bpayne1973
Chirping
Hello all,
I am new here and wanted to introduce myself. I live in the Florida Panhandle as of 1.24.2022. Decided it was time for a change. So I bought a house and moved to Florida.
My daughter works at a TSC an hour from where I live and started asking if I was interested in getting chickens. I had thought about it in the past but didn't own a home then so decided against it. Then on 3.2.2022 my daughter called to tell me they had new chick arrivals. I made the hour drive to the TSC where she works and left with 4 speckled Sussex chicks and quite a bit less money than when I got there
I quickly learned about chicken math, and after much research decided that I wanted silver laced and blue laced red Wyandottes. I decided I wanted to try hatching a couple eggs, so on 3.10.2022 I ordered 1 of each thinking I didn't want to get too many too soon. They sent me an extra egg of each for a total of 4.
Then on 3.16.2022 my daughter called again and told me they had silver laced Wyandottes. Needless to say I was on the road within 10 minutes heading that way. I didn't expect that I would be able to successfully hatch the eggs since I literally had no idea what I was doing so I figured at least this way I would have some silver laced Wyandottes.
To my surprise, 3 of the 4 eggs were fertile! They had saddled and detached air sacs but otherwise were good. I read all I could about the air sacs and figured all I could do was give it a shot but didn't expect that they would make it to hatch. On 4.6.2022 at about 10pm my first chick hatched and then by 4.7.2022 at 1am the other 2 hatched as well. The last one was still attached to the cord and egg and there was more blood in the shell than the others. I panicked thinking it hatched too soon and it wasn't going to make it. I placed the chick back into the shell as far as I could being extra careful and placed a rolled washrag around the chick and egg and placed it in a very small area so that it couldn't kick the shell off. Then I was off to research what I should do. Unfortunately I didn't find much information (probably because I was frantically searching for answers). After about 20 minutes of internet searching I checked the cord and it was drying so I figured we were in the clear. I waited until the cord had shriveled to almost nothing and then snipped it as close to the chick as I could. The chick was sleepier than the other 2 but I figured that was not a bad thing. Later that day I noticed this particular chick didn't seem to be progressing as well as the others. It wasn't standing often and when it did it was only for a few seconds and then it would lay back down. I thought perhaps its legs were just too weak so I decided I would do what I could to help it. I took the baby out of the brooder and began some baby chicken physical therapy.
Yes, I am that ridiculous! I started to do some passive range of motion with the legs-pushing the leg gently up toward the abdomen and then straightening. I did several repetitions on each leg and then let the baby rest. Then in about 30 minutes I went back in and took the baby out of the brooder and would stand it up and hold my fingers under it to support its weight and would have it stand for a few seconds, let it rest a few seconds and then let it rest again. Did several repetitions of this and then left the baby to rest again. I went back an hour later and decided to see if the strength was looking any better. It was better, but the baby was still super wobbly so I decided to try one more thing. I took the baby out of the brooder again and placed it on the floor of my bedroom (away from my dog and 2 cats) and sat on the floor a few feet away and tapped on the floor to see if it would come to me. To my surprise the baby cam running to me. I decided to try again but a little further away. The baby did great again so I let it rest. I did this 2 more times that day and the baby was then walking around and standing as well as the other 2. I know that the baby probably just needed a little extra time to catch up to the others but I figured it couldn't hurt to do a little physical therapy just in case.
Now I have 11 chickens!! The oldest group is now 8 weeks old and one is actually a roo. The middle group is now 6 weeks and appear to all be pullets so far. The babies are 3 weeks now and when I looked at the wing feathers on day 3 I found that 1, maybe 2, might end up being roosters. Since I really don't know what I'm doing, only time will tell.
I moved the older 4 to the coop/run on 4.9.2022 and they are doing great! I am currently working on getting the middle group in the coop/run with the older 4. They are in an extra large dog crate that is right up against the run so they can get used to one another before I put them physically in with them. It will still be a while before the babies are ready for outdoors of course.
I am happy that I came across BYC while doing my chicken research. I have been lurking since probably mid March and decided it was time that I actually introduce myself. If you have read this to this point I want to thank you. I know this was a long post and I apologize for that. I think my family is under the impression that I have lost my mind so I don't get to talk to many people about my chickens that I ADORE!! I never knew how fascinating this journey would be...and it is just beginning!!
Thank you for taking the time to read my novel and for allowing me to join this amazing group of knowledgeable and kind people.
I hope you all have a wonderful day!
I am new here and wanted to introduce myself. I live in the Florida Panhandle as of 1.24.2022. Decided it was time for a change. So I bought a house and moved to Florida.
My daughter works at a TSC an hour from where I live and started asking if I was interested in getting chickens. I had thought about it in the past but didn't own a home then so decided against it. Then on 3.2.2022 my daughter called to tell me they had new chick arrivals. I made the hour drive to the TSC where she works and left with 4 speckled Sussex chicks and quite a bit less money than when I got there
I quickly learned about chicken math, and after much research decided that I wanted silver laced and blue laced red Wyandottes. I decided I wanted to try hatching a couple eggs, so on 3.10.2022 I ordered 1 of each thinking I didn't want to get too many too soon. They sent me an extra egg of each for a total of 4. Then on 3.16.2022 my daughter called again and told me they had silver laced Wyandottes. Needless to say I was on the road within 10 minutes heading that way. I didn't expect that I would be able to successfully hatch the eggs since I literally had no idea what I was doing so I figured at least this way I would have some silver laced Wyandottes.
To my surprise, 3 of the 4 eggs were fertile! They had saddled and detached air sacs but otherwise were good. I read all I could about the air sacs and figured all I could do was give it a shot but didn't expect that they would make it to hatch. On 4.6.2022 at about 10pm my first chick hatched and then by 4.7.2022 at 1am the other 2 hatched as well. The last one was still attached to the cord and egg and there was more blood in the shell than the others. I panicked thinking it hatched too soon and it wasn't going to make it. I placed the chick back into the shell as far as I could being extra careful and placed a rolled washrag around the chick and egg and placed it in a very small area so that it couldn't kick the shell off. Then I was off to research what I should do. Unfortunately I didn't find much information (probably because I was frantically searching for answers). After about 20 minutes of internet searching I checked the cord and it was drying so I figured we were in the clear. I waited until the cord had shriveled to almost nothing and then snipped it as close to the chick as I could. The chick was sleepier than the other 2 but I figured that was not a bad thing. Later that day I noticed this particular chick didn't seem to be progressing as well as the others. It wasn't standing often and when it did it was only for a few seconds and then it would lay back down. I thought perhaps its legs were just too weak so I decided I would do what I could to help it. I took the baby out of the brooder and began some baby chicken physical therapy.
Yes, I am that ridiculous! I started to do some passive range of motion with the legs-pushing the leg gently up toward the abdomen and then straightening. I did several repetitions on each leg and then let the baby rest. Then in about 30 minutes I went back in and took the baby out of the brooder and would stand it up and hold my fingers under it to support its weight and would have it stand for a few seconds, let it rest a few seconds and then let it rest again. Did several repetitions of this and then left the baby to rest again. I went back an hour later and decided to see if the strength was looking any better. It was better, but the baby was still super wobbly so I decided to try one more thing. I took the baby out of the brooder again and placed it on the floor of my bedroom (away from my dog and 2 cats) and sat on the floor a few feet away and tapped on the floor to see if it would come to me. To my surprise the baby cam running to me. I decided to try again but a little further away. The baby did great again so I let it rest. I did this 2 more times that day and the baby was then walking around and standing as well as the other 2. I know that the baby probably just needed a little extra time to catch up to the others but I figured it couldn't hurt to do a little physical therapy just in case.Now I have 11 chickens!! The oldest group is now 8 weeks old and one is actually a roo. The middle group is now 6 weeks and appear to all be pullets so far. The babies are 3 weeks now and when I looked at the wing feathers on day 3 I found that 1, maybe 2, might end up being roosters. Since I really don't know what I'm doing, only time will tell.
I moved the older 4 to the coop/run on 4.9.2022 and they are doing great! I am currently working on getting the middle group in the coop/run with the older 4. They are in an extra large dog crate that is right up against the run so they can get used to one another before I put them physically in with them. It will still be a while before the babies are ready for outdoors of course.
I am happy that I came across BYC while doing my chicken research. I have been lurking since probably mid March and decided it was time that I actually introduce myself. If you have read this to this point I want to thank you. I know this was a long post and I apologize for that. I think my family is under the impression that I have lost my mind so I don't get to talk to many people about my chickens that I ADORE!! I never knew how fascinating this journey would be...and it is just beginning!!
Thank you for taking the time to read my novel and for allowing me to join this amazing group of knowledgeable and kind people.
I hope you all have a wonderful day!
and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
