Raising Baby Chick-Along

[orrpeople]

It's gawd awful hot here too, but I'll take it over snow and cold any day.
First group out in the yard today. I can already tell one of these little ones is a boy.
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5:00am - 80 degrees F already... at 5:30 I went out and turned all the misters on. Now, it's up to them to find the cool spots.
So, my EE that I gave some chicks to about a month ago has really been a terrible mamma. But, despite her best attempts to abandon her chicks, they are thriving and holding their own with the rest of the flock. I'm amazed. They even decided to sleep on the perch with the big girls last night instead of their little house! It's so funny to me to walk outside and see two tiny ones up at the feeder with the big ones! (Terrible pic, I know. They still dont let me get very close to them.)

 

[orrpeople]

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I currently have... East Frisians inside, silkies and crested cream legbars in my garage, and silver laced wyandotte and BLRW that go from the garage to their outdoor pen during the day. And, my incubators are full again. ❤❤❤

Hey, another East Frisian person!! Looks like you have a good color assortment! Did you incubate them yourself or get them sent to you?

 

[MageofMist]

Feel free to answer any of the Questions of the Day on any day. I just like to put them out as conversation starters because you never know what you might learn from other fellow chicken keepers!!
Question of the Day!!
Chick color: yellow fuzz on a chick makes white feathers... or does it? What is your experience with the way chicks are colored at hatch (or out of the box) and how they will feather out?
I had an interesting conversation on a Facebook poultry site. Someone had posted a pic of a chick with chipmunk striping and asked what breed it was. I had to chuckle at some of the responses and tried to explain the wonderment that that particular color pattern could produce so many different breeds!

I have more experience with quails with their crazy colours than chickens, but I have some really weird yet cool morphs. One looked like an ordinary white King Quail, and was a solid white after losing it's baby fluff, then suddenly out of no-where it started getting silver feathers on it's back and became a tuxedo.

Some pics of my quails when they were babies:

 

[AUChickenGal]

Hard to believe these little guys are a week old already! They're getting their wing feathers and the start of tail feathers. So cute!

Reba the (presumed) Rhose Island Red:

Xena the Black Australorp. She made two jail breaks yesterday before I was able to eliminate her escape route. She's lucky I found her before the cat did:

Sophie the Delaware:

Puff the Salmon Faverolles. She's feathering in slower than the others and spends more time under the heat plate, but she is active and eating, drinking, and pooping:

 

[MageofMist]

Hard to believe these little guys are a week old already! They're getting their wing feathers and the start of tail feathers. So cute!

Reba the (presumed) Rhose Island Red:View attachment 1047258


Xena the Black Australorp. She made two jail breaks yesterday before I was able to eliminate her escape route. She's lucky I found her before the cat did:View attachment 1047259


Sophie the Delaware:View attachment 1047260


Puff the Salmon Faverolles. She's feathering in slower than the others and spends more time under the heat plate, but she is active and eating, drinking, and pooping:View attachment 1047261

Beautiful babies.

Thankfully while my cat has a strong prey drive, she prefers to sniff first. She seems to not hunt things with my scent on, so as long as I handle the chicks on a regular basis, which I am happy with, she just sniffs them and then moves on... When she gets the chance as she is terrified of the mama hen for a good reason. Last time Angel got close to the hen with her chicks, just walking past, I had to rescue the cat after Angel was chased and pounced on by the protective hen, luckily neither the hen or cat were harmed, but the hen did pull a good tuft of fur out.

It is scary as one day I found her flinging a fledgling starling about after having snapped it's neck from a bite to the throat, yet for the quail and chickens... She'll either sniff and leave them, or slap them without using the claws to move them away. It is a good thing she is scared of the older chickens and disinterested in the small chicks and quail as one time she caught a huge rat about the size of one of my 3 month old chicks, having snapped it's neck and brought it to me all proud, I doubt a chicken would be much of a challenge for her.

 

[lcertuche]

My little fuzzy butts are New Hampshire's. They were cute little yellow balls of fuzz. At two months old they are really beautiful. Much more so than my Production Reds (pictured) at that age. I have barely noticed their feather exchange.

 

[Jessimom]

I have a laundry basket broody sitting on some eggs on my back doorstep. I gave her 4 fertile eggs from Gotro17. They are only on day 5. At some point, I need to move her to a larger enclosure, but each time I've tried to move her she freaks out. She gets out once a day and goes and gives herself a massive dirt bath, then comes running back if anyone goes near her nest. At night, we wedge a rubbermade bucket on top of her, so nothing can get in.

 

[orrpeople]

Greetings from hot, hot, hot Northern California!! (Not all Northern California is hot, we are just at the end of the valley, where heat seems to get trapped during the summer!) I had an interesting experience with my three-week old chicks yesterday. I put an upside down rubber-tote lid into their grow-out tractor, and filled it with water. I figured they would do the same thing they do with anything new - avoid it and pretend like it's out to get them. Contrary to that, in a couple hours they had it filled with dirt and were happily being "mud puppies" in it! So, I keep adding water, they keep adding dirt, and everyone just seems so happy!

I have a laundry basket broody sitting on some eggs on my back doorstep. I gave her 4 fertile eggs from Gotro17. They are only on day 5. At some point, I need to move her to a larger enclosure, but each time I've tried to move her she freaks out. She gets out once a day and goes and gives herself a massive dirt bath, then comes running back if anyone goes near her nest. At night, we wedge a rubbermade bucket on top of her, so nothing can get in.
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Have you tried the "in the dark of night" move yet? I had two that moved really successfully like that...and- there's always one - that did not! At any rate, it's just fabulous she chose the laundry basket of all things!!

 

[Jessimom]

Key word: CUT fruit and veggies! My piggie, Ms Mabel got into a bag of grapes a few days ago and now has a blocked crop! trying to squish grapes inside a bird from the outside was a new experience for me just now. poor girl!

Good morning from hot, hot, hot Northern California!! (Not all Northern California is hot, we are just at the end of the valley, where heat seems to get trapped during the summer!) I had an interesting experience with my three week-old chicks yesterday. I put an upside down rubber-tote lid into their grow-out tractor, and filled it with water. I figured they would do the same thing they do with anything new - avoid it and pretend like it's out to get them. Contrary to that, in a couple hours they had it filled with dirt and we happily being "mud puppies" in it! So, I keep adding water, they keep adding dirt, and everyone just seems so happy!
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Have you tried the "in the dark of night" move yet? I had two that moved really successfully like that...and- there's always one - that did not! At any rate, it's just fabulous she chose the laundry basket of all things!!

Hillarious!! Mud chicks - but with the clay soil we have down here, it would end up being a nightmare. Any time it rains and if the silky run gets muddy, I have to take them all inside and spend hours taking the mud boots off.

It's funny, she and 1 other hen like to lay their eggs in this laundry bucket. The last time the black hen tried to jump in, this one almost killed it. She hasn't tried since.

 

[orrpeople]

My little fuzzy butts are New Hampshire's. They were cute little yellow balls of fuzz. At two months old they are really beautiful. Much more so than my Production Reds (pictured) at that age. I have barely noticed their feather exchange.

Isn't it interesting the way some chicks feather out very nicely and others have a rough go of it... I always liken it to Jr. High. There are the kids that escape the awkward, pimply-ness and others...not so much!