Chicks arriving in 2 weeks! (Update: Finally here!)

[chickenmomma16]

I do not have a Gold Comet but I do have 2 Red Stars (aren't they similar???) Anyways, my full grown ladies have light wing feathers. Lots of white throughout her colors. Sit back and enjoy their changes, give her time!

(Google a one week old Gold Comet they have white wings)

As for the scissor beak... I would do your own research on it and educate yourself. I know nothing about it.

 

[chirpy chicks]

My ladies are 8 days old now, everyone is growing like crazy and they have the silliest little stubby tail feathers coming in.

Whats her name ? She is beatiful ... check out this article on crossed beak http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/03/scissor-beak-aka-crossed-beak-what-it.html

 

[WashingtonWino]

I named her Skittles (not usually my style to name a pet after food) but the others are Sherman, Brandon (Mebane), Twelve, Blitz and Beast Mode. We MIGHT be Seahawks fans around here..... I'm CERTAINLY not going to name a chicken INTERCEPTION! That's still a touchy subject.

 

[WashingtonWino]

*Warning, post about culling*

Thought I'd hop on and share, since I'm probably not the only newbie reading this thread. I culled little Skittles this morning, the beak got even worse, she lost an alarming amount of weight for one so small, and she lost the ability to open and close the beak. I knew she'd die eventually but thought it was more responsible to put her out. I know how to kill an adult chicken, I learned how to butcher in culinary school, but how on earth to cull a chick? I opted for the kitchen shears method. Wrapped her in a rag except head/neck, tipped her upside down (they go quiet and limp when they go upside down) and snipped. It would have been completely OK if my kitchen shears had been nice and sharp. I'd suggest buying a brand new pair for anyone who is going to go that route so things are as painless as possible. May you never have to use this advice!

 

[Kadu]

aw noo! That's so sad =( But I understand why you had to do it, and I'm glad you did. Poor thing would have had to suffer for days!

 

[chickenmomma16]

*Warning, post about culling*

Thought I'd hop on and share, since I'm probably not the only newbie reading this thread. I culled little Skittles this morning, the beak got even worse, she lost an alarming amount of weight for one so small, and she lost the ability to open and close the beak. I knew she'd die eventually but thought it was more responsible to put her out. I know how to kill an adult chicken, I learned how to butcher in culinary school, but how on earth to cull a chick? I opted for the kitchen shears method. Wrapped her in a rag except head/neck, tipped her upside down (they go quiet and limp when they go upside down) and snipped. It would have been completely OK if my kitchen shears had been nice and sharp. I'd suggest buying a brand new pair for anyone who is going to go that route so things are as painless as possible. May you never have to use this advice! 

I'm so sorry! It's part of the responsibility of owning animals. You did the right thing.

 

[lazy gardener]

Update time! My babies are 1 week old now! I only lost the 3 Red leghorns and my last little girl is doing so good now. She just took a little longer to get in the groove. I found homes for all the chicks that I didn't need and I have fallen in love with the Welsummer breed and decided to not get rid of any but the 2 that a lovely fellow BYCer ordered. So I have 7 of those. 3 look like cockerels already as I had to order those straight run.

On a sad note I lost one of my RIR hens tonight. I found my Red Star just standing under the tractor shed injured. Now we will be down to 2 eggs a day so my husband said not to get rid of anymore chicks. He is tired of waiting on the chickens to eat eggs!


He made a top for the brooder and I opened up the whole 4 x 8 box now. Here is an updated picture, they were crashed after all the excitement of building the lid was over. I wish I had more time to spend with them...

Oh, something I was told that I didn't believe at first and now I do is that the chicks need A LOT less heat than I thought they did. Thought I would share that.

ChickenMomma: I love your nice big brooder! Thanks for sharing your experience about chicks and heat need. I think that's an often made mistake: giving them too much heat in a too small brooder.

My ladies are 8 days old now, everyone is growing like crazy and they have the silliest little stubby tail feathers coming in.

I have two concerns, and would appreciate any thoughts,

1: My golden comet (sex linked) so far has no golden feathers! Just white. Her head is kind of gingery but her wings so far are white as can be. I hope she's not a rooster. Anyone ever raised these chickens? Do they feather out white at the outset?



2: my easter egger is developing a rather serious looking crossed beak. It started showing two days ago and appears to be getting worse. Hopefully she can work around the handicap. Can a crossed beak eventually correct itself? Of course, she's the only one I named.

You did the right thing to cull that little chick. It seems that EE and silkies are both prone to crossed beaks. Wish it weren't so! Typically, a crossed beak will continue to get worse over time.

 

[WashingtonWino]

Thanks, I feel good about the decision. She was a perky and inquisitive little thing, I liked her personality a lot. Perhaps we'll try again when chicks hit the local feed store.

 

[Tatiana110]

The chicks are kicking so much food out of their feeder! It is a galvanized/ mason jar chick feeder with the little holes but despite raising it a bit the chicks are jumping on and scratching out at least a cup of food each day, little terrors. Any tips to save some food?

We had the same problem + chicks pooping all over the food.

Made these feeders from plastic sour cream jars cutting 'windows' with scissors. Works beautifully. The chicks are about 2.5-3 weeks old here on the pics.

 

[Tatiana110]

I love your brooder, it is so spacious and so nice. I bet the chickies are very happy there.