I love the name keepy-away! Our chicks definitely love that game!Your little fluffballs are looking great, @Ambera!
Chick raising Diary! 🐣 First time raising babies, with a first-time broody-mother (cute chick photos incoming!)
- Thread starter Ambera
- Start date
I love the name keepy-away! Our chicks definitely love that game!Your little fluffballs are looking great, @Ambera!
- Thread starter
- #42
Ambera
Chirping
Monday 2nd October 2023
Thank you all for the kind comments ^^ hope you enjoy more chick pics
One day I will keep up with updates and not leave it all til days later! Tues/Wed update after this post...
Sadly we got the worst news today. I was looking after Nugget's parents for my friend over the weekend, and on Monday afternoon they found Marcel (Nugget's father!) dead in the house! I put him to bed on Sunday evening and saw he wasn't looking 100% - he was drinking water rather than going to bed with his ladies, just looking tired. I had to herd him in, and then he roosted on the floor rather than a perch.... I didn't suspect anything though. Sadly Nugget is now a half-orphan... Though, it does mean if they turn out to be a cockerel, my friend will gladly take them back as Marcel 2.0!
The chicks are all doing well though! They are getting super playful, so I added some more sticks for them to balance on, perch on and run around!
I may have made a mistake of putting a stick across the whole run... as Lily put her foot on it whilst Nugget and Lilac were perching on it! They had to hold on for dear life as she shook and twisted it!!!
Look how tiny Popcorn looks next to the other two monsters! Still, Pop's wings are developing nicely and I'm not too worried. They still are a bit less active and gape a bit when drinking, but I think that may just be Popcorn quirks!
^ Cute face peeking at you from chick-jail. Lily needs her time out of the run these days as she gets bored and hungry, so she gets at least 10 min escapes like every good mum needs!!
Nugget Age: 13 days
Lilac & Popcorn Age: 16 days
Highest daytime temperature: 17c (62f)
Overnight lowest outside temperature tonight: 10c (50f)
Thank you all for the kind comments ^^ hope you enjoy more chick pics
One day I will keep up with updates and not leave it all til days later! Tues/Wed update after this post...
Sadly we got the worst news today. I was looking after Nugget's parents for my friend over the weekend, and on Monday afternoon they found Marcel (Nugget's father!) dead in the house! I put him to bed on Sunday evening and saw he wasn't looking 100% - he was drinking water rather than going to bed with his ladies, just looking tired. I had to herd him in, and then he roosted on the floor rather than a perch.... I didn't suspect anything though. Sadly Nugget is now a half-orphan... Though, it does mean if they turn out to be a cockerel, my friend will gladly take them back as Marcel 2.0!
The chicks are all doing well though! They are getting super playful, so I added some more sticks for them to balance on, perch on and run around!
I may have made a mistake of putting a stick across the whole run... as Lily put her foot on it whilst Nugget and Lilac were perching on it! They had to hold on for dear life as she shook and twisted it!!!
Look how tiny Popcorn looks next to the other two monsters! Still, Pop's wings are developing nicely and I'm not too worried. They still are a bit less active and gape a bit when drinking, but I think that may just be Popcorn quirks!
^ Cute face peeking at you from chick-jail. Lily needs her time out of the run these days as she gets bored and hungry, so she gets at least 10 min escapes like every good mum needs!!
Nugget Age: 13 days
Lilac & Popcorn Age: 16 days
Highest daytime temperature: 17c (62f)
Overnight lowest outside temperature tonight: 10c (50f)
- Thread starter
- #44
Ambera
Chirping
Tuesday 3rd October 2023
The chicks have learnt a new trick! Climbing on humans to beg for food
I wanted them to get more used to being handled, as at the moment they just get chased around by "The big scary hand" to get picked up! They cheep in fear and I feel bad... so I'm letting them come to me
That means tempting them with treats of corn though, which they love! I get them to eat the corn from my hand, then either they stand on my hand or I can gently scoop them up and offer another kernal, and they're happy! Nugget caught on TOO quickly and now comes flying at my lap if I open the gate and sit down! Lilac is pretty cautious, and Popcorn is always last to the food! Nugget is so persistant and such a character though, definetly the leader and the boldest!
Popcorn's wing feathers are looking nice and white now, and I saw they have a flash of black at the bottom of the wing - meaning the Columbian Pekin theory is looking very strong!
It was a nice sunny day, so they really enjoyed some sunbathing.
It was also weighing day!
Nugget Age: 14 days
Lilac & Popcorn Age: 17 days
Highest daytime temperature: 15c (59f)
Overnight lowest outside temperature tonight: 11c (51f)
The chicks have learnt a new trick! Climbing on humans to beg for food
I wanted them to get more used to being handled, as at the moment they just get chased around by "The big scary hand" to get picked up! They cheep in fear and I feel bad... so I'm letting them come to me
That means tempting them with treats of corn though, which they love! I get them to eat the corn from my hand, then either they stand on my hand or I can gently scoop them up and offer another kernal, and they're happy! Nugget caught on TOO quickly and now comes flying at my lap if I open the gate and sit down! Lilac is pretty cautious, and Popcorn is always last to the food! Nugget is so persistant and such a character though, definetly the leader and the boldest!
Popcorn's wing feathers are looking nice and white now, and I saw they have a flash of black at the bottom of the wing - meaning the Columbian Pekin theory is looking very strong!
It was a nice sunny day, so they really enjoyed some sunbathing.
It was also weighing day!
- Nugget: 92g (+10g)
- Lilac: 75g (+5g)
- Popcorn: 57g (+6g)
Nugget Age: 14 days
Lilac & Popcorn Age: 17 days
Highest daytime temperature: 15c (59f)
Overnight lowest outside temperature tonight: 11c (51f)
- Thread starter
- #45
Ambera
Chirping
Wednesday 4th October 2023
Human climbing is now their favourite game! Nugget will be on me in seconds if I let them! They all had a nice perch on my arm or legs today, and enjoyed a bit of corn!
Lilac and Nugget have good feather development now, with what I think are pin feathers appearing on their backs/above the wings? Still waiting for Popcorn's tail to sprout
Popcorn was kinda breathing heavily earlier, hope they're okay. They were just chilling on my arm, maybe sunbathing a bit? Or maybe a tad cold, as they all called for Lily to warm them up once they were back in the run! The other two were very active!
I'm tempted to try letting them out of the small run soon, and let them explore the larger run with Lily (supervised of course!). This would mean that they would meet Pepper, who I think would just be curious but not mean to them? I'm worried that they won't accept going back into the small run though afterwards, once they get used to FREEDOM. I can see Lily would like to get in the larger run, she is often pacing the fence and begging for food when she sees me....
I also think they're still small enough to escape the larger pen (it's just chicken wire, with gaps underneath it [where not weighed down with rocks] and gaps around the door... I would hate for them to get stuck on the wrong side of the fence and get stressed!
Nugget Age: 15 days
Lilac & Popcorn Age: 18 days
Highest daytime temperature: 15c (59f)
Overnight lowest outside temperature tonight: 11c (51f)
Human climbing is now their favourite game! Nugget will be on me in seconds if I let them! They all had a nice perch on my arm or legs today, and enjoyed a bit of corn!
Lilac and Nugget have good feather development now, with what I think are pin feathers appearing on their backs/above the wings? Still waiting for Popcorn's tail to sprout
Popcorn was kinda breathing heavily earlier, hope they're okay. They were just chilling on my arm, maybe sunbathing a bit? Or maybe a tad cold, as they all called for Lily to warm them up once they were back in the run! The other two were very active!
I'm tempted to try letting them out of the small run soon, and let them explore the larger run with Lily (supervised of course!). This would mean that they would meet Pepper, who I think would just be curious but not mean to them? I'm worried that they won't accept going back into the small run though afterwards, once they get used to FREEDOM. I can see Lily would like to get in the larger run, she is often pacing the fence and begging for food when she sees me....
I also think they're still small enough to escape the larger pen (it's just chicken wire, with gaps underneath it [where not weighed down with rocks] and gaps around the door... I would hate for them to get stuck on the wrong side of the fence and get stressed!
Nugget Age: 15 days
Lilac & Popcorn Age: 18 days
Highest daytime temperature: 15c (59f)
Overnight lowest outside temperature tonight: 11c (51f)
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Farmgirl283420
Crowing
- Feb 21, 2023
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looking as sweet as always I really love your updates! Hope they stay healthy and strongWednesday 4th October 2023
Human climbing is now their favourite game! Nugget will be on me in seconds if I let them! They all had a nice perch on my arm or legs today, and enjoyed a bit of corn!
View attachment 3652021View attachment 3652033
View attachment 3652025View attachment 3652026
View attachment 3652028View attachment 3652029
Lilac and Nugget have good feather development now, with what I think are pin feathers appearing on their backs/above the wings? Still waiting for Popcorn's tail to sprout
View attachment 3652030View attachment 3652024View attachment 3652031View attachment 3652035
Popcorn was kinda breathing heavily earlier, hope they're okay. They were just chilling on my arm, maybe sunbathing a bit? Or maybe a tad cold, as they all called for Lily to warm them up once they were back in the run! The other two were very active!
I'm tempted to try letting them out of the small run soon, and let them explore the larger run with Lily (supervised of course!). This would mean that they would meet Pepper, who I think would just be curious but not mean to them? I'm worried that they won't accept going back into the small run though afterwards, once they get used to FREEDOM. I can see Lily would like to get in the larger run, she is often pacing the fence and begging for food when she sees me....
I also think they're still small enough to escape the larger pen (it's just chicken wire, with gaps underneath it [where not weighed down with rocks] and gaps around the door... I would hate for them to get stuck on the wrong side of the fence and get stressed!
Nugget Age: 15 days
Lilac & Popcorn Age: 18 days
Highest daytime temperature: 15c (59f)
Overnight lowest outside temperature tonight: 11c (51f)
- Thread starter
- #47
Ambera
Chirping
Thursday 5th October 2023
Another weighing day!
Popcorn really hasn't put on much weight at all! I got the scrambled egg yolk out again today and fed them a bit, saving some for tomorrow. They love it! Popcorn went up from 61g to 63g after just a bit of yolkage!
They were all super active today, I literally couldn't keep eyes on them! They are all getting very friendly at coming up on my lap and running to my hand for food! They all had a bit of corn as a treat too, they definitely went to bed with full crops!
Nugget has quite taken to just sitting on my lap, praying silently for corn... the other two are content to sit too but they don't tend to invite themselves up as often as Nugget does!
Lily has been pulling out a lot of her feathers again, obviously still feeling broody! She was lining the nest with them before bed.
I've seen a few runny poops in the run, and with Popcorn's weird behaviour (slow growth, gaping after drinking, some heavy breathing, less active than the other two) I'm going to precautionarily treat them for Coccidiosis with the Harkers 3.84% Coxoid, I added about 6ml to their litre of water... better safe than sorry as everything I have read says there's no downsides to treating them even if healthy! They've all been on non-medicated feed and had no vaccines so I don't think this will harm. I'll try adding it to the water for 7 days and see if it helps.
Nugget Age: 16 days
Lilac & Popcorn Age: 19 days
Highest daytime temperature: 17c (62f)
Overnight lowest outside temperature tonight: 13c (55f)
Another weighing day!
- Nugget: 104g (+12g)
- Lilac: 86g (+11g)
- Popcorn: 61g (+4g)
Popcorn really hasn't put on much weight at all! I got the scrambled egg yolk out again today and fed them a bit, saving some for tomorrow. They love it! Popcorn went up from 61g to 63g after just a bit of yolkage!
They were all super active today, I literally couldn't keep eyes on them! They are all getting very friendly at coming up on my lap and running to my hand for food! They all had a bit of corn as a treat too, they definitely went to bed with full crops!
Nugget has quite taken to just sitting on my lap, praying silently for corn... the other two are content to sit too but they don't tend to invite themselves up as often as Nugget does!
Lily has been pulling out a lot of her feathers again, obviously still feeling broody! She was lining the nest with them before bed.
I've seen a few runny poops in the run, and with Popcorn's weird behaviour (slow growth, gaping after drinking, some heavy breathing, less active than the other two) I'm going to precautionarily treat them for Coccidiosis with the Harkers 3.84% Coxoid, I added about 6ml to their litre of water... better safe than sorry as everything I have read says there's no downsides to treating them even if healthy! They've all been on non-medicated feed and had no vaccines so I don't think this will harm. I'll try adding it to the water for 7 days and see if it helps.
Nugget Age: 16 days
Lilac & Popcorn Age: 19 days
Highest daytime temperature: 17c (62f)
Overnight lowest outside temperature tonight: 13c (55f)
Farmgirl283420
Crowing
- Feb 21, 2023
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So sweet! I remember when my chicks used to snuggle in my coat and perch on my arms! I miss when they were little even if they still snuggle!!!these are the three i was talking about as you can see the roosters were smaller then their sister
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Oh no! How sad
They are getting so big!
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