# My chicks are here!



## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

For a while I've decided I will get chickens for home-grown/laid eggs, its just been a matter of waiting for the right timing so I can get their coop/run built and am prepared for their arrival. That time has finally come, and they arrived today! 5:15am today I received a call from the post office (unlike most other animals, chickens can be safely and legally delivered via the postal service, as long as they are shipped in appropriate containers and over night or 2-3 day shipping for hatch day chicks, which can survive that time because they still have the remains of their yolk in their abdomen and do not require food or water for the first few days of life), my chicks were there and peeping, come get them! As soon as I got the message I was there (took the day off work to be sure I would be available to pick them up as soon as I got the call) to pick them up. They are now set up and happy in their brooder, happily peeping away, eating, drinking, resting, enjoying the easy life of a chick. They are so darn cute, I almost can't leave them alone! Even though they aren't really doing much, I just want to sit and watch them all day. I couldn't get pictures right away because my camera battery needed to recharge, but now that it has, here are the pictures! 

Here is their brooder. They will be moved to bigger quarters in a few days to a week, depending on how quickly they grow and start moving around more. For now this is sufficient and will keep them warm and protected. I have them set up in my sewing room, since I can shut the door and keep them safe from the cats and dogs, it is quiet and peaceful, and I can safely shut the air vent so they can stay warm and draft free (right now they require a temperature of about 96-98 degrees F). They have a red light to help prevent feather picking (chickens are attracted to red, and if they see blood, such as what might occur if a new feather breaks, they will begin to pick at it and can cause serious damage to themselves or each other). The light is also placed at one end of the brooder, instead of the middle, so the chicks can move closer or farther away as needed to stay at a comfortable temperature. I have a thermometer set up to monitor the temperature under the light, but also need to judge the chicks' behavior. So far they are happily moving about, not crammed together on one end of the brooder or the other, which means they are at a comfortable temperature.









Here are the chicks under their light, warm and comfy.









And here's a quick picture of the chicks without the red light so you can see their colorful cuteness. The yellowish/gray chicks are Columbian Wyandottes, the cinnamon colored chicks (such as the one in the bottom right corner of the picture) are Speckled Sussex, the tannish/brown chicks (such as the chick in the middle bottom of the picture) are Golden Laced Wyandottes, and the grayish/black chicks (such as the chick in the left bottom corner of the picture) are Silver Laced Wyandottes.


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

Beautiful peeps<3 

I'm going to have a couple pretty soon when my broodies finish setting, two of them went broody on a nest of two eggs- each hen will have one baby it looks like.


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## Kiko (Sep 18, 2009)

I love chickens, if I did not live in the big city of NY I would love to have some.
Forget it when I said the word 'keep' and 'chicken' I thought my SO was gonna keel over LOL

This may be a dumb question...but are they...pets? Or like livestock where they are less pets and more just something you keep.


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## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

Kiko said:


> This may be a dumb question...but are they...pets? Or like livestock where they are less pets and more just something you keep.


They are kind of "both" so to speak. They are pets, but I got them so I could have my own home grown eggs and know what I was eating and what was going into the chickens that laid them. So they have a purpose, but they aren't going to be viewed or treated as merely objects either.


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

Mine are pets only, although I eat the eggs like crazy, too. My roosters are my biggest pets- I love them to bits. My favorite boy got badly hurt but he will hopefully feel better. I have him on tons of supplements to help him gain control of his neck back.


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## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

So far the chicks are doing great! All of them are still alive! (As bad as it sounds to make that statement, I've known other people who have had really high mortality in the first few weeks. I now suspect that is due to either improper care, poorly bred/unhealthy chicks, or some combination of both.) I moved them into a bigger brooder today. At first they were a bit unhappy and overwhelmed with the amount of space they had. One or two chicks sat on the edge of the group peeping loudly for about 5 minutes (unhappy peeping) trying to figure out what's going on. But soon one chick made a discovery: They have wings! And once the first chick started flapping its wings, running, jumping, and trying to "fly", the others quickly copied, and soon all the chicks were celebrating their new found "freedom"! Shortly after they figured out they still had food and water too, and started happily munching/drinking away. Right now, that's about all these chicks do: eat, drink, sleep, and poop. They are still very cute and fun to watch though. lol

In the brooder:














































And some close-ups showing their feathers coming in:
(PS: the way I am holding them in these pictures does not hurt them, and is the safest, most secure way to hold them. Their neck is secured between my index and middle finger which helps to keep them from flailing their head around, while the rest of their body is secured in my palm. This supports their weight and keeps them feeling comfortable so they don't struggle and hurt themselves.)





































And who couldn't resist this face?


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## Ratsanctuary (Mar 24, 2011)

Beautiful Chicks!!! What breed of chicken are they?


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## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

RatSanctuary said:


> Beautiful Chicks!!! What breed of chicken are they?


There are Speckled Sussex and Wyandottes in Columbian, Silver Laced, and Golden Laced varieties.


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## Ratsanctuary (Mar 24, 2011)

Are they a smaller breed of chicken or do they get pretty big? Ive been considering getting some chickens after we get moved into our new house.


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## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

RatSanctuary said:


> Are they a smaller breed of chicken or do they get pretty big? Ive been considering getting some chickens after we get moved into our new house.


They are standard sized chickens. There might be bantam sizes in those breeds, but since I wanted normal sized eggs I avoided the bantam breeds.


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## A.ngelF.eathers (Jul 6, 2011)

I had NO IDEA that chickens were attracted to red


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## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

A.ngelF.eathers said:


> I had NO IDEA that chickens were attracted to red


Yup. Chickens can actually see colors, and some colors "taste" better than others - like red berries. Chickens are also NOT vegetarian, they are very much omnivores and will eat pretty much anything that goes down, including each other (in the case of a sick or injured bird or over crowded, stressful conditions).


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## Qku. (Apr 29, 2011)

Ohh, chicks are so much fun, and so cute. 
I had a few of my own too. Twice. Of the first 'batch' none of them lived. Combination of using the wrong lamp and health problems.
The next couple of chicks was more of a succes, though half of them died though. Again, the black ones died first, just like before. I think that was probably their genetics, because the other three brown ones got really big and healthy. They were awesome chickens, laid some reeaaally large eggs too. And then one died of diarrea, one got eaten by a fox and the other ran away  But not after a long life as healthy poultry.
If we ever take chicks again I _am_ planning on buying a decent heat-lamp though. Also, no more black ones, just to be sure.

Anyway, yours are so cute! But it won't be long now before they go into their 'ugly' stage, though  when their fluff gets exchanged for feathers.


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## PandaBee (May 14, 2010)

Looks like you are going to have some very beautiful chickens! If you need help deciding what to do with all those eggs, let us know! I have recipes out the wazoo that use up eggs, and I also have a couple of tricks for preserving them, so you can have eggs in the non-laying season without going to a supermarket.


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## Misbehavior (May 29, 2011)

The laced chicks are absolutely gorgeous! I used to help out on my friend's mother's farm over the summers and ever since I've been wanting egg-laying chickens of my own so badly, but living/working/going to school in the city keeps me from doing that. /: Maybe once I'm old, I'll retire, move to the country, and have my own small group of free range chickens who will live out their lives until they die of old age. ;D


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## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

These pictures were taken last Sunday:




























Don't worry, these chicks are just napping. Its funny watching them fall asleep, their heads slowly fall to the ground. lol




























The rest of these photos were taken today. The chicks are starting to go through their "ugly" stage. I think they look like some kind of mutant cross between birds, reptiles, and dinosaurs.


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## Critter Aficionado (Jan 30, 2011)

Beautiful chicks. I would love to have chickens someday, and we can legally have them on our property but from what I hear they are so messy, and we have feral cats everywhere around here that would constantly harass the enclosure I'm sure.


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## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

All the chicks are still doing great, and looking more and more like real chickens every day. In another couple of weeks they should be fully feathered and able to go outside permanently. For now, I've been opening their windows so they can get used to the day/night fluctuations. I still have their brooder lamp on, but should be able to turn it off soon. I'm also going to need to add some perches to their pen so they can start roosting at night.

Chicks in their holding bin while I clean out their pen:









Columbian Wyandotte:



























Golden Laced Wyandotte: 









This is also supposed to be a Golden Laced Wyandotte, but has funny white speckles on it. A couple of the chicks look like it. I have read chicks/chickens can/will continue to change colors as they age, so this may just be one of many stages in their growth.









Silver Laced Wyandotte:
Some of these chicks don't yet have a lot of their lacing, but I can see it on a few of them.









Speckled Sussex:
Some of these chicks have more speckling than others, and several have white patches developing on their throat/breast


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## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

More pictures!
































































Wattles just starting to come in on the biggest chick:









And this little guy (smallest chick in the group) is now suspected of being a young cockerel (immature rooster). Despite being the smallest chick, he has the biggest and most developed comb and wattle so far, and keeps trying to pick fights with the biggest chick (who doesn't want anything to do with him). I'm going to have to keep my eye on "him" now...


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## jadeangel (Jan 7, 2009)

I love seeing your photos and this is definitely making me want to move out of my tiny apartment to a place with a yard. I've always wanted my own chickens, but living on campus and small apartments doesn't allow the room >.<


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## sorraia (Nov 10, 2007)

The "chicks" aren't really chicks any more! Although a couple still have some down, for the most part they look like miniature chickens. Within the next week or two I should be able to move them outside. I've been leaving the windows open so they can get used to day/night temperature fluctuations, in an attempt to acclimate them so moving outside isn't such a big shock on their system. That also means I need to get busy finishing their coop! The hen house portion of it is mostly finished (just need to add roosting perches and some nest boxes), but I need to finish the run portion of it. Except for the one, I'm not seeing any other chicks that stand out as young cockerels, just yet.
































































And doesn't this just remind you of rats or dogs begging for attention or treats?! I swear I've never fed these guys by hand before, and despite that they seem to recognize me as the source of their food, and expect hand outs every time I sit down next to their pen! lol


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