Coop Project: Maken the Plunge & Getting Chickens

[Gridguru]

I just read your entire thread in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it! I have my first flock, 4 Buff orpingtons, hopefully all girls. They're two weeks old.

We have a variety of chick breeds, but only one Buff. The next batch will be mostly Buffs! This chicken is like the golden retriever of chicken breeds. She is so incredibly friendly. Wants nothing more than to sit in our laps and hang out with us. We take her and a couple of her brooder mates on "field trips" to the yard and she doesn't go more than a foot away from us. Love her!

The Barred Rocks are pretty friendly as well. The Marans a little less so, but occasionally like to be held. The Americauna wants nothing to do with us. LOL.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Chicken Health

One of the chicks is sitting a lot and is less active than the others. A little preventative medicine is to feed the chicks samples of cultured Yogurt or Sour Cream.

These chicks wouldn't eat off a spoon, or out of a bowl. They would eat off my fingers, but an easier solution was to just place it on the glass sidewall of the aquarium. After they've finished gobbling up this food, take a wet paper towel and clean off the glass.

There is some controversy over some of the ole Wives Tales in our hobby. Raw, unfiltered, Apple Cider Vinegar seems to be in this category. Personally, I use this product for my chicks, and sometimes for my grown birds as well.

For chicks, I use a rate of 1/2 teaspoon per quart watered. They drink actively when I do this, and in my mind this is healthy for them.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

The girls are feathering nicely. Their wing feathers have been in for awhile now. Their little tail feathers are pushing 1 1/2 inches or so and their body feathers have just started coming in over the last few days.

I've been putting pine wood shavings over a layer of news paper in their aquarium. As the shavings become soiled and need replacing, I simply take the edge of the newspaper and role everything up, then sweep any remaining residue with a small dust pan and a small dust broom.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I use bricks to hold the waterer and the feeder above the level of the wood shavings. Once wood shavings are being used, the chicks really go to town digging and scratching. The bricks help to limit wood particle contamination in the feeders and waterer, but it does not eliminate it.

The girls just love to work the shavings, scratching and digging.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I like to get the girls eating out of my hand as soon as possible. Once they start coining to me expecting to be fed, that's half the battle. This serves multiple purposes. Hand feeding the birds builds trust, they will not come to you if they don't trust you. Feeding by hand, and I mean they eat right out of your hand, builds trust.

Having birds that will come to hand is important me, I need to be able to call the birds in should a sudden storm blow in and I need to get the girls into the shelter of the coop & run.

Cooked rice is a great treat for young chicks. Long grain brown rice is my preferred choice, but heck even minute rice will work in a pinch. I keep a small container in the fridge, and once the birds have started growing their body feathers is when I start using cooked rice to entice the birds to come to hand.

This is in addition to picking the birds up and gently holding and petting them. If I can get them to nap while I hold them....awesome.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Here is a nice image showing the even feathering of the chicks. The wing feathers are in, and the tail feathers are well on their way. If you look close you can see the body feathers just coming in on the back.

At this stage, I only use the heat lamp at night. During the day the lamp is off and the chicks get residual heat from the light coming in through the window.

Speaking of the window, the chicks often gather to watch the goings on of the backyard. My wife says she can tell when they see me in yard because the noise from the chick room peaks. When she walks in the room to make sure that all is well, she usually sees them watching me through the window as I work in the backyard on chores.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Seems every time I catch the chicks doing things comical, they catch me when the camera comes out.

They are so curious about some things.

Mugging for the camera. Maybe it's time to break out the telephoto.

 

[GardenNut]

Too cute! And I give my chicks Bragg ACV! Definitely helped with pasty butt when I first got them!

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Once a week I replace the wood shavings with fresh material. Once this minor chore is done, the girls go to work making their environment more to their liking. The waterer seems to take the brunt of this activity. Last week they had it so buried that only half the bottle was visible.

Solution.....

...raise the waterer one more brick in height.

If the weather hadn't forcaste major snow and rain this weekend, I would have these little girls outside.

They are feathering in so nicely. Their body feathers are in, and their neck feathers are now starting to come in nice and strong. They are almost to the "Ragamuffin Stage"....my favorite stage as the chicks grow. Soon I'll have them all outside, that's when they really take off...literally and figuratively.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I got up this morning at 5:00am and checked on the babies. They were very excited to see me and voiced their appreciation as I lifted the shades and went about my morning routine of cleaning and filling the waterer and filling the food hopper.

Once I was done, I went and got a small portion of cooked rice and did my usual "Bok, Bok, Bok" as I entered the room. It is such a pleasure working with them since I started hand feeding them cooked rice. They have almost completely settled down. They no longer run and dodge me as I pick them up and check them each day. Now the greet me excitedly and often hop into my hand as the explore my fingers and Palm.

After I finished my chores, I went back to bed to snuggle under the covers and read a great book. Then at 6:30 or so there was a loud commotion from the chick room. They were very excited about something....

...it was snowing outside and they were all lined up looking out the window and chatting very excitedly. They've never seen snow before.

My wife made coffee and I went back to my book. I like comfy cozy mornings like this....