Confounded by Sicilian buttercup chicks shunning their heat cave

[azygous]

I don't know anyone with Sicilian Buttercup breed. Guess people on the forum don't either.

But your post was an interesting read. You never said where you got them from and why only 2 chicks?

The way I got these two chicks is a bit unusual. They are chicks from Privet Hatchery that were sent in a final shipment to Tractor Supply nearby for their final Chick Days. I had dropped by to pick up a feed order and the manager lobbied me to take a few chicks off her hands. She had posted a 25 cent sale sign on the chick tanks.

I told her I wasn't interested in leghorns, which is what the remaining pullets were. She said slyly, "I have some others in the back. Sicilian somethings" I screamed, "Sicilian Buttercups?" "Yeah, that's it", she replies. "Sold!" Says, I.

She returned with the only two remaining Buttercups clutched in her hands and stuffed them in a take-home carton. She shoved the box into my hands and said, "I'm buying them for you." I walked out of the store with two free Buttercups.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You know we want to see photos of the little dolls Carol

 

[azygous]

@Htxchicks thanks for posting those pics! Those are stunning birds!

 

[azygous]

I'll grab some pics this morning.

 

[azygous]

Terrible photo, but my camera just ran out of batteries and it may be a while before I can get better ones. These chicks are very active, if a bit dim-witted.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

View attachment 2843400Simone letting me know she wants to hop up and Simone doing her best parrot impression. In my opinion they are great for free ranging smart and tolerant of the extreme Texas heat.

Pretty girl! Had never seen one before.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Terrible photo, but my camera just ran out of batteries and it may be a while before I can get better ones. These chicks are very active, if a bit dim-witted.View attachment 2843741

LOL Cute!
I wouldn't mind having some of those myself!

 

[Yardmom]

I don't know much about buttercups, but chicks handle cooler temperatures better than most give them credit for. I have had chicks that were roosting (with moms and with out a mom) at 2 weeks.

 

[ColtHandorf]

In my opinion they are great for free ranging smart and tolerant of the extreme Texas heat.

That they are. I loved mine and am planning on getting a small flock of them to have white eggs mixed in with the others for customers.

Regarding the heat, mine always used their heat lamps. But I found them to be very hardy birds.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Pretty girl! Had never seen one before.

They're very pretty for sure, which is why I labeled mine as "decorative" - with our very first group of chicks we thought we had a Buttercup (since I didn't know any better at the time I took the employee at her word, and the chick turned out to be an EE), then when hubby saw what the adult hens looked like he said he'd really like one someday, so we got one last year.

Their little crowns are adorable. As long as they don't rip parts of the comb off while they're chicks. Mine's definitely special though, more than just not laying. She goes around picking fights with other birds (she's pretty much the only bird that has ever challenged my head hen more than once), then the flock all turns on her and chases her around and she can't figure out why everyone's so mean to her.