Hello from Ohio! New here, new to chickens, and full of questions!! *Pics included*

[UllaBee]

Hello everyone!

I am so glad to have found this site! There seems to be a wealth of information and loads of knowledgeable chicken owners/parents that seem so helpful. I live with my loving/enabling DH, 4 beautiful kiddos, 2 Belgian draft horses, and now a brand spankin' new flock of lovely chickies!!! (We very recently lost our super sweet English Mastiff, and are looking for a new family dog).

We have wanted chickens for many years, read up on them for a while, dreamt of the perfect flock, and after what feels like eternity, we finally ordered our first chicks and they just came last Tuesday (29th)!!!! Woo-hoo!

We wanted a variety of chickens for a pretty flock and a lovely carton of colored eggs, add that to the 25 minimum for ordering, and the "free rare chick" and we ended up with 26 chicks!!! lol! Since we are beginners, does that make us crazy???

We ordered some for their beauty, some for the color of their eggs, and some because we loved the "classic" look. Then, a few days after delivery, we actually went to a local breeder to get 4 more chicks (the same age, give or take a couple days) so we could get some of the more elusive egg colors (I really wanted the chocolate and blue eggs, too). My mom is already calling me the crazy chicken lady! I have to say I love them all already! This is the flock I have been dreaming of!

After needless worry over it, we were able to fairly quickly identify all of them (9 different breeds, including the rare chick). They are soo cute and have been so fun! We named them all immediately, too. But I would really love to know if they will keep any of their current markings? Will we still be able to tell who's who as they grow their feathers?

Also, we ordered pullets, but I know the hatchery sexing is only 90% (or so) accurate, has that been everyone's experience? Should I expect about 2-3 of the chicks to be roos then?

I have many questions, but I will pace myself, so this doesn't end up as long as a book that no one wants to read, lol! Anyway, I am so excited to get to know all of you! And look forward to learning all that I can from anyone willing to share their chicken wisdom!!

And in case you were curious:



That's:
* 9 Easter Eggers (Sold as arcaunas, but read they are really EE's; we ordered 10, but one didn't make it)
- Goldielocks, Daisy Mae, Dottie, Fluffennugget, Chicklets, Olive oil, Road Runner & Cupcake
- Marshmallow (the only yellow one and so fluffy!)

* 4 Blue Andalusians (We ordered three, but they sent an extra one free)
- Pixie (pale/silvery)
- Trixie (lt grey)
- Bluebell (med. grey, really hoping this one is blue )
- Fancy (dark grey)
...now, I can't wait to see which are actually blue! Any guesses???

* 2 Silver Laced Wyandottes
- Miss Lacey & Miss Gracie

* 2 Rhode Island Reds
- Caramel & Little Red (the little red hen)

* 2 Barred Rocks
- Sweettart & Roxie

* 2 Buff Orpingtons
- Buttercup & Honeybun

* 2 Black Australorps
- Zoe & Pineapple (you'd have to know my kids, to get these names....)

* 1 Lt Brahma
- Pearl since she is white and will have a "necklace" (BTW, ordered 2, but sadly lost one, a real tear jerker as I really wanted these beautiful Brahamas)

* 1 Buff Laced Polish!
- Disco - since they are so "flashy"(Sometimes referred to as Puff Daddy Disco Dinner, for the poufy head and likelyhood to be a roo since it was free. However, if it turns out to be a hen, we think we will call her Miss Ohio, since she is so grande! But DD says he/she will always be Disco to her. lol)

And the more recently added (from local breeder):


Those are:
* 2 Marans
- Blue - Reepicheep, from Narnia
- Black Copper - Henny Penny
* 2 Americaunas
- 1 Blue - Saphira, for the dragon in Eragon
- 1 Black - Sweet Pea

And now the whole flock together today, about one week old (Well actually two aren't pictured, they were being held while I toook this pic. Quite often there is someone holding one chick or another!):


Here's to hoping for all hens and no Roos!!!

Either way, this is going to be one wild ride!!!

 

[fried green eggs]

Congrats on all the new chicks and

. I hope you have already started on their coop and run because they grow fast ! The recomended coop size is 4 sq foot + per bird and 10 sq foot per bird for the run. Build it bigger if at all possible. At 10 sq ft per bird in the run - the nice grass area you started with, will be bare dirt in a week or less.
The hatchery chicks like the RIR, Buffs,Aust & EE will feather out differently. Normally the hens/pullets will feather much quicker and their wings will grow much longer than the little boys and they will get tail feathers faster than the boys too. Looking at feathering to sex only works for the first week or two, after it's not so accuate. The EE won't stay stripped as they feather out. They may start out looking similar but, when they grow they change. They will keep their muffs but thats about all. BR should be sexable by the dot of white on head and black wash down legs.

 

[kidcody]

from washington state glad you joined us!
great introduction!

 

[sumi]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

You've got a lovely batch of fluffy butts there

 

[Fierlin1182]

Hello and

I love all your names! They're so cute.
The chicks will most likely change their markings as they grow older, but hopefully you should still be able to identify them because they develop pretty distinct personalities. I always used little kinks such as a certain tail shape or something to identify my chickens.

Anywho, you'll probably have to wait till they're older to find out if they're guys or gals. I have nil experience with hatcheries, but the place I buy my chicks from always gets it right.

Don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have, and enjoy the site.

 

[UllaBee]

Congrats on all the new chicks and

. I hope you have already started on their coop and run because they grow fast ! The recomended coop size is 4 sq foot + per bird and 10 sq foot per bird for the run. Build it bigger if at all possible. At 10 sq ft per bird in the run - the nice grass area you started with, will be bare dirt in a week or less.
The hatchery chicks like the RIR, Buffs,Aust & EE will feather out differently. Normally the hens/pullets will feather much quicker and their wings will grow much longer than the little boys and they will get tail feathers faster than the boys too. Looking at feathering to sex only works for the first week or two, after it's not so accuate. The EE won't stay stripped as they feather out. They may start out looking similar but, when they grow they change. They will keep their muffs but thats about all. BR should be sexable by the dot of white on head and black wash down legs.

Thank you!!! I appreciate all the advice/info we can get! We do have a coop already, it was a nearby neighbor's and we bought it off of them when they moved (it was on skids, so we pulled it over here). It is a pretty good size shedish/barn thingy (don't know dimensions off hand) and we plan to let them truly free range during the day. The neighbors let theirs loose all day, and they stay on their property. We live on 6 acres (with 3 more touching ours that they can roam onto), and we are still close enough to the city that it isn't too wild out here. We are outside almost all day while it's warm. We do plan to add some kind of a pen/run for when we can't be around; or if we do end up with predator issues, then they can stay there during the day when we aren't outside. We already have possible backup homes lined up, if we just end up feeling like it is too many for us to care for properly. My husband is also building a larger brooder for the house to move them into, since they are growing so fast already and I want them to stay in here as long as they can. I love being able to hear them all day and walk over and talk to them and hold them. I think there should be a way to keep them in the house all the time! lol! I know I am going to miss them when they have to go out.

Funny you brought up the BR's, I do think we may have a roo for one of those. I just looked up the info about the head spot, feathers, and legs today because my two look completely different from each other. I tried and tried to get a good photo (probably took a hundred pics), but they are so blurry. Sorry for the quality, if you can see past it, I would appreciate your take on them. Hatchery says they were hatched on the 27th, so they are exactly 1 week and 1 days old in the photos.

Sweettart on bottom left, Roxy on top right with larger white spot on head:



This is Sweettart with tail feathers and wing feathers that cover her whole side.



Roxy with wings that only cover half her side, and absolutely no tail feathers:



Sweettart left with lighter legs, Roxie right with darker legs


I know they are still so young, but this drastic of a difference seems llike they can't be the same sex! As for any of our other chicks, I think they all pretty much resemble each other. Except on that seems to have a growth or something on it's chest, I will post pics of it tomorrow (I'm exhausted and have to get some sleep)!

As far as all of them changing as they grow, will they keep any markings at all though? For example, we can tell our RIR's apart because one has dots beside the eyes and the other doesn't. Or say one EE has a diamond on top of it's head. One BO is a little darker shade than the other. I am just afraid we will wake up one morning and be completely lost, not knowing who any of them are!!!

Thanks again!

 

[UllaBee]

Hello and

I love all your names! They're so cute.
The chicks will most likely change their markings as they grow older, but hopefully you should still be able to identify them because they develop pretty distinct personalities.

I always used little kinks such as a certain tail shape or something to identify my chickens.
Anywho, you'll probably have to wait till they're older to find out if they're guys or gals. I have nil experience with hatcheries, but the place I buy my chicks from always gets it right.

Don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have, and enjoy the site.

Thank you! I have to say that we got a real kick out of naming them, it was so fun!! We searched online, books, and racked our brains for chicken name ideas and made a possible list while we were waiting for them to arrive. When they did, our own kids and the neighbor girls and some other family members named their own favorites. Now everyone feels like they have a chick to care for.

That makes sense (about the markings), we will have to just evaluate them day by day and try to find new identifiers.

Hello and welcome to BYC!

You've got a lovely batch of fluffy butts there

LOL! they do have such cute fluffy butts, don't they?! Sometimes I wish they stayed like this, but then... no eggs!

from washington state glad you joined us!
great introduction!

Thank you! SO glad to have found this cite and all of you!

 

[Fierlin1182]

Thank you!  I have to say that we got a real kick out of naming them, it was so fun!! We searched online, books, and racked our brains for chicken name ideas and made a possible list while we were waiting for them to arrive. When they did, our own kids and the neighbor girls and some other family members named their own favorites.  Now everyone feels like they have a chick to care for. 

That makes sense (about the markings), we will have to just evaluate them day by day and try to find new identifiers.

That's cute. Whenever we buy new chickens I will name one and my mother will name the other one. I don't know whose names are more creative Usually I'm already brainstorming months before we are due to get them.

 

[jayjay]

Hi and welcome. You have some lovely pictures there. Congratulations and i look forward to seeing more pics as they grow. They are so cute.

 

[Elliebear]

Welcome to the marvelous world of chickens !! Chickens are so awesome, and it's nice to see others with cutsie names like I have!