- Thread starter
- #261
I'm just a little paranoidNo need to peck her, she's showing them the ropes.
I'm their broody mama, and I'm just protecting my chicks!
Red Partridge Orpington informational hatch thread
- Thread starter K0k0shka
- Start date
I'm their broody mama, and I'm just protecting my chicks!- Thread starter
- #262
The chicks are free to mingle with the adults now. I kept finding them on the other side, looking unscathed, so I left the gate of the divider open. They’ve been out there all day, everything looks peaceful. The formerly broody hen is still drawn to them and spends a lot of time near them, but without actively mothering them. They even eat out of the hens’ feeder, and nobody seems to mind. Wohoo!
I spent about an hour with them today, and they spent most of that hour snuggling in my lap, even though it’s in the 90s today and everybody is panting.
I am quite certain now that all 3 of the chicks I kept are pullets. That’s great stats, considering how worried I was that I only had one! Their feathers were very misleading, probably because the breed is still under development at that farm. These two are looking more consistent with the breed now, showing a clear female pattern:
The third one has WAY too much black for a pullet, but the feathers that do have red in them have it in a pattern more similar to the pullets’ pattern than to the cockerels’. Also, her comb is still small and pale (I visited the boys today, and their combs are unmistakable).
And two more snuggly photos, because they are so cute
I spent about an hour with them today, and they spent most of that hour snuggling in my lap, even though it’s in the 90s today and everybody is panting.
I am quite certain now that all 3 of the chicks I kept are pullets. That’s great stats, considering how worried I was that I only had one! Their feathers were very misleading, probably because the breed is still under development at that farm. These two are looking more consistent with the breed now, showing a clear female pattern:
The third one has WAY too much black for a pullet, but the feathers that do have red in them have it in a pattern more similar to the pullets’ pattern than to the cockerels’. Also, her comb is still small and pale (I visited the boys today, and their combs are unmistakable).
And two more snuggly photos, because they are so cute
- Thread starter
- #263
Enjoying their new freedom!
Integration is going wonderfully. The chicks have free reign over the whole run now for the whole day, then I bring them back to the brooder at night. They are using the whole run space now, instead of just hanging in their corner or only taking a few timid steps in. If they get too rowdy too close to one of the hens, they may take a beak to the head, but other than that, the hens ignore them, which is great. I spy on them through the run cameras (I have two) from my desk to make sure all is well. Here they are, peacefully scratching together:
Next step: bringing them into the coop itself for short periods during the day to get them used to it. I made them a huddle box that looks like their MHP, just minus the heat, so they’d have a familiar object in there and a safe place to sleep, until they decide to roost. I have a low roost less than a foot from the ground, too, in case they want to try that out. Then one 2’ from the ground, and the main one 4’ from the ground, which has no room for them, but I doubt they’d be allowed up there anyway. I might replace it with a longer one at some point.
Integration is going wonderfully. The chicks have free reign over the whole run now for the whole day, then I bring them back to the brooder at night. They are using the whole run space now, instead of just hanging in their corner or only taking a few timid steps in. If they get too rowdy too close to one of the hens, they may take a beak to the head, but other than that, the hens ignore them, which is great. I spy on them through the run cameras (I have two) from my desk to make sure all is well. Here they are, peacefully scratching together:
Next step: bringing them into the coop itself for short periods during the day to get them used to it. I made them a huddle box that looks like their MHP, just minus the heat, so they’d have a familiar object in there and a safe place to sleep, until they decide to roost. I have a low roost less than a foot from the ground, too, in case they want to try that out. Then one 2’ from the ground, and the main one 4’ from the ground, which has no room for them, but I doubt they’d be allowed up there anyway. I might replace it with a longer one at some point.
FeatherTay
Crowing
Awwwwe they are soooo cute!
- Thread starter
- #265
5 weeks photo update! At this point I'm quite sure that all 3 chicks I kept are pullets. Their combs are small and pale, and there are almost no wattles whatsoever. What do you guys think?
Pooh (clearly shows the feather patterning and colors for a female of this breed):
The Baby (less saturated colors than ideal for the breed, but the female pattern is clear):
The Pretty One (looking a bit less pretty now that she's grown
). Has WAY too much black and doesn't really look like the breed, but the comb and wattles still look very female to me (I visited the boys and theirs are HUGE and red). And whatever patterning there is among the black, is consistent with the females' pattern of finer strokes across the feather, as opposed to the males which have single color feathers with an outline around the edge with the second color, like a single lace.
@Caitiemc88 are you still around? How are the cousins looking?
Pooh (clearly shows the feather patterning and colors for a female of this breed):
The Baby (less saturated colors than ideal for the breed, but the female pattern is clear):
The Pretty One (looking a bit less pretty now that she's grown
). Has WAY too much black and doesn't really look like the breed, but the comb and wattles still look very female to me (I visited the boys and theirs are HUGE and red). And whatever patterning there is among the black, is consistent with the females' pattern of finer strokes across the feather, as opposed to the males which have single color feathers with an outline around the edge with the second color, like a single lace.@Caitiemc88 are you still around? How are the cousins looking?
FeatherTay
Crowing
At 5 weeks.... those combs are so small! Yes, my vote still remains. All pullets! I have a 4 week chick that has way more comb then yours!
This was Twinkie (my cockerel at 4 weeks)
I don’t have any pictures of him currently, but he is a definite roo.
Believe it or not, this is my second rooster Corndog. This was him at 5 weeks I believe:
This is him now:
So i think it’s safe to say... you kept your pullets!!!
This was Twinkie (my cockerel at 4 weeks)
I don’t have any pictures of him currently, but he is a definite roo.
Believe it or not, this is my second rooster Corndog. This was him at 5 weeks I believe:
This is him now:
So i think it’s safe to say... you kept your pullets!!!
- Thread starter
- #267
Your boys are very handsome! And yeah, mine definitely look like pullets by comparison (even if questionable on their own). I don't have any recent pictures of my cockerels, but this is what they looked like at 4 weeks, with their combs and wattles already bigger and redder than their sisters' are now, more than a week later:
- Thread starter
- #268
Update: Introducing the chicks to the coop (after having spent a couple of weeks in the run)
Day 1: as soon as I opened the door of the crate, they flew onto my lap and snuggled close, looking with suspicion at the strange new place.
They preened themselves, took a nap, and, half an hour later, still didn't look ready to leave my lap, so I had to take them off and leave the coop to get them to explore. They hung around the crate for the most part. They view the crate as a safe space now, and retreat into it if something scares them, which is adorable given how animals usually hate crates. For the chicks it doesn't mean confinement though, it means adventure, as I've been taking them out to the back yard or the chicken run with it, and it's their one familiar object in a new environment, so they are quite fond of it.
I went into the run and poked my head in through the pop door to call them to come out. They were quite confused by the disembodied head with a familiar voice, and did not come. An hour later I went in to retrieve them, and found that only one chick had braved the pop door and made it outside. I helped the others by placing them in the doorway of the pop door and giving them an encouraging nudge. They fell out clumsily.
Day 2: The chicks made themselves comfortable in my lap again, and we were in for another long stretch of snuggling, except that this time the formerly broody hen came in to see what was going on, and claimed my lap for herself, booting the chicks off.
They'd shown zero interest in the MHP replica I'd made for them (to use as a huddle box once they start sleeping in the coop overnight). But the hen made sure to check it out thoroughly. She was raised under one of those, too - I wonder if she remembers any of that?
As she was hanging out with us (for a very long time as usual), I had an epiphany. She's been spending a really long time in the vicinity of the chicks whenever I bring them to the run or coop, and, since she was a mom until recently, I thought she had residual motherly interest in them. But then I realized that, because the chicks are always on or near me, it is quite possible that she hangs with us not because of the chicks, but because of me. She always hops onto my lap to say hi, and stays close to me. She was always a hop-onto-my-lap kind of hen, but brooding was an additional bonding experience for us and I think she likes me more now. I hand-fed her scrambled eggs every day while she was sitting, which she really enjoyed, then I'd bring some to her babies after they hatched, which she enjoyed as well. We got a thing going on. Now her babies are grown and gone, and I'm starting to think it's not my brooder chicks that she's interested in after all...
Day 1: as soon as I opened the door of the crate, they flew onto my lap and snuggled close, looking with suspicion at the strange new place.
They preened themselves, took a nap, and, half an hour later, still didn't look ready to leave my lap, so I had to take them off and leave the coop to get them to explore. They hung around the crate for the most part. They view the crate as a safe space now, and retreat into it if something scares them, which is adorable given how animals usually hate crates. For the chicks it doesn't mean confinement though, it means adventure, as I've been taking them out to the back yard or the chicken run with it, and it's their one familiar object in a new environment, so they are quite fond of it.
I went into the run and poked my head in through the pop door to call them to come out. They were quite confused by the disembodied head with a familiar voice, and did not come. An hour later I went in to retrieve them, and found that only one chick had braved the pop door and made it outside. I helped the others by placing them in the doorway of the pop door and giving them an encouraging nudge. They fell out clumsily.
Day 2: The chicks made themselves comfortable in my lap again, and we were in for another long stretch of snuggling, except that this time the formerly broody hen came in to see what was going on, and claimed my lap for herself, booting the chicks off.
They'd shown zero interest in the MHP replica I'd made for them (to use as a huddle box once they start sleeping in the coop overnight). But the hen made sure to check it out thoroughly. She was raised under one of those, too - I wonder if she remembers any of that?
As she was hanging out with us (for a very long time as usual), I had an epiphany. She's been spending a really long time in the vicinity of the chicks whenever I bring them to the run or coop, and, since she was a mom until recently, I thought she had residual motherly interest in them. But then I realized that, because the chicks are always on or near me, it is quite possible that she hangs with us not because of the chicks, but because of me. She always hops onto my lap to say hi, and stays close to me. She was always a hop-onto-my-lap kind of hen, but brooding was an additional bonding experience for us and I think she likes me more now. I hand-fed her scrambled eggs every day while she was sitting, which she really enjoyed, then I'd bring some to her babies after they hatched, which she enjoyed as well. We got a thing going on. Now her babies are grown and gone, and I'm starting to think it's not my brooder chicks that she's interested in after all...
Your Brown Chick looks very Similar too mine.
Mine at 3 weeks.
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