Raising Baby Chick-Along

[orrpeople]

cockerel heavy here too. People around me are happy to take them, if they are FREE!

I did luck out on OEGBs being more female heavy, and chocolate orps too, but between the cochins and seramas, i have enough tiny testosterone to open my own boy's club!



Nice intro!! Welcome aboard!
(my husband is suffering from some sciatica right now too!)

Thankfully I met a very nice Laotian lady who will basically pay me my costs for any of my spares. I just wrangled up "Mr. I Sleep In A Tree" project bird and some of his buddies and sent him with her. She will finish growing them out and feed her family.

 

[WVduckchick]

So a select few pics that i took today and yesterday of some of my recent hatchlings.

Seramas, chocolate Orpingtons, bantam cochins, and call ducks, OEGBs. Hens are raising most of the chicks, thank goodness. I only have the 2 OEGBs in the house, and a bator full of lav orps.
(sorry for the overload, i couldn't narrow it down any further lol)

 

[Chickening101]

Hi everyone! I've been keeping up with this thread!
I am getting chickens soon! I have a question for chicken keepers who have Reyes lots of feed brands:

Which one is better:
Scratch N Peck feeds
Or
Blue Seal OrganicLife

(I want them to be organic)

 

[orrpeople]

Hi everyone! I've been keeping up with this thread!
I am getting chickens soon! I have a question for chicken keepers who have Reyes lots of feed brands:

Which one is better:
Scratch N Peck feeds
Or
Blue Seal OrganicLife

(I want them to be organic)

I'm not familiar with either of those brands - they might be area specific, but the advice I would give is to research good nutritional ingredients for your birds, and then make sure whichever feed you choose meets those needs. Most brands carry all the basics for chicken health, we, as their owners, have further preferences - organic, soy free, etc - by which we measure (or even create our own) feed. Also know that you don't need to make a permanent decision - you may find the need to change at some point (cost, chickens wasting a lot or not liking it, etc) and your chooks will be okay. I'm excited for you as you anticipate the arrival of your future flock!

 

[WVduckchick]

I'm not familiar with either of those brands - they might be area specific, but the advice I would give is to research good nutritional ingredients for your birds, and then make sure whichever feed you choose meets those needs. Most brands carry all the basics for chicken health, we, as their owners, have further preferences - organic, soy free, etc - by which we measure (or even create our own) feed. Also know that you don't need to make a permanent decision - you may find the need to change at some point (cost, chickens wasting a lot or not liking it, etc) and your chooks will be okay. I'm excited for you as you anticipate the arrival of your future flock!

x2

 

[orrpeople]

Question for Today: Chicks make all sorts of sounds - are you learning to distinguish between them to indicate different things they may be communicating?
Yesterday there was the unmistakable "something is seriously wrong" extended high-pitch crying coming from one of my indoor peeps. When I went to check it out, I didn't see anything amiss, so in my most teacherly tone I chided them, "OK, kiddos, have you ever heard about the boy who cried "wolf"? Don't be doing that cry unless there's something really wrong!" And then I happened to glance at the 3/4 empty feeder...yep. One little pooper had gotten himself inside it, and couldn't figure an escape route. I guess there was really a reason for the crying after all!

 

[NorthTexasWink]

I remember chicks sitting on my shoulder and purring. Yes, I said purring. I can't think of anything else to call that sound. Sweet contented whirring type of sound.

ETA: I was NOT purring as I cleaned poop out of my long hair after some of those cuddle sessions.

 

[Philip Roos]

• Can anyone tell me if they try to talk to their chicks? I think I have too many to talk to, I have 16 chicks of different types, and I have 18 guineas. I've tried to spend time with each one of them, but it's almost impossible. And then when I try to pick them up they all run from me. It's really hard to catch them. Anyone else have any luck in trying to talk to the chicks?

 

[NorthTexasWink]

My daughter put one of her favorite and most well-loved stuffed animals in with a brooder of chicks. "So they don't get scared". Back when she was tiny. I swear to this day that those chicks grew up knowing and loving her best of anyone else. Always ran to her, and she seldom fed the birds.

 

[orrpeople]

I remember chicks sitting on my shoulder and purring. Yes, I said purring. I can't think of anything else to call that sound. Sweet contented whirring type of sound.

ETA: I was NOT purring as I cleaned poop out of my long hair after some of those cuddle sessions.

Bwahahaha!