Hey howdy

[Curlycue]

Hi! Long time lurker; glad I finally made an account. (Wanted to ask if it was normal for lone chicks to display more erratic, roo-like behavior, as mine is colored like the mum was {reddish with two black dots on the head} and has female feather development patterns, but s/he is CRAZY! Today s/he screamed until I came over, made sure I was looking, hopped onto the heat table, pooped, screamed again, then took a running leap off the table, paused to look back at me to make sure I saw, and then scurried as fast as s/he could back underneath to cuddle with his/her fuzzy sock lol. Anybody else raise a loner, if only for a few days?)

I got my first chicks at the end of Sept. 2025: a 10 pack, of mystery breed, straight run babies from Hoover's Hatchery via TSC. Ended up with 5 roos, 5 hens, which I count myself lucky over. I rehomed 3 roos, one meanie went to the soup pot, and I kept the last one because he is a a super good boy! He's also apparently really good at fertilizing eggs.

I just hatched the very first $3k egg my chickens laid me (it was a normal size and shape, with a really consistent shell and a lovely coat of pinkish bloom, so I figured why not?) so now I have one $3k chick S/he has sisters (hopefully no brothers!) coming in the mail this week from My Pet Chicken. Once they arrive, I will have:

3 x RIR hens (Buffy the Vampire Layer, Victoria Peckham, Robirdt Downey Jr.)
1 x Sapphire Gem hen (Flappy Gilmore)
1 x French copper Maran ? hen (Dwayne {not} the Cock Johnson)
1 x Red Sex Link roo (Feather Locklear)
1 x RIR/Red Sex Link chick (Aegon Targaryhen; "Egg" for short)
2 x White Silked Easter Eggers chicks
1 x Partridge Olive Egger chick
2 x Polish chicks (splash/white crested black)
1 x Blue Splash Maran chick
1 x Ancona chick
1 x Silver Laced Wyandotte chick

I think that makes 15. (Who's counting?) I'm super excited to meet them and name them all! I love watching their personalities and feathers develop, and it's so exciting when they get to laying age and you see what color they lay. The run is very peaceful and meditative, and I go sit out there for about half an hour every morning, just watching everybody enjoying the day. (When my husband or child can't find me, they joke that I "must've gone to live with the chickens.")

As far as other hobbies go, I like to garden, paint, hunt, read, hike, run, lift, and swim. Most of the time I'm living the SAHM life, but one weekend a month I'm a reservist in the military.

Pleased to meet you guys!

 

[Snowbelt]

Welcome to BYC! Sounds like you will have a very beautiful and diverse flock!

 

[janiedoe]

Hello, and welcome to BYC!

 

[fldiver97]

Nice to have you here! Your little chick is likely acting “off” because he/she is lonely. It will be great when your other babies arrive

 

[Curlycue]

I thought so. Just wondered if it would be more depressed-like if it was a girl vs a wild baby boy, or whether there's a difference. I'll report back when the siblings arrive

 

[fldiver97]

No, chicks don’t really display gender specific behaviors when little. Girls will chest bump and chase and peck just the same as boys. My last batch of 6 one day old chicks included 2 speckled Sussex that were supposed to be females. One of the was much smaller than any of the other chicks even different breeds. More skittish as well. I would have never guessed that that little one was a cockerel. He stayed on the smaller side for about 9 weeks and then caught up. Around 16 weeks old he started practicing his crow and Sir Percival is now a large, very beautiful rooster…..

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

and a big MO howdy right back at you! Thanks for joining! You're going to have so much fun here!

 

[Jenbirdee]

 

[chrissynemetz]

Welcome to BYC! It's nice to meet you!