- Jun 27, 2014
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Hi everyone...finally signed on as a member to BYC since it seems like I've been on this site at least once a week (if not more) since I got my first chicks back in February of this year. I started out with 6 chicks that we got from some close friends, who have gorgeous chickens. Yes, we got them straight run...and wouldn't you know it...I ended up with 5 (yes, 5) of my 6 chicks being roos!!! So, after a month of slaving over a newly built coop...I had to rehome all but 1 of my roos and start practically from scratch. It was heartbreaking to give away the babies that I had hand raised for months. I tried finding individual homes for them but the only people that were responding to my craigslist posts were people who wanted all of them...which made me suspicious that they wanted to eat them or fight them.
So, the next best option was taking them to the local feed store...where they at least have a chance of being purchased to protect a flock. It still makes me feel a little sick to my stomach...needless to say, I don't think I'll be attempting to raise any chicks for meat!
So, after dealing with my roos (I kept one roo who has crooked toes because I was afraid he wouldn't find a home...and my daughter had handpicked him and named him Peepers), I was down to the aforementioned roo and one hen. Then, this last weekend, I went to the barn to feed my horses and goats and a chick comes running to meet me at the doors. Now, we have a "wild" hen that has taken roost on top of our hay stack...she has 14 eggs she's sitting on up there (about 10 ft off the ground). So, when this little one comes running to my feet, I figured it must be one of the "wild" hen's chicks. So, I set the chick up in the brooder...unsure if the hen will accept the baby back to her nest if I attempt to put it back in there. We named this tiny chick Valor...it was the most adorable and personable chick...peeping until I would stick my hand in the brooder and it would jump into it and promptly fall asleep. The kids and I decided that we needed to get the chick some company. After buying a couple of Ameraucana chicks at the feed store...which were only about 5 days old...the chick was much happier. The only problem was it was TINY...so I decided to attempt to lift the "wild" hen up and see if any of the other babies had hatched and if they looked the same. I'd never seen such a small chick but that isn't saying much since I'm new to raising chicks!
Low and behold...all her eggs were still there...unhatched. Yes, I'm an idiot...I googled birds that looked like baby chickens and discovered that I now had 2 Ameraucanas and 1 baby quail. So, after bonding with sweet Valor...we turned him over to the local medical center for birds...where they will attempt to rehabilitate him and release him. *sigh
The kids and I decided, after tearfully surrendering Valor, to go get 2 more chicks from the feed store. So, we have a mixed breed roo, and an Australorp hen, who are both almost 5 months old. Then we have our new chicks: 2 Ameraucanas, 1 Barred Rock, and 1 Buff Orpington. Then, the friends who gave us the original baby chicks (that turned out to all but one being a rooster)...brought us 3 2-month-old Buff Cochins yesterday. So, after a night in the coop with my remaining hen and rooster...all three of the Buff Cochin beauties were brutalized.
Now those 3 girls are in the smaller coop that I purchased while building the main coop. My luck (or ignorance) has been a great hurtle thus far! I feel so bad for my roosters and for my poor new girls! Hoping that I can make this all work out for these guys....feeling pretty down after seeing how badly the newest girls were pecked (all 3 lost most of the skin on the backs of their heads...very gruesome).
So...that is my long story. Hoping that I can avoid as many pitfalls as possible with the wisdom of those with so much more knowledge and experience on this site! Hopefully, as much for me as for my chickens, things will get better! (pics of my roos)
So, after dealing with my roos (I kept one roo who has crooked toes because I was afraid he wouldn't find a home...and my daughter had handpicked him and named him Peepers), I was down to the aforementioned roo and one hen. Then, this last weekend, I went to the barn to feed my horses and goats and a chick comes running to meet me at the doors. Now, we have a "wild" hen that has taken roost on top of our hay stack...she has 14 eggs she's sitting on up there (about 10 ft off the ground). So, when this little one comes running to my feet, I figured it must be one of the "wild" hen's chicks. So, I set the chick up in the brooder...unsure if the hen will accept the baby back to her nest if I attempt to put it back in there. We named this tiny chick Valor...it was the most adorable and personable chick...peeping until I would stick my hand in the brooder and it would jump into it and promptly fall asleep. The kids and I decided that we needed to get the chick some company. After buying a couple of Ameraucana chicks at the feed store...which were only about 5 days old...the chick was much happier. The only problem was it was TINY...so I decided to attempt to lift the "wild" hen up and see if any of the other babies had hatched and if they looked the same. I'd never seen such a small chick but that isn't saying much since I'm new to raising chicks!
The kids and I decided, after tearfully surrendering Valor, to go get 2 more chicks from the feed store. So, we have a mixed breed roo, and an Australorp hen, who are both almost 5 months old. Then we have our new chicks: 2 Ameraucanas, 1 Barred Rock, and 1 Buff Orpington. Then, the friends who gave us the original baby chicks (that turned out to all but one being a rooster)...brought us 3 2-month-old Buff Cochins yesterday. So, after a night in the coop with my remaining hen and rooster...all three of the Buff Cochin beauties were brutalized.
So...that is my long story. Hoping that I can avoid as many pitfalls as possible with the wisdom of those with so much more knowledge and experience on this site! Hopefully, as much for me as for my chickens, things will get better! (pics of my roos)
that's fun though that you got to interact with a quail baby, even if you didn't get to keep her.
and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about the problems you are having with your chickens, glad you were able to save the baby quail even if you couldn't keep it. 
