Got my first chicks today!

[CaGoatLady]

I caught a big rooster last week, Little Jerry, that somebody had abandoned at our local lake. Since he's already been dumped once in his little life, I didn't have the heart to get rid of him. So, since I'll be setting myself up for one chicken, I thought I'd get some hens so I can have eggs. I just bought a Buff Orpington and a Gold Sex Link, Harriet and Mabel.
Right now, I have the "girls",(fingers crossed), in the house in a big guinea pig cage with the medicated food, water, and some of Little Jerry's hen mix. I have cockatiels and a parrot, so I know birds, but am I doing everything right for these chicks?

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Chick or gamebird starter is best, water with vitamins is good, & keep them warm & you should have a nice pair of chickies!

 

[Chicken Chat]

Good for you to rescue your rooster!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Do you have a heat lamp or a couple of 100 watt bulbs over them?

Here is my first hatchery's recommendations on chick care that I found really helpful:

You need heat lamps, water, food, and draft protection (you can put up cardboard around the sides of your brooder) otherwise they might get pasty butt or get cold.

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/chickcare.html

Also, I too have Golden Sex Links and Buff Orpingtons! One thing I wanted to tell you was that my Golden Sex Links are a little aggressive (they've got that Rhode Island Red in them) with younger or smaller hens. And so, if you are going to add more chicks, now would be a good time! Because they get along great with who they were raised with, in my experience.

I had a hard time when I tried to integrate flocks now that they are 4 months old or so.

But they are VERY sweet to me and my children and husband. They are queens of the roost, is all. They are friendly and talkative.

I still hope to be able to integrate my flocks when my younger ones (now 2 months old) are older and bigger. And everyone has differing experiences and opinions.

But *I* sure wish I had bought all my chickens together and brooded them all at once, to have one big flock.

 

[gryeyes]

How COOL that you rescued a dumped rooster! And are raising a little bitty harem for him!

Mabel will mature faster than Harriet, and please don't expect eggs from them until they are at least 24 weeks old; that may still be early for Harriet. Given that she's a sex-link, Mabel is most certainly Mabel and not Marty. We can hope that Harriet was correctly sexed.

Warmth, 24/7, about 90 degrees first week of live, drop 5 degrees each week until five weeks at least. But, allows space with a cooler end of the brooder for them to move into if they need it. Fresh water (put the waterer up on a brick so they can't kick as much bedding litter into it). Chick starter for the first 8 weeks, then you can feed all three of them something like FlockRaiser.

The girls won't need oyster shell supplements until they actually start laying.

Great names, by the way. Next, we need a photo of Little Jerry!

 

[CaGoatLady]

Thanks everybody! Do I still need a heat lamp while they're living in my house? If I do, I have one of those clip on lamps for reading that I could put a regular light bulb in, couldn't I? Yes, I know people say there is no reason for a rooster, unless I want chicks, and I don't, but I just couldn't do that to this guy; he must have been somebody's pet because he walked up to me and ate out of my hand and now he lets me take him out and hold him every night before we go to bed. Poor guy gets a very rude awakening each morning by my Border Collie, Taxi. Little Jerry's roosting place is a branch that I stuck through one side and out the other and early in the morning, before Little Jerry is awake, Taxi and I go out to feed the goats and Taxi gets on one side of the branch and pulls it out from under Little Jerry so that he wakes up and walks around clucking. Here is Little Jerry:

 

[JOSEYWALES]

FYI.
You might be feeling sorry for the girls in five months or so when they have no feathers on thier backs. Saddles may be in order. One rooster with two hens is not the best combo. But maybe he is really gentle. You never know. Best of luck!

 

[justbugged]

Quote:
Your dog Taxi cracked me up.

Thanks for the laugh, and congratulations on your new chickies.

 

[CaGoatLady]

Oh, Little Jerry won't be getting near my hens. I want eggs to EAT, not to hatch. I'm already addicted to goats and I started with just one and now have 12.

 

[buildingmyark]

They're darling!