what changes do baby chickens go through their first months in life?

[boxofchirpers]

from the time they hatch.
i have 6 silkie baby bantam chicks this is how im planning.
Month 1- Time to go outside since they have feathers
Month 2- Eat adult chicken food
Month 3- bulk up on weight and have all their feathers
Month 4- start making adult noises and no more chirping
Month 5- Reach adult size
Month 6- Adulthood ready for mating and lay eggs to sit on.

am i right?

 

[bobbieschicks]

First -

to BYC! Looks like you have a great plan in place! Just be flexible on the timing of it all and you'll do fine

I'm new to chickens this year - but I have a little experience with them now.

As far as when to go outside - that will depend on your outside temps, where they are going to live once outside and how feathered out your chicks are at the time. If your weather is like ours (30F at night & 40F-50F at day) you will want to make sure they are either fully feathered or have a heat lamp to supplement at night. Most chicks are fully feathered by 6-8 weeks old - that's closer to 2 months old. Silkies take longer to acclimate to colder weather unless they have a standard breed around to keep them warm.

Here is what my list would look like after having had chicks since the spring.

Feed: Medicated chick start or chick start & grow food until they are laying (older then 18 weeks sometimes not until they are 24 weeks old - wait until you get an egg from them because they don't need the calcuim until that time)

Week 4: move to brooder outside with supplemental heat lamp at night and during really cold days.
Week 5-6: work on integrating with larger flock by letting them see but not touch each other through fenced areas.
Week 6: move to coop at night without supplemental heat & keep a close eye on how they get along with bigger chicks. If you don't have bigger or standard chicks with them - wait to take the heat off around week 8.
Week 9: may start crowing if roosters, they may want to roost if you offer one and there are other chicks on the roost - otherwise Silkies may just chicken huddle
Week 10+ will start teenage mating behaviors and usually by this time they are making adult noises instead of baby chirps
Week 18+ start looking for eggs and adult behaviors.

Of course this is a flexible list because they are individuals and will crow, lay and mate when they feel like it LOL!

Hope your Silkies are as much fun for you as mine are for me!

 

[boxofchirpers]

thanks for putting that post together for me.

my silkie are 3 weeks old and are about to start growing their little hairstyles.

 

[love-my-wolves]

I think the timeline is a tad off. Adult food definitely should wait until they are laying, they can "go" outside at 1 month for playtime, but would end up frozen chick pops if left out without proper heat, and they really mate and lay whenever they want to, and it usually isn't when we want them to

The rest sounds about right! Here's a better list, just my opinion of course! Good luck!

Month 1- Treats will help them get to know you
Month 2- Can go outside with heat lamp in coop
Month 3- bulk up on weight and have all their feathers
Month 4- start making adult noises and no more chirping
Month 5- Reach adult size
Month 6-9- Adulthood ready for mating, eat adult chicken food.


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[cmom]

I agree with the other posts.

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