Tag: baby chickens

First Hatchling

Our first baby chick hatched today — a cross between our Green Queen an the Bresse rooster. There was an egg that pipped earlier, but that chick didn’t make it (one of the small, first eggs laid by one of the Bresse hens). This one, however, hatched overnight!

They grow up so fast

Anya keeps telling me that chickens grow up so fast … which is both true and so funny coming from the Anya who also seems to grow up really fast. The little balls of fluff are half feathers now, and getting bigger (and more chicken-like) every day. We had our first escape yesterday. I’d clipped a mesh over the top of the brooder when they first started fluttering. But one of the dark-feathered birds was roosting on top of the chicken toaster and pushed her way out of the cover. Now we’ve got more clips, and it seems to be secure.

And they love going outside to play. We’ve had a few really busy days and haven’t been able to take them out. Tomorrow looks a little cool, but the weekend and the first few days next week look like perfect chicken playing weather.

First Outdoor Adventure

Our little girls had their first adventure outdoors. One advantage of getting chicks late in the year like this ? 90 degree days. Plenty warm enough for these little ones to enjoy exploring. We’ve got a fence around the hazelnut bushes, so Anya brought them into that grassy area. At first, they stayed close to one of “their people”.

But, as they spent a little time checking out grass and dirt near us, they started venturing around the yard.

Real Chickens!

We picked up our little babies yesterday — had a little confusion because the order hadn’t gotten marked as ready for pickup, and the office staff is working from home so they couldn’t just pop out to the hatchery and see. But they eventually confirmed all five little guys were hatched and ready to come home.

We’ve got Sunshine, the Buff Orpington, who is undoubtedly Anya’s fav.

We’ve got Joyce, the Austra White, who Anya says is Sunshine’s best friend (and she is).

And Moonlight, the Black Jersey Giant … well, I’m about 90% sure about that. She’s got dark legs

And then we’ve got … well, I don’t know. And totally understand why they put leg bands on the ‘rare breed’ birds. There are a whole lot of gray and yellow balls of fluff. I think this is the Green Queen, Queenington.

Which would make this our Columbian Wyandotte, Tilly. Anya says we cannot call them by their names until their feathers come in and we actually know who is who. Which makes sense — I’d be awfully confused if I was called one name for a few years and then my family randomly started calling me some other name.

 

 

Chicken Brooder Setup – Water and Heat

The heater that I ordered from Amazon for the baby chickens was a dud — I’ve got to send it back tomorrow. I ordered a different heater — both are like heating pads on legs to allow the chickens to huddle under it like a mommy hen.

We got the first bag of starter food along with a feeder and water container. While the water container is designed to prevent drowning, Anya read about putting rocks into the water tray in her chicken keeping book … so we gathered too-big-for-a-chicken-to-swallow stones, washed them, and have them in the water tray for extra safety.