Hi! New member with new chicks!

[Amore Galline]

Thank you for the welcomes! You guys are quick with the answers!

Gosh! No more earthworms!!

Who knew?

And I was wondering what exactly to use for grit (I knew chickens pick it up naturally outside, but wasn't sure about the chicks), so thank you, pixiedouglas for clearing that up. I'll put a handful of fine sand/dirt in with them.

I gave them a small handful of bermuda hay - is that OK?

The loss of the chick was way harder than I would have expected from having them for such a short time. We've become surprisingly attached to them already! (especially my son and daughter - they've each picked a favorite). She seemed more wobbly than the others on arrival, but then was eating and drinking like the others, and gaining weight (we weight them daily), so we thought she was OK. I would replace her immediately, but I ordered from a company who guaranteed 90% females, and I could pick and choose breeds I wanted. (as opposed to my local feed store, which not only would not guarantee sex - I think they have no way of knowing, but didn't even have breeds listed for the various types of chicks they have).
But shipping was expensive, and they don't ship less than 3 chicks. We aren't even allowed to have roosters where we live, so I hope they're all hens. I told the kids before they arrived that if we had a rooster, we'd eat him. But there's no way we could eat one of them - they're our little pets now!
I could imagine more chicks in our future -- good thing we built a plenty big coop!! Chicks are seeming a lot like potato chips! So many beautiful breeds to collect.

After cruising around the forum some, I have only one complaint -- I wish everyone would label their pictures of their beautiful hens with breed names!! I want to know what they all are! (for future reference!

)

 

[SilkieMomma]

Welcome from Ohio!!

 

[ChickLit]

Another Hi from Oregon!! You came to the right place for all the info & answers you can handle

Soooooooo sorry about the loss of your little one!!

Keeping my fingers crossed for the others.

I give my little ones parakeet grit ... it's actually more like sand ... they Love It!! and then at least one falls asleep in the dish

They haven't really gotten hip to yogurt yet but I try to give them a little once in awhile and I'm sure they'll come around.

Scrambled egg is on the horizon too!

 

[gryeyes]

from California!

Everybody else has covered what you've asked thus far, so let me just give out my usual warnings:

Whenever you go in to check on the chicks and they all look like they're dead, tap the brooder box before you have your heart attack. The chicks will awaken. They just have a habit of falling asleep in any old position, and look dead. (I am sorry you already lost one, but thought you might have a minor panic attack from that experience if you saw a brooder full of "dead chicks" some time. It's quite common.)

When you see a chick apparently having a seizure, on its side, kicking and flapping its wing, maybe rolling to the other side to do it again, that is simply their way of making a "dust bath" just like they will do in the yard when they are grown up. They know how to do it when very young.

Earwigs are like CANDY to chickens, by the way. And they have niacin in them, so they're healthy treats! (Bugs are good sources of natural niacin.) Just be sure to toss a little sand or pebbly dirt in a small dish for them, because the exoskeletons need to be ground up with the addition of grit.

After you have about 10 posts you should be able to add photos to your messages. We ALL love to see pictures!

 

[Amore Galline]

Thanks, gryeyes, we saw right from the beginning the chick 'sleep of the dead!' I didn't expect them to lay their heads down the way they do, it was a good thing we were so excited about them we sat watching them until they were all asleep, so we didn't come upon them looking like that!

And the weather turned really nice in So Cal, so the chicks got an afternoon field trip out to the coop, and it was adorable when they rustled around in the dirt like a 'big chicken!'
Thanks for the welcomes, everyone!

 

[fargosmom]

Welcome to the world of chickmania! Not sure about the hay - during the first few weeks while their digestive systems are getting up and running it seems safer to me to stick with starter feed and things that are easy to digest (think baby food). Other more complicated stuff is probably not terrible, but remember that they only way they can digest things that are hard or fibrous is by grinding it in their gizzards with grit, which they're not born with . . . they have to eat it. So be sure to provide grit (think sand, or parakeet grit, or the decomposed granite I swiped from a neighbor's garden). But most important you've got growing babies, so you want to make sure that they're mostly eating stuff that will help them grow big and strong, and not so much treat-type stuff right off the bat. Have fun and enjoy the fluffiness!!

 

[Amore Galline]

Thanks, fargosmom. It's hard not to want to give them some more interesting things to pick at, but we'll stick to mostly chick starter for the next couple weeks. (they are awfully cute running around with an earwig in their mouth!)
BTW, are you in Pasadena, CA? I grew up in Monterey Park - not too far away!

How does anyone actually manage to keep up with this board, though?! I can't believe the traffic here! I can't begin to keep up with the Raising Chicks area, let alone all the others!

 

[nanawendy]

From Washington St... Transplant from So.Cal. HB... sorry for your loss

You guys are off to a good start now. Enjoy your babies.

 

[Amore Galline]

Yea! I can post pics now! (hope the size is OK)
Here is one from right when they arrived. The EE on the far left is the one that died.

And here are individual shots taken on their 1 week birthday:
Our Barred Plymouth Rock, named Priscilla ~

My son's favorite EE, he named Poppy ~

Our other EE, named Gallina ~

Our Speckled Sussex, my daughter's favorite, she named Cambria ~

And our Welsummer, she is still waiting for the perfect name ~

And here's the coop, waiting for the babies to move in!

Hope these are too big, they seem big in the preview.

 

[cityslickers]