Chicks for the first Time

[kynewbchickie]

One of my remaining nine week old roos tried three times to crow this morning. So proud!

Good boy!!!

My guinea keets are getting SO loud, that at night, they will wake everyone up in the house with their calls. So of course, the hubby says, "if they're not out in a week, I'm culling them - I need sleep!"
(he's totally kidding, he wouldn't kill them - he picked them out! lol)
My Lav/Split Ameraucana eggs are on their way from TX - I got a Brinsea ECO 20 incubator and an extra digital thermometer/hygrometer to better watch the conditions in the 'bator...18 eggs are headed my way! My hubby wanted to know if I was EVER going to get the chickens out of the house. I told him I'd think about it.

 

[Jeanna Marie]

Good boy!!!

My guinea keets are getting SO loud, that at night, they will wake everyone up in the house with their calls. So of course, the hubby says, "if they're not out in a week, I'm culling them - I need sleep!" (he's totally kidding, he wouldn't kill them - he picked them out! lol) My Lav/Split Ameraucana eggs are on their way from TX - I got a Brinsea ECO 20 incubator and an extra digital thermometer/hygrometer to better watch the conditions in the 'bator...18 eggs are headed my way! My hubby wanted to know if I was EVER going to get the chickens out of the house. I told him I'd think about it.

My hubby asked the same thing! I am now brooding nine more chicks.... in our bedroom...lol

 

[kynewbchickie]

Next time he asks, just break out the Chicken Dance and walk away...it leaves them so stunned, they can't complain further

 

[sn0wwhite]

I'm really enjoying this thread. I have 6 more days to wait until my chicks arrive!

 

[duckhunternate]

A few pics of my chicks at a week old...
"Big Red" is the biggest of the Buckeyes. She is also the best socialized and most curious. I'm hoping it's a she so I don't have to butcher or give it away.


This is Fuzzy, a Salmon Faverolle. It's amazing how fast they are growing!


And here are my girls enjoying the chicks!!


My wife and little guy "chickwatching"

 

[ChickieG'ma]

yes, roosters can cackle. a good rooster will call his hens with cackles and clucks to show them where food is for them to eat. roosters don't ususally do any crowing until about 4 months and that's an even stranger sound a rooster finding his crow. LOL you might have heard a squawk sometimes hens will squawk if they are aggravated with another hen. you will probably hear all kinds of strange noises until they find thier voices. i was watching my rooster strut around the brooder tonight he is three weeks old and is the size of a full grown cornish. there he was strutin his stuff around the brooder head movin back and forth, so funny to watch them.

We have a hen that "whines". She will go on for 30 minutes or so; won't tell me what's the matter.

Only one time ever could I figure out what was wrong. It was the day after the 4th of July last year. There had been more than enough "kablewying" in the neighborhood in the days leading up to it and then on the night of the 4th all you-know-what broke loose. Most of my hens took it pretty good but the next afternoon Tweedle Dee, the flock mistress (and the whiner) went on for 25 minutes or so and she was going in and out of the chicken house. I was out in the garden so I figured I had better check cause it wasn't getting any better. When I went into the house here was this little EE hen just beside herself about where to lay her egg! Nowhere seemed safe after last night.

Once I got involved Tweedle was satisfied and went off to find bugs. But then my GLW roo, Bill came in to investigate and he was just as worried as she had been. This little brown hen would go from the nesting box to cram herself under the bulk feeder that is attached to the wall. There are only about 3 inches under there but she kept going back and forth, clucking all the time just fretting herself silly. Bill soon started to do the very thing all our beloved men do...he tried to fix it. Following her back and forth, clucking answers to her clucks, telling her all would be fine, I'm sure he included pros and cons for each potential egg-laying spot but it didn't help her one bit, "All is lost, all is lost" she seemed to cluck.

Finally she lodged herself under the feeder for a longer time, really thinking this might be the place. Bill saw his chance and finally did what won him a very special place in my heart forever. He lodged himself beside the feeder between it and the wall and began to sing to her. He put his head way down where she could see him and he sang like old blue eyes himself.

He went on for 15 minutes that way, until the egg was laid, time enough for me to run down to the house and grab my I-pod to take a video of him. After that, the little brown hen left her egg, All was not lost and there were bugs to be found outside. But Bill got all the meal worms he could eat, his chin and wattles and keel bone rubbed and he, hopefully, knew what a special rooster he is.

Oh, yes, chickens make lots of really cool sounds and can be VERY entertaining!

 

[Jeanna Marie]

We have a hen that "whines". She will go on for 30 minutes or so; won't tell me what's the matter.   Only one time ever could I figure out what was wrong. It was the day after the 4th of July last year. There had been more than enough "kablewying" in the neighborhood in the days leading up to it and then on the night of the 4th all you-know-what broke loose. Most of my hens took it pretty good but the next afternoon Tweedle Dee, the flock mistress (and the whiner) went on for 25 minutes or so and she was going in and out of the chicken house. I was out in the garden so I figured I had better check cause it wasn't getting any better. When I went into the house here was this little EE hen just beside herself about where to lay her egg! Nowhere seemed safe after last night.   Once I got involved Tweedle was satisfied and went off to find bugs. But then my GLW roo, Bill came in to investigate and he was just as worried as she had been. This little brown hen would go from the nesting box to cram herself under the bulk feeder that is attached to the wall. There are only about 3 inches under there but she kept going back and forth, clucking all the time just fretting herself silly. Bill soon started to do the very thing all our beloved men do...he tried to fix it. Following her back and forth, clucking answers to her clucks, telling her all would be fine, I'm sure he included pros and cons for each potential egg-laying spot but it didn't help her one bit, "All is lost, all is lost" she seemed to cluck.

Finally she lodged herself under the feeder for a longer time, really thinking this might be the place. Bill saw his chance and finally did what won him a very special place in my heart forever. He lodged himself beside the feeder between it and the wall and began to sing to her. He put his head way down where she could see him and he sang like old blue eyes himself.   He went on for 15 minutes that way, until the egg was laid, time enough for me to run down to the house and grab my I-pod to take a video of him. After that, the little brown hen left her egg, All was not lost and there were bugs to be found outside. But Bill got all the meal worms he could eat, his chin and wattles and keel bone rubbed and he, hopefully, knew what a special rooster he is.

Oh, yes, chickens make lots of really cool sounds and can be VERY entertaining!

What an awesome story! Mine aren't old enough to lay. But the guys are trying to crow.

 

[kynewbchickie]

Quote:
I'm in love with that story!!!! And the boys trying to crow here is getting rather entertaining. Duke, our BO roo, sounds like a puberty-stricken boy cracking and squawking in the mornings, and Frisch's, one of our black JG roos, gets "irritated" and fluffs up, acts all big and bad with all sorts of flapping and "manning-up" at Duke, and then tries to out-do his squawks with even more hilarious noises. My neighbor asked how much longer it would be before the awful noises turned into the crows he's looking forward to hearing. My only answer was, "well, when you hear them, there will be plenty out there to listen to at dawn's break!"

 

[RoseMarie1]

From one newbie to another, we have found the red light is much better than white for keeping them calm and content. I have also found that the plastic tub brooders are great when they are little but they quickly outgrow. I have already added another tub brooder and connected them together to give them more space (great idea from this forum!) but they are 3 weeks and already outgrowing this! In hindsight, it would have been better to build a much larger brooder so I am not constantly trying to figure out the next option.

We got 9 chicks assuming we might lose a couple and all 9 are very healthy and happy chicks, although getting too big for their digs!

LOL I know first hand what you mean! My RIR's are 3 weeks old as of Sat. and they are very fast growing out of theirs to. They seem very happy though. ;-)

 

[RoseMarie1]

This is a bit redneck style, but hey, it worked. I just moved my babies outside tonight. I took 2 decent sized cardboard boxes and duct taped them together and flipped the lids open and sat that on top of the vinyl/plastic sheeting that you cover windows with. Threw some shavings in and voila!! The plastic sheeting protected my hardwood floors, plus you can bend or fix the cardboard to whatever space you need. I had 16 chicks in ours. Once they started jumping on top of the boxes, the outward flipped lids helped to catch the droppings, which still sat on top of plastic. And since we live in the boonies, all I needed to do was roll up the plastic and drag it outside and burn everything, and it's super easy to set back up. True redneck style, but it was cheap and easy and best of all, it worked for tight spaces.

lol love it!!!!