The 7th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-A-Long!

[TJordan]

Oooh, lovely replacement chicks!!!  

The weather can sure be a pain!  

Yes it can. We got most of the frame and the floor done and

 

[chickendreams24]

Well many of our chicks have gone on to their new homes and we still have a few left waiting on a couple more buyers to pick theirs up. We so far still have four of our silkies that we hatched, hoping for pullets but I'm not sure they're all staying and we are keeping one of the EE that we hatched out. I can post some pictures later. The little MPC EE I got I'm sure is a cockeral and has had an attitude since two days old. He's huge and nips if we go to grab chicks. I hope that doesn't say anything about what his adult temperment will be like.

Mary Anne is completely reintegrated after being moved back to the flock for attacking a chick. The broody buff is in a corner of the main coop with her 8 chicks visible to the flock but safe. Although any bird that came near her would be the one in trouble. Lovey and Ginger were separated last night due to Lovey continuing to pick on Ginger. Lovey still has three chicks and Ginger still has two. Although one of Ginger's chicks the adopted cuckoo Marans pullet had bad pasty butt last night and will be monitored closely as her skin was very raw. She couldn't have had it more than a day or two but it looks like her skin was peeling off. She is however eating drinking and pooping normally.

The little silkie we bought that had bad pasty butt still has a minor prolapse although I think it is improving. Any advice would be appreciated. In the last two days it has started to show interest in eating on its own but I am still supplementing with syringe feeding.

 

[ShrekDawg]

So tempted to pick up bantams at TSC and my mom almost agreed lmfao even the clerk said to use the small coop for more chickens

Anyone know what breed the "bantams" are though? If my mom approves it, I may as well get a breed I like. And I would love silkies but I know at TSC that is not likely. But they're only $2.99 and the other breeds are $1.99 but of course the minimum is 6 there. But they also just got a new shipment in since the last time we went earlier this week. And the old bantams are still there, in a separate bin, 8 of em, with little wing feathers already. 8 of my LF girls BARELY fit in our 3x3 (I think) TSC coop kit and are getting a new 4x8 coop we are building now (on a 6x8 base, for nest boxes and storage) but maybe 8 little bantams could fit? Of course it could be better for just a few, maybe 4. But with the minimum being 6 and the older babies still there, I don't wanna leave 2 poor lonely little things there and wanna rescue them all. Or get some younger ones too, I don't know. But anyone know what breed? Probably varies by store but ours ALL appear the same breed, same exact color. Not quite as yellow as the Cornish X's but maybe creamy whitish? Not really white, creamy yellowy whitey type thing? Black beak.

 

[Lozuufy]

So tempted to pick up bantams at TSC and my mom almost agreed lmfao even the clerk said to use the small coop for more chickens

Anyone know what breed the "bantams" are though? If my mom approves it, I may as well get a breed I like. And I would love silkies but I know at TSC that is not likely. But they're only $2.99 and the other breeds are $1.99 but of course the minimum is 6 there. But they also just got a new shipment in since the last time we went earlier this week. And the old bantams are still there, in a separate bin, 8 of em, with little wing feathers already. 8 of my LF girls BARELY fit in our 3x3 (I think) TSC coop kit and are getting a new 4x8 coop we are building now (on a 6x8 base, for nest boxes and storage) but maybe 8 little bantams could fit? Of course it could be better for just a few, maybe 4. But with the minimum being 6 and the older babies still there, I don't wanna leave 2 poor lonely little things there and wanna rescue them all. Or get some younger ones too, I don't know. But anyone know what breed? Probably varies by store but ours ALL appear the same breed, same exact color. Not quite as yellow as the Cornish X's but maybe creamy whitish? Not really white, creamy yellowy whitey type thing? Black beak.

From your description I'd say those are white silkies for sure. That's what they seem to always have in the bantam bin in the TSC stores I have been too. The problem is that they are straight run so you'd probably get some boys... also the ones I've got have not been bantams, they are normal chicken size

. You could rehome the males though probably, although as a hatching addict I just recommend getting some nice bantam silkie eggs and hatching them. Then you could get more cool colors and it would be easier to rehome the roosters if they are nice cute-looking tiny bantams instead of giant dinosaur-like creatures (my TSC silkies look like dinosaurs)

There are lots of silkie eggs on ebay (type in "hatching eggs"

). A warning though, ebay is a very dangerous place for chicken addicts!


Here's my female silkie from TSC, she is HUGE and very nervous around people.

 

[ShrekDawg]

From your description I'd say those are white silkies for sure. That's what they seem to always have in the bantam bin in the TSC stores I have been too. The problem is that they are straight run so you'd probably get some boys... also the ones I've got have not been bantams, they are normal chicken size :/ . You could rehome the males though probably, although as a hatching addict I just recommend getting some nice bantam silkie eggs and hatching them. Then you could get more cool colors and it would be easier to rehome the roosters if they are nice cute-looking tiny bantams instead of giant dinosaur-like creatures (my TSC silkies look like dinosaurs) There are lots of silkie eggs on ebay (type in "hatching eggs" ). A warning though, ebay is a very dangerous place for chicken addicts! Here's my female silkie from TSC, she is HUGE and very nervous around people.

Thanks! That's good to know! That's weird they're regular sized though :/ kinda defeats the purpose lol males I probably could rehome and there's even a flier in TSC for someone whos willing to take all males but you're right that cute ones are much easier. Though I personally think the dinosaur look is rather entertaining. And you know, they're finding they think dinosaurs were actually feathered, at least partially, unlike scaled. So they really are like mini dinosaurs And ooohhh that would be fun to hatch!!!! I may look. I've never hatched before though so that makes me nervous, especially for adorable little silkies lol 2 local feed stores are getting silkies in later in the spring, one later in April and one in May. I may try those. Though unlikely to be much better. Wonder if anyone here sells them? I want to get some Speckled Sussex or Wyandottes or different color Orpingtons too though which obviously aren't bantams and would have to be integrated into my main flock plus the coop is only 4x8 but still.... I wanna have an even 12 chickens. I am trying to limit myself though since my dad has limited me to 8 chickens and we've only been getting between 4 and 5 eggs a day, have been geting 5 for several days but got 7 yesterday and 6 today, and even just that, even when only 3 were laying, it is A LOT of eggs. Let alone when all 8 begin laying. So 1w may be a little ridiculous. But my dad and brother have also been eating a lot of the eggs, like 3 each a day. So we can barely fill cartons but still. Anyhow, I am addicted but can't fulfill it lol

 

[LadyCluck77]

Quote:
The number of chickens you have will never be enough, it's HIGHLY addicting.....You are one of us now......

 

[generaldsherman]

The number of chickens you have will never be enough, it's HIGHLY addicting.....You are one of us now......

 

[ShrekDawg]

The number of chickens you have will never be enough, it's HIGHLY addicting.....You are one of us now......:cd

I'm starting to discover that!!! And eh, that's not a bad thing

 

[ShrekDawg]

LOL

 

[GitaBooks]

Yeah, we have silkies at our store and they almost looked larger then the standard sized chicks in the other bins, certainly at least three times the size of a silkie chick at that age. That's hatchery quality for you.

Some of my momma hens have argued in the past, even killing each others' chicks, usually its just "my babies deserve more food then yours" though. One time I had a new momma and her two babies in a pen (I keep the chicks inside until they are strong enough to withstand simple pecking and to get out of water buckets should they fall in) and another mother with her older chicks outside. Both hens are sisters and look almost exactly alike, only the eye color really telling them apart, and just barely. So, when the four chicks from the outside mother (Susie) slipped into the pen with Goldie (inside mother) they were fine but wanted their mother. I opened the pen, hoping they would just come out, but of course Susie had to go in. Then, of course, the two sisters were fighting for the space, the chicks were scattering, and when I went in to break them up, I couldn't tell which chicks belonged to which mother. Eventually I just had to watch their behavior and I got them apart.
It was funny since none of them were seriously injured, and since they are sisters fighting with each other. I mean, there is plenty of food and water to go around, no need to argue for a little pen. Hens will be hens, particularly broody hens.

Here is one of my chicks, feathered out. Her name is Roshashannah, but I just call her Shani for short. She has a light head like my grey Dorking but the coloring on her body of my partridge Rock. However, she came from a bantam egg and has extra toes and grey skin like a silkie. I'm just so confused, because all those chickens I mentioned are girls so then where did all the genes come from? And if it was a bantam rooster who was the father, why was the egg bantam too? Oh well, she's pretty, so I don't mind who the parents are. Its just fun guessing.


Here are Susie's four chicks. Two take after Bubs, their father, who is a buff Brahma. The black one, Agent, is probably Mrs Potter's son (she is a black Jersey Giant). The last is red with some partridge coloring, but I've found that usually disappears as the adult feathers come in.


Shani's adoptive sister (raised by the same mother), this little gal has a cute crest of feathers and a golden body. Again, not sure who the parents are, but I guess we can wait and see. She is either Sight or Nat, both raised by the same mother so it can get confusing at times.

I'm hoping this hatch does go well. Ruby keeps getting kicked off her nest, so now she only has four eggs and I'm pretty sure they have gone cold so many times they are dead. I'm letting her keep them though, as bait eggs, until those in the incubator can hatch. Then she can adopt those chicks as her own without me having to worry about them going cold or being broken.