Hi everyone I'm Leigh! I'm new to the chicken owning world but very excited to get started! I currently own 4 Pekin Bantams, and to tell you the truth I have had a few problems so need as much help as I can! I'll start from the start, First of all We brought EVERYTHING possible for our new arrivals (3 Pekin Bantam hen chicks). We collected our chicks and were told they were fine to come off heat as long as we kept them indoors... So we did what we were told... all was fine for 2 weeks until one of our lovely little ladies passed away! We still don't know the cause and I would desperately like to know! I am starting to think the lady we brought them off was telling us porkies and they were far too young to leave heat! A week passed and we decided to go get another two chicks so we could bring them all up together, we collected two more (older) chicks from another breeder, one hen and one cock. All was going great! All so lovely and cuddly! A little while later we released one of our original chicks had grown a lovely big comb on 'her' head... Yep, looks like we now have two roosters? I realllllllyyy don't want to have to let one go, I need more options but can't find anything... I will upload pictures of my little flock soon so I can get definite opinions on the sex of them all. Even though I am fairly certain! Any information on owning this breed of chicken will help! Thanks in advance everyone!!!
Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help. Sorry for your loss!! Be sure to check out our learning center where you'll find tons of info. https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center GLAD YOU JOINED!!
Mable II, on the left (hen) Albert, on the right (cock) Peggy, (hen) Violet, This is the chick that was a 'hen' when we brought 'her' LOL! Male?? This is Peggy, Violet and Mable the 1st before she passed away, All snugly!
Hello there and welcome to BYC! Sorry about the chick you lost. At that age, the most common illness to strike in the brooder is coccidiosis. Chicks of the ages of 2 to 6 weeks are susceptible. There is a protozoa parasite that is present in the intestines of all birds. If chicks become overwhelmed with too many of this parasite, it can kill them. As chicks age, they generally develop immunity and can learn to control this. You can post pics in our What Breed and Gender section of the forums for help with determining sex of your birds...https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/15/what-breed-or-gender-is-this Enjoy this new journey you are on and welcome to our flock!
Welcome to BYC, Leigh! Glad you decided to join our flock. Sorry for your loss. Just post any questions you may have and we'll do our best to answer them. We are here to help in any way we can. Looking forward to seeing your pictures. We should be able to ID their gender for you. Good luck with your flock.
Welcome to BYC. Being surprised(shocked really) by having roosters show up when you get hens is very common. Either the seller knows he is misleading the buyer, OR, he sells birds way to young to be sexed. I'm sorry you are in this predicament. It always happens after you get attached to the bird, and usually its the favorite too.