Howdie, I'm Rosie with some new chicks!!

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Bluenrose

Bluenrose

In the Brooder
5 Years
Joined
Jun 4, 2014
Messages
31
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Location
West Michigan
I moved in with a friend who had a flock of 10 chickens, no idea on breeds, but there was 9 hens and 1 rooster. So we said yes to my neice who was doing a class experiment hatching chicks, the only problem was they had no homes so we said yes to 12 of them. They first started hatching May 12, 2014. Today is June 4, 2014. After having them just this short while I've grown attatched to them and want to do best by them since my friend no longer was taking care of them. I have the chick feed, the 4x2 pen for them. But I want to know what to do to make them happy. I hold and pet them w/out them jumping, my fav is a yellow one turning white who has like a crown on it's head, it likes to hold onto my finger with it's feet and wont let go lol. Any and all advise about ways to handle them, best times to feed them, and what would make a good coop outdoors for them when they get old enough. Plus some ideas on how to keep other animals from killing them, we have coyotes and wolves in our area. I'm thinking maybe a two layer think fence, 3 ft in the ground, 8 ft high. Thank you for your time :)

Rosie from West Michigan
 
3 of them are yellow growing some white feathers, 3 are light brown with black stripes starting from beak to tail, 5 of them are solid light brown. I'm thinking one of the white ones is male since he has a crown growing where none of the others do.
 
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Hello Rosie and Welcome to BYC!!

You might want to start with some reading in our learning center. Lots of good articles on all the aspects of taking care of your flock...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

Take a look at our coops pages for some ideas on what you might like to build for your babies...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops

And if you are unsure of breeds or sex, you can post pics in our What Breed and Gender section for help with these questions...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/15/what-breed-or-gender-is-this

As for handling them, the more you do the better. Try to pick them up from underneath, supporting their bodies, beak toward your palm, letting the feet dangle. Chicks don't like a hand coming down on them and once you learn how to pick them up as I described, they will be very easy to pick up and won't struggle. Sit with them on the floor of the living room and let them run around. They will naturally get on your lap and this will train them to be lap sitters too. Sitting with them really gets that bond going between you both.

Enjoy your new babies and welcome to our flock!
 
Will def do ty so much :) They mostly run when i feed them, towards the food lol but i love holding them, atm they fit in my hand and push my fingers with their beaks, it's so cute when i get to them in the morning, i'll snap my fingers (just a habit i have before feeding my animals) and they pick up their heads, look at me sideways it's so cute :P
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Good luck with the flock! TwoCrows has given you some nice links to check out!
 
Sounds like a major case of chicken addiction to me. You'll fit in here just fine.

You may want a solid cover on your run to keep out climbers and hawks - as well as some protection from rain/snow.

You may need/want electric fence wires around your run to keep wolves and coyotes out. You can get more information if you post on the predators thread. Are you allowed to shoot predators?
 

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