So once again, and Im going to steal someones line here, let not your heart be troubled, I'm sure everything is just fine and is going to be just fine! So take a deep breath and enjoy!

One final note, the actual tail feathers are pretty slow to come in, they come in well after the hackle feathers (my 8-10 week old Brahmas haven't got much in the way of tail feathers yet either and they are definately a tailed breed, so meybe yours is a rumpless, or meybe its not. Hey, who knows, suprises happen all the time .

 

[Chris09]

It doesn't look sick to me but I am a newbie. What exactly makes you think it looks sick? Are there some signs that should be looked for that I am not seeing?

There are two things that make me think that something isn't right, one is how much it is hunched up and two is the half closed eyes.

Chris

 

[duckinnut]

There are two things that make me think that something isn't right, one is how much it is hunched up and two is the half closed eyes.

Chris

Agreed, head pulled back and puffed up and tail down, something is definitely going on there.

 

[carlye828]

Thanks Zach! I am thoroughly chilled now! I also use chicken entertainment to relax.

I found myself worried when I first brought them home because their poo looked too runny, I was worried about worms. Then I immediatley worried that they would infect my old girls. I figured that out, then I read something about crop impaction and I worried about that. Figured that out too. I was just suffering from New Mother Syndrome! Hahaha! I never did that with my real kids! HAHA!!!

I really checked them out yesterday. They are not rumpless. They do have tails, they only have a few fluffies on them though, no real feathers. This does give them the appearance of being tucked in, but they are not. It's just how they are. Also she's blinking because of the flash. I guess I could have posted a better picture, she really doesn't look cute in this on, huh? But I don't have a great one. Whenever I put them down and back up to take a photo, they run straight to me.

I am absolutely convinced that they are OK now. This is a lazy little chicken. She is perfectly content to fall asleep as soon as you sit down with her in your lap. My 3 year old was holding her yesterday, she was laying on her back and one of her legs had fallen down and was just hanging there. I swear she was snoring! She's not lethargic though. When she's done with her little nap, she starts chirping and running around, and she eats like a pig. She is also the fluffiest thing ever, that is how she got her name, Pom-Pom. A light breeze and her feathers blow all over the place.

Thanks everyone! I'm better now.........

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

I have to agree with Zach, the chick looks fine, to me it is saying, would you mind, I am trying to take a nap here. Eyes bright, feathers clean and shiny, no wrong there...green grass sunshine, food water and shelter they will be fine...

 

[lclough1998]

so how are the chicks doing? any new pictures?

 

[carlye828]

Thanks for asking! They are doing great! As I'm sure you know, chickens are not easy subjects in photography. They make you work hard for the money! Hahaha! We have managed to NOT get any decent shots of the 2 little ones, but I do have some almost decent ones I can share! They are just nothing but fluff! They really just look so ridiculous to me, even though they're cute. I see everyone else's look like real little chickens at this age & here I have these 2 little things. When they walk their feathers bounce. The kids blow on them because it looks like they're in a hurricane. One is actually named Pom-Pom.

 

[Den in Penn]

Still no tail. Does she have a short neck too? Or is it the feathers?

 

[carlye828]

Hahaha! I know. It's getting ridiculous. They do have tails that have these itty-bitty feathers on them that are just so overshadowed by those fluffy baby feathers! And yeah, they have plenty of neck too. I keep waiting for them to look like big girl chickens. I mean, they're huge! Or maybe, that's just the feathers too! Hahaha! But really, they are almost as tall as the big girls.