Day 13: Questions about ID, treats, crops, etc.

[ChickenAJ]

New parent here... so many questions!

Q1. We have been having trouble with some runny poop / diarrhea. But not everyone has it. I am creating a poop diary to see if we can pin down any connections. The Easter Eggers are easy to tell apart, but the three other breeds have two very similar looking chicks in each breed (speckled sussex, splash laced wyandottes, and cream legbars). Does anybody have any tips on how to tell apart individual characters within the same breed?

Q2. When is the proper time to start giving treats in order to train them to come to your hand and be friendly? I have already started giving hard-boiled egg yolks, and have decreased the amount given due to the diarrhea issue and bigger crop concerns. They look for it in my hand when I put my hand in the brooder, but I don't want to give them too much "treats". How much, how often, what kind do I give... those kinds of questions about giving treats to train them to come into your hand.

Q3. I have noticed that chicks of the same breed tend to gather to themselves more often. Not to sleep, but I usually find them eating together, foraging together, drinking together, etc. Is this usual? Why do they do this?

Q4. It seems that the Cream Legbars have the biggest crops. They are also the feistiest when I have they egg yolk in my hand (and perhaps eat more than the other breeds). Why does their crop not deflate as quickly, as much, or not at all?

Q5. Escapee problem. Several of them are able to jump onto the edge of the doggie pool we are using for the brooder. They like to perch on the side for now, just looking curious about the world. Any ideas on how to keep them in their brooder? I don't think we want to clip wings. I was thinking a fishing net (with the lead weights), but I don't want them getting caught.

Hoping to post pictures later about these issues.

 

[Folly's place]

How old are your chicks? Brooders always need a cover! We use hardware cloth on top of our livestock water tank brooder, because those babies have no problem getting out, and we don't want anyone getting in after them either.
Don't bother trying to train them to come until they are out of the brooder, and have more space. So, no treats either until then, and they also will need chick sized grit at that time.
And here we drop treats on the ground, don't want any chickens biting my hands!
Mary

 

[ChickenAJ]

Can you tell these two speckled sussex chicks apart?


Escapee/ Perching activity:







Here you can kind of see the bigger crop in the legbar(s):

 

[Ridgerunner]

New parent here... so many questions!

Q1. Does anybody have any tips on how to tell apart individual characters within the same breed?

Put some food dye on the heads of one. You will need to replace it as they feather out but that will not harm them.

Q2. When is the proper time to start giving treats in order to train them to come to your hand and be friendly? I have already started giving hard-boiled egg yolks, and have decreased the amount given due to the diarrhea issue and bigger crop concerns. They look for it in my hand when I put my hand in the brooder, but I don't want to give them too much "treats". How much, how often, what kind do I give... those kinds of questions about giving treats to train them to come into your hand.

They do not need grit to eat boiled egg yolks, that's not a bad treat to start with. Two or three pecks worth is enough to get their attention. If they are pecking in it more than five minutes that's probably too much.

Q3. I have noticed that chicks of the same breed tend to gather to themselves more often. Not to sleep, but I usually find them eating together, foraging together, drinking together, etc. Is this usual? Why do they do this?

I haven't noticed that so much by breed or even color as it is by personality. I've had Black Australorp and Delaware that were best buddies and that is literally black and white. That was when other BA's and Delaware the same age were in the flock. Basic personality traits tend to run in flocks so that would be my guess. Glad to see you are paying attention, many people would not notice that.

Q4. It seems that the Cream Legbars have the biggest crops. They are also the feistiest when I have they egg yolk in my hand (and perhaps eat more than the other breeds). Why does their crop not deflate as quickly, as much, or not at all?

I don't have a clue.

Q5. Escapee problem. Several of them are able to jump onto the edge of the doggie pool we are using for the brooder. They like to perch on the side for now, just looking curious about the world. Any ideas on how to keep them in their brooder? I don't think we want to clip wings. I was thinking a fishing net (with the lead weights), but I don't want them getting caught.

A very common problem. I doubt clipping wings would help that much, they can really jump without flying. The only thing I can think of is some kind of netting or wire mesh. Or build a high fence.

 

[ChickenAJ]

@Ridgerunner

Food dye: wonderful idea! Good to know that it won't hurt them. Maybe that is how they marked my cream legbars from the hatchery.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That's where I first heard of it. Some hatcheries use food coloring to identify chicks if you ask them to.