Hi everybody! A person in another forum suggested me to come here and ask any questions I may have about chickens. I recently got 3 baby chicks, but I know almost nothing about chickens.
Now, before everybody thinks I made an impulse buy with the chicks, here's the story of how they became my surrogate children:
I live in Los Angeles county. In my town it seems that it is allowed to have chickens as pets, and quite a few people in my neighborhood have chickens. It is usually not a problem and the roosters don't bother me, but this year, a guy from two houses down the street decided to let his flock roam free in the street. It is a very quite neighborhood with almost no traffic, and there is even a horse path nearby, so it's rather common to see horses and chickens outside. However, this man doesn't seem to be taking care of his flock that much, because the chickens are wandering more than usual, and get into other people's yards, something that I hadn't seen in the 5-6 years I've been living here with my sister and her family.
The hens in the flock have been busy, and with a couple of really pretty roosters keeping them company, I've seen chicks running around every other day... that is, until almost a month ago my brother-in-law found 3 chicks on a Friday night. it had been rainy and cold, and it was obvious that the chicks were lost. He manage to catch two, but one got away. We found it dead the next day
. He had originally planned to give the chicks to he neighbor, but my nieces had fell in love with the chicks, and they were very concerned also about the dead one, so he decided to keep them. Now, I'm a sucker for animals, and because the poor things were peeping in so much distress, I took them to my room, turned on the heater (I had already googled on the basic care for chicks, I don't have a desk lamp to use as a source of heat), and kept them fed and safe in their box.
Fast forward two weeks. It's Monday, I didn't work that day, so I stayed home while everybody was at school and work. I was making my breakfast when I hear this loud peep. I thought it was the flock, but suddenly I see this tiny baby chick, all dirty and smelly, running around in my backyard. I went to the front yard and see if the flock was around, but nothing. I caught the chick and I see it's so tiny! Even smaller than the other two we got when we caught them! It had some blood on its beak, so I think a cat probably caught it and played with it. Anyways, I give the little peep a bath with a tiny bit of shampoo and warm water, and I dry it up, and put it inside my sweater to keep it warm and let it calm down before I put it with the other chicks.
So now I have 3 children, and I call them my children because they seem to have bonded with me. I have no idea of exactly how old they are, they are all in different stages of fluff and feather, not to mention size. I don't know whether they are male of female, however I'm already in love with them. I wish I could add links to this post but I can't yet since I'm a new member still, but as soon as I can, I'll make a thread with pics of my peeps so you guys can help me find out wither they are boys or girls
Now, before everybody thinks I made an impulse buy with the chicks, here's the story of how they became my surrogate children:
I live in Los Angeles county. In my town it seems that it is allowed to have chickens as pets, and quite a few people in my neighborhood have chickens. It is usually not a problem and the roosters don't bother me, but this year, a guy from two houses down the street decided to let his flock roam free in the street. It is a very quite neighborhood with almost no traffic, and there is even a horse path nearby, so it's rather common to see horses and chickens outside. However, this man doesn't seem to be taking care of his flock that much, because the chickens are wandering more than usual, and get into other people's yards, something that I hadn't seen in the 5-6 years I've been living here with my sister and her family.
The hens in the flock have been busy, and with a couple of really pretty roosters keeping them company, I've seen chicks running around every other day... that is, until almost a month ago my brother-in-law found 3 chicks on a Friday night. it had been rainy and cold, and it was obvious that the chicks were lost. He manage to catch two, but one got away. We found it dead the next day
Fast forward two weeks. It's Monday, I didn't work that day, so I stayed home while everybody was at school and work. I was making my breakfast when I hear this loud peep. I thought it was the flock, but suddenly I see this tiny baby chick, all dirty and smelly, running around in my backyard. I went to the front yard and see if the flock was around, but nothing. I caught the chick and I see it's so tiny! Even smaller than the other two we got when we caught them! It had some blood on its beak, so I think a cat probably caught it and played with it. Anyways, I give the little peep a bath with a tiny bit of shampoo and warm water, and I dry it up, and put it inside my sweater to keep it warm and let it calm down before I put it with the other chicks.
So now I have 3 children, and I call them my children because they seem to have bonded with me. I have no idea of exactly how old they are, they are all in different stages of fluff and feather, not to mention size. I don't know whether they are male of female, however I'm already in love with them. I wish I could add links to this post but I can't yet since I'm a new member still, but as soon as I can, I'll make a thread with pics of my peeps so you guys can help me find out wither they are boys or girls
