- Mar 15, 2013
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I've been wanting to start a thread about my chickens for some time now, and considering that I just received nine two-day old chicks last Wednesday, I thought it would be a perfect time for me to start on this so that you could follow these chicks with me as they grow and develop.
This is my second batch of chicks that I will have raised. Last year around March, was my first experience with chickens, and my outcome of that is now my current flock out in the coop, consisting of five hens and one rooster, but we'll get to them in good time. For now, this thread will be focused around my cute little chicks; I figured I'd better start it while they were young; before they become fuzzy, gangly dinosaurs on the brink of adulthood.
So, anyhow, my chicks! Here they are, the majority of them together. We keep them in our garage in a watering tank, which seems to be working from my experience.
Please keep in mind that I'm definitely no photographer.
I ordered these chicks from My Pet Chicken Hatchery, and I was very pleased with the results! They arrived two days after they shipped from Utah, with no DOA, and all of them appear to be very healthy and active. The three breeds I purchased this time were Salmon Faverolles, Silver-laced Cochins, and Olive Eggers, three of each chick. I'm very excited to see how they'll look when they mature! I've never had any of these breeds before.
Now, time to get to know the chickens a little more personally. I'm the only one in my family who can tell them apart, but every body in my family was allowed to name a few. And that's how we ended up with Bonquesha.
Bonquesha is a Salmon Faverolles, and she is a bundle of energy. She sprints around the brooder as fast as she can, and for no apparent reason. She detests being held; she squirms and shrieks; demanding that she be set down so that she can return to completing her laps; which is why I've been working on holding her more and more, in hopes that she'll get used to it and won't avoid human contact when she's older. All of these pictures were taken the day I got them, so she's only two days old in this picture.
Bonquesha was named by my teenage brother of course. We all enjoyed a good laugh when she was eating her crumbles and stuck her whole head into the opening of the feeder. I was very concerned she would get stuck with it like that, but after a few seconds she recoiled and went back to eating food like a regular chick.
Andromeda is easily recognized by her black beak. I believe she's an Olive Egger, and she's a very sweet chick. She's so far been the only chick to have pasty butt, and she even handled that horrible experience relatively well when I had to wipe her clean. Unlike Bonquesha, she is perfectly fine with being handled, and I believe she even enjoys it to as much of a degree as a hyper young chick can.
I can already tell that she's going to be beautiful when she's older. She's very easy to distinguish; not only by her black beak but because none of our other chicks look a bit like her. What I love about Olive Eggers; and Easter Eggers alike (which some of my original Flock consists of), is that its a mystery as to what she will look like when she's older.
Coriander is a Silver-laced Cochin. I've found my three Cochins to all be very easy-going and gentle already. I absolutely adore their furry legs, which while the Faverolles have them too, they aren't nearly as noticeable. Coriander is the odd one out of my three cochins, as the other two are almost identical, and I've had a very hard time telling them apart. Coriander is distinguishable by her light colored face, which the other cochins don't have.
Ivy is one of my twin Silver-laced Cochin. She's a very cute little chick, and loves being held, which makes things difficult for me. As much as I love her I don't really want the droppings suck on her leg fluff to rub off on me. Ivy is the smallest of the Cochins that I have, though I'm not certain at all that it will stay that way. Bonquesha is our littlest chick and I believe that Ivy is second to her.
Lily is a very dark colored Olive Egger. Though she'll do her best to avoid being held, she's very calm and still when I do hold her. She has been growing in her wings probably the quickest out of my chicks. By tomorrow, the chicks will be one week old, so they do look a bit different than they do in their two-day old pictures. Lily's wings are very feathered, and she's starting to have little feathers poke out of her tail as well!
Meringue is a friendly little Salmon Faverolles. Her personality is much different than her roommate Bonquesha. She's easy-going and calm. I tell my Faverolles apart by their heads, their the only breed that I had to mark to tell apart. With a non-toxic green sharpie, I marked the top of her head, though by now I would probably be able to tell her apart from the others just by their personality. They're all quite different!
Please ignore the Cochin being her leaving a mark on her picture. I'm sure little Olive; the cleverly named Olive Egger, would not appreciate her first impression to be seen next to... that. Olive was a more difficult chick to photograph. Though she would sit still for me; for some reason all of her photos would turn out fuzzy, which is why it resulted in this lovely photo. Don't be fooled though, Olive is a beauty! She's sweet, though she likes to hang around Bonquesha for some reason unknown to me.
Ophelia is a sweet fuzzy little Salmon Faverolles. She's the less spirited of her kind, and also the most fuzzy. I was a little worried about her when she first arrived as she wasn't so active as the other chicks were and spent most of her time by herself under the heat lamp. I believe she is doing much better now though, she's plump and healthy, and hangs out with the other chicks as well.
Last but not least is Ivy's twin, Willow! Willow, much like the other Cochins, is very gentle and calm. I'm still struggling to tell her and Ivy apart however, I hope that will become more clear as she ages. Willow was, ultimately the first chick that I fell in love with; as she was the first one that I picked up.
Thank you if you bothered to read through all of my ramblings! I apologize that this is so long. I promise it wont' be like this every time that I post, I just wanted to get the descriptions of each chick up, so that as we progress in this story, you may check back for a brief summary of each chick. Don't count on the pictures though, their appearances have already changed!
This is my second batch of chicks that I will have raised. Last year around March, was my first experience with chickens, and my outcome of that is now my current flock out in the coop, consisting of five hens and one rooster, but we'll get to them in good time. For now, this thread will be focused around my cute little chicks; I figured I'd better start it while they were young; before they become fuzzy, gangly dinosaurs on the brink of adulthood.
So, anyhow, my chicks! Here they are, the majority of them together. We keep them in our garage in a watering tank, which seems to be working from my experience.
Please keep in mind that I'm definitely no photographer.
I ordered these chicks from My Pet Chicken Hatchery, and I was very pleased with the results! They arrived two days after they shipped from Utah, with no DOA, and all of them appear to be very healthy and active. The three breeds I purchased this time were Salmon Faverolles, Silver-laced Cochins, and Olive Eggers, three of each chick. I'm very excited to see how they'll look when they mature! I've never had any of these breeds before.
Now, time to get to know the chickens a little more personally. I'm the only one in my family who can tell them apart, but every body in my family was allowed to name a few. And that's how we ended up with Bonquesha.
Bonquesha is a Salmon Faverolles, and she is a bundle of energy. She sprints around the brooder as fast as she can, and for no apparent reason. She detests being held; she squirms and shrieks; demanding that she be set down so that she can return to completing her laps; which is why I've been working on holding her more and more, in hopes that she'll get used to it and won't avoid human contact when she's older. All of these pictures were taken the day I got them, so she's only two days old in this picture.
Bonquesha was named by my teenage brother of course. We all enjoyed a good laugh when she was eating her crumbles and stuck her whole head into the opening of the feeder. I was very concerned she would get stuck with it like that, but after a few seconds she recoiled and went back to eating food like a regular chick.
Andromeda is easily recognized by her black beak. I believe she's an Olive Egger, and she's a very sweet chick. She's so far been the only chick to have pasty butt, and she even handled that horrible experience relatively well when I had to wipe her clean. Unlike Bonquesha, she is perfectly fine with being handled, and I believe she even enjoys it to as much of a degree as a hyper young chick can.
I can already tell that she's going to be beautiful when she's older. She's very easy to distinguish; not only by her black beak but because none of our other chicks look a bit like her. What I love about Olive Eggers; and Easter Eggers alike (which some of my original Flock consists of), is that its a mystery as to what she will look like when she's older.
Coriander is a Silver-laced Cochin. I've found my three Cochins to all be very easy-going and gentle already. I absolutely adore their furry legs, which while the Faverolles have them too, they aren't nearly as noticeable. Coriander is the odd one out of my three cochins, as the other two are almost identical, and I've had a very hard time telling them apart. Coriander is distinguishable by her light colored face, which the other cochins don't have.
Ivy is one of my twin Silver-laced Cochin. She's a very cute little chick, and loves being held, which makes things difficult for me. As much as I love her I don't really want the droppings suck on her leg fluff to rub off on me. Ivy is the smallest of the Cochins that I have, though I'm not certain at all that it will stay that way. Bonquesha is our littlest chick and I believe that Ivy is second to her.
Lily is a very dark colored Olive Egger. Though she'll do her best to avoid being held, she's very calm and still when I do hold her. She has been growing in her wings probably the quickest out of my chicks. By tomorrow, the chicks will be one week old, so they do look a bit different than they do in their two-day old pictures. Lily's wings are very feathered, and she's starting to have little feathers poke out of her tail as well!
Meringue is a friendly little Salmon Faverolles. Her personality is much different than her roommate Bonquesha. She's easy-going and calm. I tell my Faverolles apart by their heads, their the only breed that I had to mark to tell apart. With a non-toxic green sharpie, I marked the top of her head, though by now I would probably be able to tell her apart from the others just by their personality. They're all quite different!
Please ignore the Cochin being her leaving a mark on her picture. I'm sure little Olive; the cleverly named Olive Egger, would not appreciate her first impression to be seen next to... that. Olive was a more difficult chick to photograph. Though she would sit still for me; for some reason all of her photos would turn out fuzzy, which is why it resulted in this lovely photo. Don't be fooled though, Olive is a beauty! She's sweet, though she likes to hang around Bonquesha for some reason unknown to me.
Ophelia is a sweet fuzzy little Salmon Faverolles. She's the less spirited of her kind, and also the most fuzzy. I was a little worried about her when she first arrived as she wasn't so active as the other chicks were and spent most of her time by herself under the heat lamp. I believe she is doing much better now though, she's plump and healthy, and hangs out with the other chicks as well.
Last but not least is Ivy's twin, Willow! Willow, much like the other Cochins, is very gentle and calm. I'm still struggling to tell her and Ivy apart however, I hope that will become more clear as she ages. Willow was, ultimately the first chick that I fell in love with; as she was the first one that I picked up.
Thank you if you bothered to read through all of my ramblings! I apologize that this is so long. I promise it wont' be like this every time that I post, I just wanted to get the descriptions of each chick up, so that as we progress in this story, you may check back for a brief summary of each chick. Don't count on the pictures though, their appearances have already changed!
