Baby chicks for our first time! Is that constant cheep a worry?

[Kiki]

Do chicks sleep all night like adult chickens? Or do they have periods of sleep and wake back and forth like human babies?

Chicks take cat naps all day and night.

 

[Celticdragonfly]

They had some awake time. I checked all 3 little fluffy butts. Terri ate chick starter in my hand. Little Terri keeps trying to get under Cera, sometimes Cera tries to get under Terri, which is ridiculous, and they both try to get under Steggie. Then the cats got into the room so the lid is securely back on. Our Siamese, Tybalt, is fascinated.

 

[ZooAtHome]

Then the cats got into the room so the lid is securely back on. Our Siamese, Tybalt, is fascinated.View attachment 1752430

You're braver than I am, lol. I haven't let my cats into the room with the chicks, thought they've certainly tried. The cats think this arrangement is totally unfair, btw, as they were raised in that room as babies (my studio doubles as my nursery) and consider it their own personal playground. I just know that if I let them see what is in there, I'll never get the little predators back out again. (The chicks are safe in their brooder, even if one of the cats slips past me.)

Maybe when the girls get a bit bigger, I'll let the kitties have a peek before I take the chickens out to their coop.

 

[Kiki]

How are the dinos?

Have you moved the brooder up higher yet or are you practicing yoga?

 

[Celticdragonfly]

How are the dinos?
Have you moved the brooder up higher yet or are you practicing yoga?

The dino babies continue to be adorable. No sign of pasty butt. They're eating and drinking.

Steggie has some poop stuck to chest feathers - we did the best we could to dampen it with a baby wipe and then have my daughter @Purple Rose pinch bits off it off with fingernails to get it off her. We didn't get all of it. She also has an interesting dark spot on her head, that just seems to be natural coloring.

Little Terri was actually going through the hoop around the mirror! The others seemed to be trying to imitate this but she's the only one we saw actually succeeding.

Last night I spent some time on the floor with them - and actually got back up by myself! But ow. @Purple Rose is young and flexible enough. I keep wondering if we could get away with setting the brooder up on the bed.

 

[Kiki]

@Purple Rose Your chicks are precious! Congrats.

 

[Celticdragonfly]

You're braver than I am, lol. I haven't let my cats into the room with the chicks, thought they've certainly tried.

I don't think there's any way they're getting into that brooder box. My husband Miles did a good job putting it together. And I'd like them to go ahead and be curious now, and then become jaded and blase about them. Tybalt loves to go outside, and @Purple Rose will take him out to the backyard sometimes - and if he can get used to the chickens that'd be easier, once they're big birds and out in the coop and run, and occasionally getting free range backyard time when @Purple Rose is with them.

 

[lilmillefleur]

Very cute! Terri looks to have feathered legs--maybe she's a cochin!
Good luck with your Dinos!

 

[Kiki]

Very cute! Terri looks to have feathered legs--maybe she's a cochin!
Good luck with your Dinos!

I think she is the Ideal 236 breed.

 

[Celticdragonfly]

Very cute! Terri looks to have feathered legs--maybe she's a cochin!
Good luck with your Dinos!

She does look to have feathered legs. But @Texas Kiki is right - she's supposed to be the Ideal 236. I haven't seen anything saying they have feathered legs. The feed supply store was a bit disorganized and had to check things and run around and bring us our birds one at a time - I hope we got the right ones.

I mean - she's ours now, bwahahaha. But I was going for three specific breeds - because I wanted chickens that were good layers, reasonably docile and easy to handle, able to do okay in Texas heat, and that looked different from each other and laid 3 different egg colors - so that for our first foray into this, we didn't have confusion over wait, which bird looks ill? Or wait, who stopped laying?