New to the Chicken world

[skylarkdancer87]

Hello all!
My name is Anna, and I'm new to owning chickens, we live on a half acre in town. I recently purchased 4 Araucana chicks this past Tuesday and was given two bantam chicks from TSC....the bantams were MUCH smaller than the other chicks so I have them in different brooders. One of the bantam chicks passed this morning, so I went up to TSC to get the last two that they had, well one looked just like the one that had passed this morning so I was excited...well he just passed too

I found that he had a blocked vent and I guess I was too late as I just got him this morning. The other two seem to be doing fine. The Araucanas are flourishing and getting big, already have their wing feathers, and one of the bantams has wing feathers too.

So darn cute! I was curious to see how many of ya'll get the Marek's Vaccination? I'm just being a worried chickie mom I guess, I realize that sometimes chicks will die from stress of transport. Mine all have medicated chick starter feed, and their water has the "save-a-chick" in it, and they have their heat lamps on one side so they can move if they get too hot. Any thoughts?

 

[Mahonri]

Welcome to BYC!!!

If they came out of a TSC bin, they most likely have already been vaccinated for Mareks.

Good luck with the chicks!!!

 

[Sorin]

Sounds like you've got a good start! Welcome to BYC! I agree, if you got them at TSC they are more than likely vaccinated, they have to be given the vaccine the day they are hatched from the hatchery. I know the bantams are very small but you can mix them together with the standards. If you keep them separated you will have an issue integrating them together when they are bigger. Also, I hope someone else chimes in, but if you got you "auracanas" from TSC they are probably Easter eggers not true Auracanas. Good luck!

 

[skylarkdancer87]

My Araucanas are from a local mom and pop feed store, and I was told they are true araucanas...i'll take a pic of them and post to see what ya'll think and they are MUCH bigger than the bantams....they pecked at them when I put them in there so I took them out until they are a bit bigger...poor guys.

 

[FMAFarms]

Welcome to chickendom!

I'm going to counter what previous posters said. Our Tractor Supply Company manager verified for me that the chicks they are getting are NOT vaccinated for Marek's. We consulted with the Michigan State University Poultry Research Farm for what to do about this, and the chicks are getting vaccinated tomorrow. Hatcheries do not *have* to vaccinate chicks. It's optional and an extra charge; the feed stores around here -- and I guess that includes our local TSC -- order their chicks in large quantities and choose not to pay extra for the Marek's vaccine.

Marek's is a major killer of poultry, so it would be important to verify that your chicks received or did not receive the vaccine. Feeding them medicated starter does NOT protect them from Marek's. It will, however, help them resist coccidiosis, another big killer of poultry. The Sav-a-Chick is good when you are getting chicks shipped to you. The ones you bought won't need it as long, since they've had a chance to decompress a little from shipping at TSC. Not sure where you got the Araucanas...

Which brings up the Araucanas. Even mom and pop feed stores may not know what they're selling. Heck, McMurray Hatchery is one of the largest in the country, and they sell "Araucanas/Ameraucanas" and when I called to ask why I'd received a bunch of Ameraucanas instead of the Araucanas I'd ordered, the customer-service rep told me that they only carry Ameraucanas, but since so many people don't know that there's a difference, they use both names. Ameraucanas are far, far more common than Araucanas. They will be striped like chipmunks and should already be getting their wing feathers in, since they mature very quickly. They're probably zipping all around their brooder and possibly flapping their wings in exercise already. Araucanas have rounded little tushes because they lack the last tailbone. They won't get tail feathers, and the chicks have very prominent tufts on their cheeks. They mature a little more slowly than Ameraucanas, too. They both lay the "Easter egg" eggs. The main difference, other than the physical appearance, is that Araucanas have a lethal gene allele that affects reproduction, killing a high percentage of chicks in the egg. The Ameraucanas were bred from Araucanas to eliminate the lethal allele.

You can put the bantams in with the standards. They're going to be sharing the same coop outside, so they might as well get used to each other as soon as possible. They'll eventually accept each other... ours always have. Do you know what kind of bantams you got? Can you describe them? Pure pale yellow with bare legs? Pure pale yellow with fuzzy legs? Yellow head with yellow-grey back and bare legs? Chipmunk striped head and back with bare legs? Black head with rusty-auburn face, blackish body with possibly a white chest patch and bare legs? The more you know about them, the easier it will be for you... not to mention fewer surprises!

What else? Be sure to keep paper towels over your shavings for the first few days to keep the chicks' legs from splaying and to keep the chicks from ingesting the pine shavings (we lost a Cuckoo Marans chick in the past to this). Keep the water clean, use a brick to elevate the feeder and waterer when they start kicking shavings into these, keep a thermometer in the brooder to monitor the heat, and be sure to handle them a couple of times again so that they get to know that you're Mom... congrat and have a great time with your chickies!

 

[skylarkdancer87]

The bantams....one is black with dark legs (no feathers on the legs) and little white on one wing and under chin and the back part of it's belly close to it's vent. The other one is white/yellow with light colored legs (flesh colored and no feathering on them).
The "araucanas" are chipmunk marked I have three that look like they have "cleopatra" mascara coming from the corner of there eyes, one has a blue/buff coloring to it, the other three have redish coloring and then one of the reddish ones has the chipmunk butt with a speckled face, they all have wing feathers. The bantams are SO tiny compared to the other chicks....the big chicks are like the size of a tennis ball and the bantams are like the size of a ping pong ball if even that.

 

[skylarkdancer87]

Well my little white one passed last night...

SO SAD!!!! I only have one lil bannie left and when I put him in with the araucana chicks they jumped on him and kept pecking at him....so I took him back out and put him back into his brooder.... with a stuffed animal. I've found some Silkie chicks in my area (i'm beyond excited about this because i've always wanted a silkie!

) so I'm going to pick up a few today hopefully!

 

[Cass]

Sorry for your losses. Hope the silkie chicks sooth the sting of lossing your little ones.