I picked up the chicks this afternoon and have just finished getting them settled. The hatchery sent 21 rather than 20, and they all seem relatively happy.
I moved the brooder lamp closer to them as they seemed like they were crowding together to keep warm. When I went out to check on them a few minutes ago they seem to have spread out a bit and their peeps seemed slightly less strident. A few even appeared to be taking a nap.
I have two waterers, a chick feeder, and tons of feed spread over newspaper. I dipped their beaks in the water as I took them out of the box they came in and they seemed to find the feed on their own.
They did/do seem a little stressed and a few seemed to be getting picked on. They also seem to be preening themselves a bit? I’m not sure that they are supposed to be doing that this young? Some books mention feather pulling, but I hope that is not what they are doing. I don’t see any blood or any feathers in their beaks. They have a nice big brooder space, lots of food and water, and deep litter, so hopefully they will be happy and I will not have too many troubles. The small scale poultry book mentions that a lot of the problems outlined in more commercial texts are due to issues in management. I’m trying to let them have a happy life, with species appropriate experiences, and avoid the scary cannibalism, feather pulling, and other problems discussed at length in some poultry books.
One chick seemed to be shivery so I picked it up and held it in my hands and it seemed to warm up. I dipped its beak in the water and it had a nice big drink again, and seemed to find the feed, so hopefully it will perk up.
They are all super cute. Some have darker colouring than others, but they all have a white/yellow spot on their heads and white bums. I am amazed at how small they are. I figured they would be small (they do fit inside an egg after all) but it’s quite something to see.
Oh well, off to grab a bite to eat and then back to watch the chicks – it’s quite mesmerizing.
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Day 1
Chickens - Barred Plymouth Rock Gallus gallus domesticus |
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Comments
glgardener wrote:
very exciting, Hazel! They are cute and I would be sitting watching them, too. Of course I would also have them all named by now. lol!
congrats on your chicks. :)
Posted on 21 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
nickyn wrote:
Congrats! Have fun naming them… you have enough for a couple of baseball teams and bench warmers! They are adorable.
Posted on 21 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
HazelJ wrote:
@glgardener, nickyn I just got back from checking on them again. They seem to have settled nicely, many are trying to sleep (which is made more difficult by others running on top of them).
I’m not naming them, as they are not pets. I’m committed to making sure that they have a great life here, far superior to what a factory chicken would have. However most of the roosters (perhaps save one), will have “a fantastic life, and one bad day” and wind up on the table. In my opinion, a better fate than might befall the unwanted roosters at the hatchery. So it just doesn’t make sense to name them (at least at this stage). Plus with 21, it’s pretty hard to keep track of which one is which anyways! For now I’m calling them all “chick”.
Posted on 21 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
redloon wrote:
They’re so cute and fuzzy! I hope that they behave themselves, and enjoy the happy life that you’re trying to set up for them. Sounds like nice digs for now. :)
Posted on 21 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
Tralamander wrote:
I… I don’t know how to handle this cuteness. <3
Posted on 21 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
flowerweaver wrote:
Congrats on the cute ones! I notice you have started them out on bedding, so there’s a chance they might mistake it at this young age for food. Be super sure you check their bottoms for pasty-butt (clogging) nightly and wipe off with a wet, warm paper towel. We start ours on cheap, beach towels which are easy to launder and also keeps them from getting splay-legged, something to watch out for on newspaper. Good luck with them!
Posted on 22 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
KathN wrote:
They are SO cute!!
Posted on 22 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
HazelJ wrote:
@flowerweaver Starting them on towels is a fantastic idea (and not one I’ve read in the books I have on poultry – you need to write a book!) The hatchery recommended covering the litter with newspaper and then covering that with a thick layer of feed for the first few days. I did that, but within a few hours they seemed to have pushed/eaten it such that the newspaper was showing again and they were scurrying around to the chick feeder I’d filled to the point of overflowing as someone in the feed store suggested. I opted to put some litter over the paper that they’d exposed because I was worried about them getting splay-legged. This morning there was a bit of paper uncovered again so I covered that with feed. It was in a spot closer to the lamp, so I think maybe they were looking for feed closer to the heat source overnight. I think I might be “wasting” feed, but don’t want them to go hungry especially as we’re supposed to return to more seasonal temperatures this weekend.
I have been watching for pasty-butt, but haven’t quite figured out how to check them methodically short of putting the ones I check back into the tiny box they were shipped in until I’ve checked them all. I checked them as they came out of the shipping box, and just tried to peer sideways and under through the hardware cloth last night. Do you check each chick methodically, or just observe them all for a few minutes?
Posted on 22 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
blurdom wrote:
congrats on the little ones!
flowerweaver coached me through our flock’s arrival & her advice was invaluable. We started ours on towels & also put glass marbles in the waterer so they couldn’t accidentally drown (another great bit of advice).
Posted on 22 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
LouiseM wrote:
Lovely post! Good luck to you and them.
Posted on 22 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
flowerweaver wrote:
Methodically—I use a spare box, and check them individually the first couple weeks, moving them from box to box as I go. As I understand it, a chick can go septic very quickly if their vent is blocked. I use that time to trade out their towel for a new one in their main box. Dirty towel gets shaken outside, then laundered. I have used the same beach towels for so long they are known as Chicken Towels. Once they outgrow the box I start using bedding. By then they are wise enough not to try and eat it.
I know a lot of books say not to handle chicks too much, but I believe as long as you are gentle and don’t drop them, chicks should be handled as much as possible, certainly if you expect them to be gentle to you and especially if they are going to be pets. Because I can easily walk up to and pick up almost any of my 80 chickens, I am able to see if anyone is underweight or trim their toenails, etc.
To keep the box from disintegrating if they should tip over their water, I put a plastic garbage bag folded beneath the towel. This usually happens when they are big enough that someone wants to play king of the hill on top of the waterer. Otherwise you’ll go through a lot of boxes. That’s also when I start making the box taller by taping the flaps up. I start them off with feed on a tea saucer the first week and then move them up to a feeder the next. I also put florist’s marbles in the waterer the first week or two to keep them from falling in and drowning. As you know, chicks are liable to fall asleep almost anywhere!
Thanks! I guess my methods do differ from the usual books. I’ve also figured out how to bandage crooked toes the first week so that they will grow straight. I’m amazed what doesn’t get published and disagree with some of what is.
Posted on 22 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
HazelJ wrote:
Thanks flowerweaver. I did a quick check and cleaned the two who I could tell were pasting up, them wound up using a piece of cardboard to block off part of the box and checked them methodically. I think there were four out of the 21 who were pasting up. A few hours later and they seem to be doing alright. I covered the middle of the litter area with some old terry cloth diapers (perhaps I will rename them chicken diapers!), which I think will work well. I’m using a treadmill carton with some added height from additional cardboard attached between the two nested treadmill carton pieces. (I’m not sure that is the best description… I should take a photo since I added the extra height this afternoon.) The box is about 30″ × 80″ and they are scurrying about when not asleep.
That is good to know about handling the chicks. I have been picking them up and they actually seem to settle and enjoy being held or petted. My instinct about the “don’t handling them too much” discussions in the books is that people probably need to be ‘over-warned’ in order to not leave their 5 year old playing with chicks unsupervised.
I wish I had thought to line the treadmill box with plastic. I did put newspapers, then about 3" or 4" of litter, and now I have the diapers on top. The top and the bottom pieces of what held my treadmill are now nested, which does mean there are four layers of cardboard, so hopefully it won’t disintegrate. I did put a tarp underneath the box, just to try and insulate more as the floor is concrete and cold.
So far my go-to reference book is the The Small-Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery. I also have the Storey Guide to Raising Poultry, Barnyard in Your Backyard, the Back Yard Chickens book (whose title I forget, but it is ideas for building coops and tractors along with plans.) The book by Ussery has a lot of information and somehow less prescriptive than the Storey book. I think perhaps the demand for chicken books is just catching up with what people raising smaller flocks need/want.
Posted on 22 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
Mamabluestem wrote:
How cute! With all this fantastic information, I’m even more interested in adopting a few babies of my own. I work for our school district’s adult education department, and we have a class coming up next month on ‘Discover the Fascinating World of Backyard Chickens’ with a field trip to the instructor’s flock! I’m all enrolled and excited to go!
Posted on 23 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
NaryauCielo wrote:
congrats they are cute!!! i have 6 chickens and they are so fun when they are little, if you need any help let me know! i have had to deal with all sorts of surprises!!
Posted on 25 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
NaryauCielo wrote:
we didn’t use newspaper because of the spraddle leg they can possibly get from it being too slippery, we used unbleached natural paper towels under their bedding so it was cheap and we could recycle it back. towels would require more cleaning maybe. one of ours had pasty butt, we had to put her rear end in warm water for a while and pick off the dried up poop it was not fun. we just had one chicken have a prolapsed vent so be prepared for that when they get bigger!
Posted on 25 Mar 12 (about 1 year ago)
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