Spring 2017 first timers post!

[mcclucker]

I waited 4 years too! Last year was my first and it was worth the wait. As far as helping your little one grow I would feed extra protein - cooked eggs (hard boiled or scrambled). Mine loved them even as chicks.

New 'chicken mama', as my spouse has dubbed me, to a brood of 13 bantams! After 4 years of waiting, it was finally the right time! I ended up with 6 Mille Fleurs and 7 BB old English. 1st is a week old today, 2nd is only 3 days older. Why is that one so small! :/ Anyone here with good tips to get a runty baby to grow a little teensy bit more so the big birds stop running it over?

 

[mcclucker]

I am getting jealous of all the new babies! We have such a hard climate I decided to wait until the end of April for my batch this year. I'm adding 4 to my mixed flock (currently have 2 BO, 2 EE, and a GLW). I'm hoping for a rainbow basket! I'm adding a Delaware, a Welsummer, a speckled Sussex, and a surprise rare marans. My first flock came from a local feed store that gets chicks from Murray McM, and they have a minimum order of 6 and not so many breed options so I decided to go with my pet chicken this time. I've never had them shipped to me - hoping they arrive ok. I'm paying enough for their shipping... I feel like I know what I'm doing this time so it will be less stressful

 

[Jiffyrocks]

New 'chicken mama', as my spouse has dubbed me, to a brood of 13 bantams! After 4 years of waiting, it was finally the right time! I ended up with 6 Mille Fleurs and 7 BB old English. 1st is a week old today, 2nd is only 3 days older. Why is that one so small! :/ Anyone here with good tips to get a runty baby to grow a little teensy bit more so the big birds stop running it over?

Aww! Your chick reminds me of one of mine!

 

[Jiffyrocks]

Wow! Welcome all!  Lots of new peeps on the thread.  Loving all the chick pictures, keep 'em coming to hold over those of us who are still waiting:cd

Here are a few

 

[chickendreams24]

Chicken math almost just took over I haven't even gotten my fist chicks yet, but I went into "chick haze" and went to tractor supply to pick up some chicks. Either luckily or unluckily, all they had today were Cornish X

Lol that happened our first year and before the babies we had ordered came in to the feed store we already had 6 other chicks and we added 5 more after that and then hatched 8 in our first time incubating. Lol

New 'chicken mama', as my spouse has dubbed me, to a brood of 13 bantams! After 4 years of waiting, it was finally the right time! I ended up with 6 Mille Fleurs and 7 BB old English. 1st is a week old today, 2nd is only 3 days older. Why is that one so small! :/ Anyone here with good tips to get a runty baby to grow a little teensy bit more so the big birds stop running it over?

It may be a failure to thrive definitely some scrambled or hard-boiled egg mashed up really small is a good idea. Also dampen some mash to encourage it to eat. All the chicks can have it. Just add warm water to a bit of their feed to soften it. Chicks love this but it should only be made in small batches. You don't want it sitting around as it can make them sick if it sits too long. They usually devour it once the know what it is. Probiotics and electrolytes are also a must. Let me know if you need more tips. Hope this helps. Does the little one on top have pasty butt? Keep an eye out for that. Don't forget a chick with pasty butt can't poop so it can't eat and can't drink after a while(as little as a day) so it's very important especially after the stress of shipping to keep an eye out for it. Important I'm sure most if not everyone on this thread has down their homework but must in case do not pull pasty but off you must soak it off gently. Of you pull and the poo is stuck inside as well you risk pulling out the innards and or prolapsing the baby. We got one chick from a feed store last year that had severe pasty but when we got it. When I cleaned it up the next morning I found it had been constipated and had a mild to moderate prolapse. I had to help the baby poo by gently squeezing the solid stuck poo out if it's vent. I then treated it for prolapse and after nearly a week of continuous care and feeding it with a dropper. It pulled through and found a new home where it's very loved and we'll cared for. Good luck and in case I didn't mention it that was the first case like that we've ever seen but it was quite the shock and I'm just glad the little white silkie made it.

 

[TattooedChicks]

Lol that happened our first year and before the babies we had ordered came in to the feed store we already had 6 other chicks and we added 5 more after that and then hatched 8 in our first time incubating. Lol
It may be a failure to thrive definitely some scrambled or hard-boiled egg mashed up really small is a good idea. Also dampen some mash to encourage it to eat. All the chicks can have it. Just add warm water to a bit of their feed to soften it. Chicks love this but it should only be made in small batches. You don't want it sitting around as it can make them sick if it sits too long. They usually devour it once the know what it is.

Probiotics and electrolytes are also a must.

Let me know if you need more tips.
Hope this helps.

I was doing the starter mash and it was eating that so well, but I came home today to find a dead chick. Always has to be the favorite, doesn't it? Thanks for the advice, though, I really appreciate it.

 

[chickendreams24]

I was doing the starter mash and it was eating that so well, but I came home today to find a dead chick. Always has to be the favorite, doesn't it? Thanks for the advice, though, I really appreciate it. 

So sorry to hear that yes it does seem to always be the favorite. I'm really sorry you lost it. Try not to play the blame game with yourself chicks are usually very hardy. Some of them just don't come out right. Maybe they have something internally wrong maybe they got an infection in their navel. It can be hard to tell if you don't have experience with it. I'm guessing your little one was a failure to thrive. Maybe it just couldn't get the nutrition no matter how much it ate. Sometimes failure to thrives hang on for weeks and sometimes they recover but sometimes it's kinder for them to not make it long. Many breeders immediately cull any chick with such a problem.

Throw your love and hurt into your other babies they'll help you heal. It so easy to love the underdog and the ones that need our special care and attention. Unfortunately that makes it all the worse. Hugs

 

[TattooedChicks]

So sorry to hear that yes it does seem to always be the favorite. I'm really sorry you lost it. Try not to play the blame game with yourself chicks are usually very hardy. Some of them just don't come out right. Maybe they have something internally wrong maybe they got an infection in their navel. It can be hard to tell if you don't have experience with it. I'm guessing your little one was a failure to thrive. Maybe it just couldn't get the nutrition no matter how much it ate. Sometimes failure to thrives hang on for weeks and sometimes they recover but sometimes it's kinder for them to not make it long. Many breeders immediately cull any chick with such a problem.

Throw your love and hurt into your other babies they'll help you heal. It so easy to love the underdog and the ones that need our special care and attention. Unfortunately that makes it all the worse. Hugs

The lucky dozen got some scrambled egg for dinner to celebrate being healthy and cute. Thank you for your kind words, they mean a lot right now. I knew I'd eventually lose one at some point, but I'm glad to have made it through my first week with otherwise wonderful chicks.

 

[TeeMom]

I am NOT new to chickens...we started with 10 in a small coop my husband built, I could see the potential for a chicken explosion and my husband built a very large coop the next year (now we have 17 pullets/hens and 1 rooster). So this year I am going to try my hand at DUCKS! I have 10 Welsh Harlequin ducklings on order from the Holderreads probably in April! Can't wait to get them, but in the meantime I will sit here and enjoy all of the adorable chick pictures flooding this thread.

 

[beela]

Getting bigger, doing big girl things