Found Baby Bantams in the Park

[GingerZoo]

I am a wildlife rehabber and specialize in ducks. We do occasionally receive calls from the public when they find domestic animals, and I received a little flock of baby chicks that a nice man rescued from a park near his home. Somebody dumped them there with a pile of feed. Some people! Anyway, I am not at all familiar with chickens. I am hoping that you can help me to correctly identify (and possibly give me an age) of these cute little guys. From what I see on the website, I think they are Bantams. Any help about caring for them would be greatly appreciated. Currently they are in a brooder that has a temperature setting at 85 degrees. They are eating and drinking and seem to be a happy group, but what's next?

 

[gryeyes]

Look up at the blue line/list of BYC functions: see the "uploads" one? Have your photos on your PC or other storage media, and when you get to the "Uploads" window, click Browse to select the photos one at a time to upload.

Then, after they've uploaded to your account, copy the "image" link(s) for them (not the "thumbnail" links) and paste them into your post after coming back to it and selecting "edit post." Then select "preview" your post to see if they made it into the edited post correctly.

That should do it! ;-)

Looking forward to seeing pictures of the babies!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

First you have to upload pics to BYC then you click on upload then my uploads. Copy and paste into a reply to this thread. You should then have it on here. Do the chicks have feathers? Fully feathered? Do they seem content with the brooder temp, as in not piled up and not panting? They need to be on a 20% starter grower ration you can get at local supply stores. When you get pics uploaded that would be a huge help

Welcome to BYC!!!

 

[mommathea]

someone beat me to the relpy

 

[GingerZoo]

Thanks everyone. I was successful and the picture is now in the original post.

 

[dwegg]

the next step is that you carefully pack them up and send them to me...those cute little fluffy butts....I would love to find them in the park..some peolpe need to be whipped..or something!

 

[GingerZoo]

Yes, I agree some people need at least a 2x4 upside the head! They really are cute, aren't they? Are they Bantams?

 

[Cindiloohoo]

They are still younguns!! Cute!! I would keep them on 20% starter and make sure they have fresh water. They look to be less than a week old. The brooder temp needs to be about 90 degrees right now. Lower it 5 degrees per week from here on out. They will feather out completely by 7-8 weeks and won't need the brooder, but being winter they will need a warm 70 degree or so dry area. They don't look like bantams to me. You may have some standard chickies there. If you have more questions about anything you can PM me if you want. They're adorable!

 

[MareeZoCool]

Ginger, Welcome to the best website for us chicken lovers!

Those little black biddies remind me of my group from last spring. mine are Black Australorp/Gold Comet mix, with a bit o' Brahma tossed in for the fun of it! I did have 6, 5 grew to be Roos, a fox invited them for dinner. My lil' black hen is still with me, getting her treats every day. and treating me with eggs!

 

[mamaKate]

Drop the temp by 5 degrees a week till you reach 70 degrees. As adults, they will need 2 square feet of coop and 4 square feet of run space per bird. Double that if it turns out they aren't Bantams. Start building. lol You might want to pick up a copy of "Chickens for Dummies." It will be a great reference.