Newbie chicken owner... always seeking more advice and comments. Would enjoy the conversation.

[divinitymin]

New to this group and now that we have some chicks, thought I would give this a go and make some chicken buddies. We have Amerucana's ( sp) and they are about 4 and half weeks old. They are getting plenty of playtime with one another and watching them grow has been a delight. Watching them scratch around.. lose their balance and peck randomly at the side of the Rubbermaid cracks me up. They are inquisitive, flighty and goofy all at once. Looking forward to their development and of course.. eggs.
We live in WA and the weather is starting to cool off, though the chicks aren't super interested in the heat lamp during the day but are at night. I was looking to see when I should put in a bar for them to roost.. if anything it may just provide some great entertainment for us. I was wondering though.. do they play with toys at all ? , Would a jingly cat ball provide some fun or scare the crap out of them ? Someone suggested it to me.. wasn't so sure. Any thoughts ?

Im not sure how to get seen by bunches of folks here online, so Im hoping people snoop and find my postings.

Update : We placed a wood board in the bin.. and what a fun toy that turned out to be.. jumping knocking each over, flying over it.. hilarious !!!! 9-17

 

[iwiw60]

Hello from Central Oregon!

Yes, it's getting colder now here in the Pacific Northwest for sure! Right now would be a good time to give them a little roost bar so they can get into the habit. I see they are 4.5 weeks old now? They're heading into that gawky "teenager" stage...what a riot to watch them! Do you have your coop all set up and ready to go? If you do you might go ahead and put them to the coop with their heat lamp for warmth at night. Are they feathering out now? Would love to see some pics of the girls and your coop/run setup, too, just in case there's something one of us might spot that may need re-thinking....you sure don't want to do that in the snow!

Wishing you all the very best!!

 

[divinitymin]

Their feathers are coming in, but their necks and tummies are still puffy. I was thinking about placing them out there. I have them in a pretty good sized tub in the garage, and they are just bumping into each other.. well.. they have some room, but I do think its about time to intro them to the coop. Im a little nervous over the fact we have a few moles in the backyard and I hear they go after chicks. Mine have literally doubled in size, but I wonder if they would be ready to do some karate on the mole . Any thoughts ? I have the heat lamp on on and off thruout the day but we haven't gone a full ( daylight day without the lamp) I was going to start on that tomorrow.. I have been told it needs to be gradual.
They have it on at night.. but its just a little corner of the tub.. so they have the option to move to another spot which they do now.. seems to be a bit more often. Just a new nervous mom I guess. They are so flippin cute !!!