Another newbie...

Hello all,

We've just joined the fine ranks of "what have we gotten ourselves into?" Our order of chicks from MM arrived Monday.

Things going well:

I quickly gave up on our coffin-sized cardboard box in favor of just using our bathtub, with a screen cover and all the usual supplies. The bathroom is a small enough room we can keep it pretty warm, and the heat lamp makes one end of the tub toastier still. Everyone looks pretty comfy.

Lots of pasty butts, but I found a good solution. I fill a tiny cup (like a 2-TBS medicine dose cup) with warm water and hold the little guy with his butt soaking in it. Securely cupped, they sit quite comfortably on the "birdy bidet" (often dozing off), and after a few minutes, the muck is nicely softened.

Things going not so well:

We've had three losses -- one about an hour after arrival, one dead the next morning, and one the following afternoon. That guy was perky enough, but never ate. We tanked him up on sugar water all we could, but he'd just stare at the food, even when I made a wet mash of it and nearly forced it on him. My kids broke the "don't name it until we're sure it's staying around rule" by dubbing this poor guy Ghandi. I suspect he had a congenital disgestion problem of some sort, but that was little comfort to the sobbing children.

Problem two, basic identification. I ordered the 25 bird minimum, aiming for 15 meat and 10 egg, approx -- 5 White Rocks, 10 Dark Cornish, 6 Araucana, 1 Buttercup, 1 Egyptian Fayoumis, 2 Cuckoo Maran, and the freebie rare. I quickly recognized the Cuckoo's (though they're straight run and we can't keep any roosters, so it's still wait and see on them), the Rocks, and the Egyptian (as much by personality as by markings -- what a character!). But the rest... And it would be good to figure this out asap, since we're trying to aim the kids' bonding towards the keeper hens.

I'll post pix as soon as I can, for help with identification.

Things to look forward to:
Making a pen in the yard. Making a coop. Culling the males.

But in the mean time, they are so adorable...

Bhadrika