Week by week chick growth! Helpful if you're unsure of age :)

farlo4

Chirping
5 Years
Mar 13, 2014
126
57
88
This is my first time raising chicks, so I took waaay to many pictures of them. It's turned out to be really fun because I can look back and see how they've grown. They grow FAST! I thought you all might enjoy seeing the change week by week (well, close to week by week). If you don't know the age of your chicks, maybe this will help? (Oh and I also had a couple of meat chickens, so when you see these huge ugly white things, that would be them. Just ignore them! xD)

FYI, all photos were taken with my phone camera, so they aren't the best quality.


Two or three days old:

They are living in a cardboard box with a 60 watt white heat lamp and eating medicated chick starter.

Not sure who's who, but we've got two Buff Orpingtons, one White Cochin Bantam, one Blue Andalusian, and another chick that we ended up losing. :( Oh and the meats.




One week old:

Moved them to a dog kennel in the house with a 100 watt red heat lamp. Still eating medicated chick starter.

Chickadee: Buff Orpington



Momo: White Cochin Bantam




Two weeks old:

Moved the group out to the coop (no access to the run yet, locked up in the coop 24/7). Red light still on consistently. Switched their diet to non-medicated chick starter/grower so the medication would get out of the meat chickens making them safe to eat. Added electrolytes to their water.

Left to right: Rose (we lost her, sadly), Mo, Chickadee, Shadow (Blue Andalusian), and Chickadoo (also Buff Orpington).







About 3 1/2 weeks:





About 4 1/2 weeks:

First time exploring their run. They now have free access to the coop during the day. The red light is only on at night. Feeding is the same.



Mo is my favorite <3



Just a size comparison with the meat chickens who are the same age!




6 weeks old:

They are now allowed to free range outside of the coop. They are locked up at night. The heat lamp is no longer used. Feeding is the same, except now they are eating less because they eat bugs and stuff when they free range.







6 1/2 weeks old:







7 1/2 weeks old:

Now allowed to free range all day, but locked up at night. Same feeding routine.

Chickadoo, the Buff Orpinton



Shadow, the Blue Andalusian.



Lo and behold Mo is a little Roo! (White Cochin Bantam)




8 1/2 weeks:

No changes. Locked in the coop at night, free ranging during the day. The meat chickens are dead, so they've been switched back to medicated chick starter/grower. No longer using electrolytes.







And the present: 9 1/2 Weeks

Mo's waddles are getting bigger and more red.











Hope you enjoyed :)
 
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Thanks so much for sharing! Since mine are just a week and a half this gives me a good idea of what to expect. I have 2 that we don't know what they are but I suspect Buff Orpington - and your pictures seem to be in line with my suspicions.

I'm sorry about Rose too.
You're welcome. :) They are so cute when they are that little!

Also, if anyone's interested, I'm going to add what I did with them each week regarding house, food, etc.
 
Thank you! This is my first time raising chicks, and I was looking around the internet for a chick growth chart. Unsuccessfully. But now we haz one!
wee.gif
 
This is super helpful in determining how old my girls are! The farmer said between 4-6 weeks for a whole half barn-full of chicks, without specific dates for any of them, so it's been a bit of a guessing game for me. I think one of my gals is about a week ahead of the others, but this has been super helpful. Thanks so much!
 

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