The Fraggles

[jsr5]

can we get pics of poops? on chick starter my chicks usually all are giving a wet brown slimy poos. are you giving any probiotics? we do that in their water for I think it's 4 to 6 weeks till we boot out to the outside brooder.

 

[Kris5902]

They will do the occasional really nasty cecal poop which is wetter and runny, without pictures it’s hard to say for sure. Any redness is a problem though! I’d try building a thicker roost with a branch and some scrap lumber... I use screws to attach the branch bar to chunks of flat 2X4, on each end as a training roost

 

[MROO]

Thank you! They're gonna be some real stunners when they grow up.


Aw, thank you!! My only qualm is they're growing too fast!! Slow down!!

Uh oh, I hope not... but I did just notice today that 'Cheryl' is the only one with a visible comb.

So boys tend to be more vocal?

Also general question but Princess Lay-a is definitely dominant and growing the fastest of all the chicks. I've heard cockerels grow faster than pullets but... it is possible for a female chick to grow super fast right? Her comb is still invisible like all the other gals (excluding Cheryl.)

Currently, Princess Lay-a, Badonkadonk, and Beaker are roosting/sleeping on my shoulders as I type.

If Cheryl turns out to be a Charles, don't be too disappointed. Roosters are fun!

Yukon - my pet "parrot" ... Feisty sorting the laundry .... Herman the House Rooster

 

[sean_wonder]

I don't think you will or Not without lots and lots of time spent. I have never gotten any of mine to. But in the intrest of their sanity I do start talking to them as I am coming up to the room and then being a crazy chicken guy I pretty much talk to them non stop best thing I have found is slow even movement and the soothing words. I can often pick up birds my wife is having problems with simply by moving slowly and talking nice, they startle easy dontcha know

Yeah, I always say “hey girls” when i walk in and “hey girls” when I’m putting my hand in and talk to them. I pretend to peck at the ground with my fingers to get them interested. I bought grit and mealworms today and introduced them to it. They went crazy for both (I didn’t offer a lot of grit, maybe seven pinches) and they started doing little food chases. When I came back after letting them settle with the new stuff I grabbed one mealworm and said hey girls as I wriggled it in the brooder. They all got excited and ran toward me and started walking all over my hand. Was very easy to pick em up. Will start getting them to associate me with fun foods.

 

[sean_wonder]

If Cheryl turns out to be a Charles, don't be too disappointed. Roosters are fun!
View attachment 1720104 View attachment 1720105 View attachment 1720112
Yukon - my pet "parrot" ... Feisty sorting the laundry .... Herman the House Rooster

It’s actuallt Chickie Minaj I’m worried about, I made a mistake either way, I love roosters myself and their crowing, but my family wants nothing to do with a rooster. They don’t want to be woken at the butt crack of dawn every day cause of a rooster.

 

[sean_wonder]

can we get pics of poops? on chick starter my chicks usually all are giving a wet brown slimy poos. are you giving any probiotics? we do that in their water for I think it's 4 to 6 weeks till we boot out to the outside brooder.

Poop returned to normal. They get Sav-A-Chick extremely diluted every so often.

 

[MROO]

It’s actuallt Chickie Minaj I’m worried about, I made a mistake either way, I love roosters myself and their crowing, but my family wants nothing to do with a rooster. They don’t want to be woken at the butt crack of dawn every day cause of a rooster.

Tell 'em not to worry. My roosters never crow at dawn. They start a half hour earlier ... Dawn is when they STOP!
On second thought, maybe you'd better NOT tell 'em that. It'll be our little secret. Ours and everybody else here on BYC ... !

 

[MROO]

Two questions for y’all)

Chickie Minaj has been having very wet smelly poops, but I’ve seen her drink and eat and peep and just generally be a normal chick. Are her poops normal though? Why are they so wet??

Although my chicks love cuddling, they always run away when someone tries to initially pick them up out of the brooder. I try to talk to them quietly and let them see my hand is in the brooder before I try to pick them up, but they always run away. Do you think if I start presenting little treats while I put my hand in, they’ll be less likely to run away? (As soon as we’ve caught them they don’t run, they just explore wherever we put them and snuggle right up to us.) I also usually try to scoop them from underneath instead of grabbing them from above cause I think maybe they believe I’m an airborne predator?? No idea. TLDR: How do I get my chicks to stop running away from me when I try to pick them up?

You're on the right track with the treats. Just sitting quietly with them works, too. That's how my Yukon got so tame. The first batch was all hand-raised, and I was lonesome for the peeping when they went outside. I used to sit outside with my book or paperwork, or let them out to wander with me while I worked in the yard. Most would come up to investigate, and would end up on my knee (or my head!) Yukon and my Yosemite Sam (a Nankin Bantam) ended up riding around on my shoulders. They even stay put when I go in and out of the house. It's pretty cool!

 

[rjohns39]

IDK, one of my best lappers was a turkey hen. But she was a pain when she got jealous. And I wasn't particularly thrilled when she wanted to perch her 20lbs body on my shoulder.

 

[MROO]

IDK, one of my best lappers was a turkey hen. But she was a pain when she got jealous. And I wasn't particularly thrilled when she wanted to perch her 20lbs body on my shoulder.

Ouch! That's yet another reason why I like my banties best!