Illinois...

[Faraday40]

Hi all! I'm in need of some advice...
We have a six hen limit and I currently have four 2 yr old hens in our coop. I wanted to add two more, so I picked up two chicks at F&F. Only a few weeks in I began to see strong signs that one is a cockerel. Not wanting to be left with only one newbie to add to the coop, I went back and got two more chicks last week, figuring I'd introduce the two littlest to the slightly older one after confirming that the second older is a boy, then add all three to the existing flock. Well, last night one of the two tiny baby chicks passed away (she'd been acting a little off ever since coming home). So now I am left with the month-old boy and girl in one bin, and the one week-old chick who is not happy by herself. What to do???

I could go out and get two more chicks to put in with her, but since we have new neighbors and the ordinance is for six hens, I'd like to stick as close to six as I can... (plus my coop is sized for only 6-7). I'm just trying to figure out what my next move should be to try to keep them all happy, especially the tiny new one by herself, or if I should just wait a bit longer to confirm the one is a boy and then slowly introduce the two new girls to each other and then to the outside girls? Gah!

Thanks for any advice!

Is there a way you can put the 2 brooders next to each other so the chicks may see each other? That may help with the little one's anxiety & also allow the older ones to get used to it. If you have some type of play yard to bring them outside or even just let them run around you in the kitchen/bathroom (I'm thinking easy to clean flooring), you can allow them time to interact with each other under your supervision. You may not have a problem. My orps are very docile & I've been able to put mixed ages together.

I don't worry too much about numbers because female pullets are pretty easy to sell on Craigslist. Males you will probably have to donate to someone who can legally own roosters.

 

[megpie021]

Does that work for a shot of her face??

 

[avocadoeggs]

I just went through the getting friends for the lone chick thing and ended up with extra chicks. Though depending on what Pepper and Licorice do to me it may not be extra. Unless the new neighbors are really going to have problems with it, we didnt see how it would make that much of a difference. We are new to the area, but are pretty sure our neighbors are pretty relaxed about things and they would have a hard time seeing the chickens to count anyway. But now I have 6 week old chicks and week old ones I have to figure out how to get them integrated. I think also you will find these guys to be a bunch of enablers   Not that I dont like that about you all! But just because I gave in to chicken math and listened to the enablers doesnt mean you should. Are you McHenry county then?

@Faraday40
  I will get a picture of Licorice's comb shortly they are going to get another outside adventure. 

Yes, Mchenry county. I guess I'm not super worried about whether the neighbors would care about the number, but I don't want to overcrowd my coop. I was kind of trying to set up a good coop example that may help those in city limits with their fight for backyard hens, but of course that may only happen with a mayor change anyway.

@Faraday40 I will be putting the two brooders together soon so they can see each other, but was just trying to give the newest a week or so to be sure there aren't any health issues to share. I have a play pen and they probably will all do fine if I slowly introduce them and supervise. I should probably focus on who wants a free speckled Sussex rooster, lol!

I don't have much hope on this one being a girl.

 

[Faraday40]

Does that work for a shot of her face??

Both pics are the same chick, right?

From the comb, it looks very much like a pullet to me. I'm not seeing many male indicators. The only thing which could say male is the brick-red chest - instead of the very common honey-gold color. Of course all EEs are mixes, so the chest color could simply mean that she's mixed with something like a Welsummer, Brown Leghorn, or other breed with that feather pattern. If that's the case, she's going to be a very pretty girl (In my opinion).

 

[Faraday40]

Yes, Mchenry county. I guess I'm not super worried about whether the neighbors would care about the number, but I don't want to overcrowd my coop. I was kind of trying to set up a good coop example that may help those in city limits with their fight for backyard hens, but of course that may only happen with a mayor change anyway.

@Faraday40 I will be putting the two brooders together soon so they can see each other, but was just trying to give the newest a week or so to be sure there aren't any health issues to share. I have a play pen and they probably will all do fine if I slowly introduce them and supervise. I should probably focus on who wants a free speckled Sussex rooster, lol!

I don't have much hope on this one being a girl.

Yep. That's a boy!

 

[megpie021]

@Faraday40 Yep thats the same chick! I love how she looks. Reminds us of a hawk. She actually got out of their pen when out there today and husband had fun watching me chase her around. We had to corner and she protested being put back pretty loudly.

@avocadoeggs Sorry about the baby being a boy! I get where you are coming from with wanting to set a good example. I actually only recently noticed there are chickens in the yard right behind us. Cant see them well because of a privacy fence. So I think as long as you are maintaining things, one or two extra isn't going to set a bad one

 

[chickendreams24]

The second place husband and I rented together had an epic spider problem. I was bit a few times, and they loved surprising me in the shower. It got to the point where I had to have him check the bathroom before I would shower. When they are in the yard or garden I usually get husband to just move them. In the house is a kill zone. I dont want them getting any ideas that this is a nice comfy place for them!

Lol yeah our policy is usually if they're outside leaving us alone they're fine. But if they are in the house or climb on us then all bets are off and I may go streaking. Lol. I tend to be more calm and get them off me then panic and cry afterwards. Lol I know it's ridiculous. Now that being said if you guys had had some of the spiders in your house we've had you might be inclined to agree with me. We live in WI and there aren't tarantulas of course but some of the large brown garden and wolf spiders get so massive you'd swear they were. We do occasionally get a couple up in the corners of the bathroom very small ones that aren't yucky. Lol but the rule is if they come out of their corner they're dead. I've had the big hair ones drop from the ceiling in me in the shower(don't know where it came from bc I do check the ceiling after a previous experience) I also check the ceiling in the bedroom before bed.

When I was younger & more adventurous, I traveled. My dream vacation was a trip to Africa. Talk about exotic, deadly dangers! DH & I applied bug spray with DEET as soon as we finished showering. Because of the malaria risk & the drug resistance in the area where we were traveling, DH & I had to take Larium. That stuff was awful. We had some strange side effects including paranoia & hallucinations. One night I saw a huge spider on the netting of our bed. (I asked DH & he saw it too.) In my mind, it was trying to prevent me from going to bed. By hanging on the netting I had nothing hard to smoosh against. I grabbed my boot & took my best shot. As I carefully lifted to boot to see if I was successful, I saw no body. So I was convinced, I had an angry vengeful spider out to get me for trying to kill it. I was very grateful to leave that tent alive the next morning! The trip was wonderful but the Larium really did a number on me. Then after returning to the States, we had to continue taking Larium for a full month. I remember having severe insomnia & wild daydreams while trying to set up my classroom that August. The following year, I went to Belize & Guatemala with a bunch of teachers. Thankfully I already had the shots & was able to take a diff anti-malaria drug with no side effects for me. However, the scorpions were bad. On our 1st morning in the researcher camp, a fellow teacher spotted one while in the shower. She ran out of her hut screaming & ran into ours wearing only a towel. Another teacher brought her hubby along who left his suitcase open during the night. As he pulled out his shirt a scorpion fell to the ground. He was more together & didn't streak through camp. By our 2nd morning, everyone knew to search showers, toilets, & beds before using them & also to zip up suitcases & shake out shoes. I thought the big tarantulas would be a problem for me, but they were very shy. One of the researcher's kids who lived there took me on a tour to show me all the tarantulas in camp. She explained that we had to walk very quietly or they'd get scared & hide. After she gave me the tour, I knew exactly where I needed to stomp around when passing by. I can't understand why DH refused to go with me on that trip! LOL

I'm so jealous of this trip and I hope someday I can take a similar one. In the meantime I can't wait until you can tell me more about it.

Am I the only husband on here? LOL On a lighter note...

Okay guys it's late and I don't see a chick in that picture at all. I saw the cuckoo naked neck frizzle.

Aww. It took me a moment to figure out the pic. Is it a 2 headed chicken or a frizzled naked neck with her chick?

Shizzle... She's the surrogate momma with one of "her" 2 chicks... Lol. She went broody so I stuffed some eggs under her. Momma is a Turkin

Daddy is a cuckoo silkie

Okay I totally want a couple cuckoo silkies!!! Lol I love my silkies they're so flipping weird lol. Such cute birds. DH2B thinks we should make sex linked silkies and sell chicks. Of course that would leave us with a lot of cockerals perhaps give them away idk. Also it would only work for the first generation but how awesome would blue and blue cuckoo sex linked silkies be?!

That's good. I'm sure my wife will eventually post. I wish we could create local threads inside of our state post. Maybe a moderator could create the states as forums so we can do that.

But but but could I still play?

Alright after all this spider talk, one was found in the garage tonight when I was taking care of the big ones before bed....

Dun dun dun duhda!

Chick issue One of our penciled rock chicks (came from shipped eggs) cannot walk properly. I've never seen this before. At 1st I thought injury, but now I think it's from deformed feet. I gave it some vitamins (Poly-vii-sol without iron) & "Sav a chick" in water. It's drinking & I figured vitamins wouldn't hurt while I research. Do I need to cull it or is this something that can be treated? Any advice on what to research? Now I feel horrible for not spotting it sooner. Cookie is such an awesome broody, so I haven't been fussing over the chicks as much.

Hey It's hard to see in the pic but is it walking around and sitting on its hocks? Does it not really move it's feet, but it can just doesn't? I'd have to see it in person but that seems to look similar to what we've experienced twice in the last two quail hatches. One chick each hatch was affected but more severely and I am feeling it has to be a deficiency or something. Idk. Neither of ours responded to treat but I hope your little rock does. Please keep me up to date.

Just received my first chicks on April 7, they were born on April 5. Three silver laced wyandottes, three barred rocks, and four black australorps (the hatchery sent an extra).

Congratulations!

Grab a lap towel & try holding 2-3 chicks while watching TV or reading a book. They tame very quickly. Moving your hand slowly while inside the brooder also helps them stay calm. I made little band aid shoes for the chick & it's in the house brooder with the quail so I can keep an eye on it. Not sure if it will be 100% fixable, but I don't think I have to put it down at this point.

I agree give it a chance. I forget where on here but if you search they should have something about deficiency and chick podiatry. Or something along those lines. I will help do some research tomorrow night if you give me all the symptoms etc.

Okay fair warning this post is going to be a lot of pictures. I had my big ones out enjoying the sun, and am suddenly really suspicious of every one but Cinnamon. Cinnamon is the Buff Orpington in the pictures. These ladies are 6 weeks old, 7 weeks next Wednesday. Thoughts? Some of the pictures might not be the best. They werent being very cooperative. This is Licorice and Pepper. EE and SLW. Pepper has had a comb for a while too, its pink, but hasnt really changed. I am not sure if its because she is hatchery stock? Pepper, Peaches and Cinnamon. Peaches is the Amberlink. When I originally asked about her everyone said not to worry she is a production hybrid and will have a big comb. Pepper I was told to wait and see. What little licorice has in way of comb is pink now too. Apparently Cinnamon is fond of flashing her butt . Close up of Pepper. Peaches Licorice. I truly hope I am being overly paranoid with this. Giving one of them up would be the worst. Licorice is a bit of a wild child, but everyone else is really sweet. Licorice is very pretty though, so it makes up for the crazy.

Okay so my feeling right now is that Pepper is a girl all of our hatchery wyandottes pinked up early. Wyandottes are known for it. In addition to keeping an eye out for hackle and saddle feathers on her keep an eye out for white barring in the wings coming in, but her wattles are small enough and she really isn't that pink. Now for Licorice it's been our experience that EE have more of a phase where they realize people are huge monsters more than some other breeds. Be patient and gentle she'll come around if not sooner then when she starts laying. Treats make great bribes but be sure you're giving a them grit. Her coloring looks female to me. The dark red on the chest is a bit unusual but she seems to have the partridge female pencilling on many of her feathers. The one pic does seem to show what could be saddle feathers(keep an eye on those) but I'm guessing they're just molting or coming in that way. Was it windy when you took the pic? perhaps they're being blown. Keep an eye out for telltale brick red patches on the shoulders that scream boy. They are very common in EE roos. She's very pretty but I am surprised she isn't bearded. While not every we is bearded all of the we we've ever purchased as chicks have been and they're so cute. One of my absolute favorite birds is my EE hen Pebbles.

any body need a cab incubator? some one on FB is selling one [COLOR=1D2129] Incubator
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Sportsman 1502 incubator. I have the bucket for remote water filling, new egg turner installed, and new digital thermostat. It's too big for what we need. $500 firm
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Well it's too pricey for me but I would love one. Now I get to brag a little bc DH2B is building me one!!

We have been watching Pepper (SLW) for about 2 weeks now lol. She turned the red she has about then but hasnt changed since then really. I am going to try to remain very hopeful for Pepper as she is my favorite. I asked in the wyandotte thread and they said she could go either way since she hasnt gotten a lot of silver on her yet, the idea being cockrels have more lacing soonee I think? Her wattles havent grown any more either. And she barely has any silver on her body. If theres an argument to be made the other please go ahead

The EE just suddenly looked really pink to me today when I went to see them first thing this morning. Licorice has also gone from our friendliest sweetest one to the most flighty and least likely to let you touch. It better not be that they both are boys. I wouldnt even have extra chickens then. I would be down chickens again.

4 years ago I also had an EE that looked & acted like a male. Tyrion ended up laying an egg before she crowed. Still have her today

We had two EE a couple years ago that were suspect and both turned out to be ladies. We have also had the opposite happen but not as much.

Does that work for a shot of her face??

With that comb I say pullet.

 

[megpie021]

This was Licorice when we got her, no beard or muffs then either. She has been one clean faced little chicky. I think Olive the new EE has a clean face too. The one that started the whole drama two weekends ago had a beard and muffs. I was pretty excited about that. Oh well. Licorice is a pretty bird, so I am excited to see what Olive does. Also that was one heck of a catch up there @chickendreams24

 

[ChicagoClucker]

The next hatch has begun. 2 out and many others pipped. 2 of the air cells had not shrunk enough so we will see if they make it.

 

[Faraday40]

The next hatch has begun. 2 out and many others pipped.

Keep 'em coming!