Hi all! I'm Cat.
I recently became a chick mommy and I really have no clue what I'm doing. I'm from a biggish city and just recently moved to rural North Carolina. Until recently, the closest I'd ever been to a chick was when I watched those cute Easter commercials on tv.
On May 30, we bought 10 chicks. Because I didn't know any better, I neglected to ask their breed, their age and even their sexes. Because of our inexperience, we lost 3 chicks in the first 3 days. One was smothered because my husband used a fluorescent bulb in their lamp and they couldn't get warm. Another drowned because I didn't know they needed a smaller water dish. And poor little Dottie passed on the third day, but we don't know why.
Because I couldn't stand to lose another one (by this point they all had names), I spent an entire day researching every article I could find online (which is how I found this website). I learned an amazing amount of information and I think the other 7 chicks survived because of it. Because we don't know their age or sex, we've had a hard time figuring out temperatures and stuff like that, but apparently we're doing okay because no more have passed. Right now they sleep in the house at night and during the day they stay in a larger pen outside. We have a coop ready for them, or at least we did until my sis-in-law surprised (more like shocked) us with a full grown rooster yesterday morning. At first I didn't want him, but then I realized he's so nice and tame. Unlike my chicks, he didn't run whenever I came near. He even let me pet him
So now Henry is in the coop. I'm a little worried because he's all by himself. My husband says we need to leave him in there a couple days before we can let him roam free. It's so sad because he just paces by the door wanting to get out. I let Earbud (our biggest chick and the self appointed leader of the chicks) in the coop with Henry but we had to take him out because Henry pecked him a couple times.
On to me and my family. There's 5 of us here. Me, my husband John, his Mom and Dad, and his 22 year old sister. We live in a big house on a almost-but-not-really-a-farm. I work from home as a writer and John works in utilities. Along with the chicks, we also have Lexie (Chihuahua), Tucker (Jack Russell), Rebel (Mutt Extraordinaire) and Cinnamon (Top Cat in the neighborhood). In the three years we've been here, I've embraced our country life and tried my best to learn new experiences with it.
Because I know ya'll are probably wondering why I would get chicks when I have no clue what I'm doing, it's because of the whole "new experiences" thing (and because I'm a true animal lover). Plus my Father-in-Law used to raise chickens so I figured I could rely on him for help (but unfortunately his memories are a little faded). And that's why I'm here. Because in all the research I did, I kept landing back on this site to find the answers. And, believe me, I need many answers (as if you couldn't tell)!
Thank you Nifty-Chicken for providing an introduction template. Without it ya'll could have been done reading this 5 minutes ago!
Ooh! I can't forget a picture!
I recently became a chick mommy and I really have no clue what I'm doing. I'm from a biggish city and just recently moved to rural North Carolina. Until recently, the closest I'd ever been to a chick was when I watched those cute Easter commercials on tv.
On May 30, we bought 10 chicks. Because I didn't know any better, I neglected to ask their breed, their age and even their sexes. Because of our inexperience, we lost 3 chicks in the first 3 days. One was smothered because my husband used a fluorescent bulb in their lamp and they couldn't get warm. Another drowned because I didn't know they needed a smaller water dish. And poor little Dottie passed on the third day, but we don't know why.
Because I couldn't stand to lose another one (by this point they all had names), I spent an entire day researching every article I could find online (which is how I found this website). I learned an amazing amount of information and I think the other 7 chicks survived because of it. Because we don't know their age or sex, we've had a hard time figuring out temperatures and stuff like that, but apparently we're doing okay because no more have passed. Right now they sleep in the house at night and during the day they stay in a larger pen outside. We have a coop ready for them, or at least we did until my sis-in-law surprised (more like shocked) us with a full grown rooster yesterday morning. At first I didn't want him, but then I realized he's so nice and tame. Unlike my chicks, he didn't run whenever I came near. He even let me pet him
So now Henry is in the coop. I'm a little worried because he's all by himself. My husband says we need to leave him in there a couple days before we can let him roam free. It's so sad because he just paces by the door wanting to get out. I let Earbud (our biggest chick and the self appointed leader of the chicks) in the coop with Henry but we had to take him out because Henry pecked him a couple times.
On to me and my family. There's 5 of us here. Me, my husband John, his Mom and Dad, and his 22 year old sister. We live in a big house on a almost-but-not-really-a-farm. I work from home as a writer and John works in utilities. Along with the chicks, we also have Lexie (Chihuahua), Tucker (Jack Russell), Rebel (Mutt Extraordinaire) and Cinnamon (Top Cat in the neighborhood). In the three years we've been here, I've embraced our country life and tried my best to learn new experiences with it.
Because I know ya'll are probably wondering why I would get chicks when I have no clue what I'm doing, it's because of the whole "new experiences" thing (and because I'm a true animal lover). Plus my Father-in-Law used to raise chickens so I figured I could rely on him for help (but unfortunately his memories are a little faded). And that's why I'm here. Because in all the research I did, I kept landing back on this site to find the answers. And, believe me, I need many answers (as if you couldn't tell)!
Thank you Nifty-Chicken for providing an introduction template. Without it ya'll could have been done reading this 5 minutes ago!
Ooh! I can't forget a picture!
