The Rescued Flock (Pictures Included)

[sillycmoy]

How old are your adorable rescue babies? I have 2 that I rescued that I think are ready to go outside and play, first time with chicks, and I don't know if they are ready yet. My guess is that they are 4-5 weeks old now, and they are pretty much feathered.

Photo of the 2

 

[forgetful]

I believe the flock is between 3-4 weeks, but I could be wrong. The man who gave them to me didn't tell me when they hatched. Your pair are adorable! I think they are definitely ready to go outside and play. You can even take day old chicks out to play, you just have to watch for any signs they are cold. If you wanted, you could send the pair out to the coop permanently now, considering you aren't having snow storms or anything and they are fully feathered.

 

[forgetful]

Double posted

 

[forgetful]

Picture update time! I know it's been a while. There hasn't been any notable progress until now. The flock is growing like weeds. I'll be posting current and past photos to compare the differences. For the sake of ease, I'm posting everyone in the order I first posted them:

Silkie 1:
Now:
(The silkies are still in the most horrendous stage.

I wonder what they will turn out to look like.)







Then:



Silkie 2:
(The larger of the pair, and has five toes on her right foot)
Now:





Then:



Godzilla:
(I no longer believe Godzilla is a roo. After seeing two of the other supposed roos mature more, and Godzilla not mature the same way, I think she is a pullet. The one thing that hasn't changed is that she is still massive!)
Now:





Then:



Whisper:
(She is so quiet and inconspicuous that I sometimes forget she's there. In fact, I forget to get a progress photo of her. I'll have to get it tomorrow and update this post.)

Updated
Now:






Then:



Courage:
(He is most definitely a roo. Him and Hot Stuff 'battle' it out all the time, and he most certainly lives up to his name. Courage is the first to explore new situations, while Hot Stuff is more bark than bite.)
Now:







Then:



Falcon:
(She's a rather quiet pullet. Doesn't let herself get bossed around, but is more inclined to observe before acting.)
Now:







Then:



Sweet Pea:
(Her foot doesn't bother her in the slightest, and it seems as the digression has stopped. She's lower in the pecking order, but its more from her nature than disability.)
Now:







Then:



Hot Stuff:
(He gets called a few less kind names.

He seems to have a Napoleon complex, and is constantly pecking me challengingly, flying around the brooder, and perching on everything possible. I 'peck' him back and he'll puff up more. Hot Stuff may be the first to go if he doesn't shape up. I refuse to have a dominate rooster, no matter how small they may be.)
Now:





Then:



Lady:
Now:






Then:




Little Hen:
Now:







Then:



Space is getting tight!:

 

[Deerling]

Love the update!!

 

[forgetful]

Thanks! It's hard to believe how big the flock is. My first bag of chick starter lasted two weeks, and the second bag only one. It's crazy to think I've been in this for almost a month.

The silkies' head puffs are coming in marvelously. I want to save an update on them until next week, though, so you can see the big difference.

Little Hen and Lady are almost completely feathered out now, except for the tops of their fuzzy heads. I've also stopped using the heat lamp entirely, besides one day this week when we got unexpectedly cold weather and I found them huddled together. They probably would have been fine, but I'm a worry wart.

Courage, looking manlier than ever. He is the largest chick, after Godzilla.


His lovely comb:



Hot Stuff, the current bane of my existence. I've never met a chicken with so much attitude that bluffed so much. Courage is definitely more level headed than him.
His dark cape coming in:







Lady, looking fabulous with her brand new feathers. Where did all those tail feathers come from?





Little Hen, who WOULD be the only one to poop on the bench.

I think I keep saying they only have a week left before they leave, but as soon as Lady and Little Hen get some covering on their heads they'll move out. Ten chicks in a tub from Wal-Mart make a lot of mess and dust in a small room, as you can see from the photos. There is also a light odor, but it is quickly gone once I turn on a fan and open the door for five minutes. If the room had better circulation I think there wouldn't be any smell.

 

[forgetful]

Update time~

The flock has 'moved out.' They are in the cage set up I made for them at work, with a big piece of plywood over the top and a tarp over that. The weather here has been very mild, and they have adjusted wonderfully. Their more permanent home is in the works.

Everyone is fully feathered now, and the fluffy chicks are gorgeous! I'll have to get some pictures tomorrow or the next day.

In completely unrelated news, I'm extremely excited! There used to be a bantam buff cochin who I brought to the barn as a young pullet. She had just reached laying age and had laid three eggs when she disappeared. We think someone took her, because she slept in the completely safe barn, and other hens disappeared from the coop. Anyways, one of the three eggs hatched! I'm so happy to have a baby from her. She was super sweet and would rest on my shoulder while I worked. I could call 'chickeennnn' from anywhere and she would come running.

 

[Deerling]

So glad to hear that everyone is doing well! Looking forward to pictures.

 

[forgetful]

Sorry for not uploading photos last time. Things got a little hectic. I'll take some more tomorrow and try to upload the ones from a month ago with them if they aren't deleted.

Update:
Everyone is fully feathered. Courage and Hot Stuff are the only roos, though I've taken to calling them Yin and Yang lately. Hot stuff is barely white anymore. He has a large brown saddle and gorgeous long tail feathers. He's also definitely a bantam rooster. Im not sure how large Courage is going to be. He's bigger than Hot Stuff, but smaller than Godzilla, who is absolutely massive.

Speaking of Godzilla, she is quite possibly my favorite hen. She's inquisitive and friendly. I had a water bottle in my hand one day while sitting and watching them and she walked right up, stared at the bottle shining in the sun, pecked it a few times, then seemed to think and walk away. She has a glint in her eye that suggests she is more intelligent than the others. She will let me pet her. In fact, the whole flock has calmed down a lot and will walk up to and under and on me.

The silkies are absolutely glorious. I have to show you guys the pictures. They are fully feathered and super fluffy and so so soft. The five toed chick's pom is so large you can't see her eyes. The other chick's pom is large, but doesn't cover her eyes. I'm not sure on their genders as of yet. They seem to mature more slowly than the others.

Sweet pea is the best flier of the bunch, beating even Whisper who can fly above my head. Her foot doesn't stop her from roosting at all. She is now the smallest of the group. It's funny, because Lady and Little Hen are pretty large.

Falcon has become rather aloof. She's not flighty, but while the rest of the flock will be all over me she will keep more of a distance.

I moved the whole flock into the coop with the other barn chickens. I put their cage inside it with the top on so that everyone can acclimate to each other. While everyone else is out free ranging, I let the flock out into the coop and close the coop door. The coop is ground level and full of weeds and dirt and grass to scratch in. The barn flock has so much other food outside that they never stay inside. Around 5 everyday I get a scoop of feed and go in the coop. The flock gets all excited and follows me to their cage, where I dump the feed and they rush in to eat. I then lock the door and open the coop so that the barn flock can go in to roost at night. The system has worked well for me, and once the flock gets a little more size I'll let them out to free range. The silkies will have a seperate cage, because they cannot fly or see well above them. We do have a bald eagle and coyote problem, though the coyotes are only at night. The eagle is the main concern.

Again, I apologize for the lack of photos and updates, but I'll try to upload a bunch tomorrow. I'm excited to share how much everyone has grown.

 

[forgetful]

As promised!:

Waiting for me



The coop:









Silkie! (the fuzzier of the duo):









Godzilla:















Courage:





I'll upload the rest of the flock when I get back in a few hours. for now, enjoy!