Chicky Girls

It has been a long time but, I'm back now! Boy have the girls gotten BIG!!!!!


Hootie























Guinevere


















Sammy

Abbey (with Guinevere & a Barred Rock in the background)

Buffy, Rosie, and Abbey enjoying a nice refreshing drink! =D

Rosie being her curious self.

How to Care for Chicks (2)

As they get older what do I feed them?

If you have female chicks, then you feed them Starter/Grower until they start to lay eggs. At that point you can give them "laying pellets" - food with added calcium and other minerals for a strong shell and a healthy hen. You also change the food for rosters at about the same time as the hens, it does not matter if the rosters eat "laying pellets".

We have just started to give the chicks some scratch grain mixed into their regular food. Its fine as long as they are big enough to eat the bigger parts of corn and grain. It is cheaper as well, so it might save you a bit of money. (Make sure your chicks are big enough first though.)

Newbies Update (4)

Well I know its been awhile, sorry about that. I went to Europe for two weeks and I've been trying to catch up on all the chores...=D

The girls have grown a lot. Just about doubled in size...wow!!!

Here are some pictures of my dears!!
Abbey
Little Abbey here now loves to cuddle, if you crouch down to check the feeder or anything, she will try to hop onto your shoulder... ^-^














Bendy Toe
This girl has a small toe that is slightly deformed. Its seems that the bone was broken and never set straight, so it is at an angle. She is fond of affection just not cuddles; she feels restricted and tries to escape by flapping.


















Rosie
My dearest little chicky girl is doing well, we have been letting them roam for a bit outside the barn and she loves to wonder and explore...














Sammy
Sammy is very much a "chicken", you can't get near her at all. The other chickens all pick on her, I guess it is because she looks different. She is very pale and prissy. All the other chicks were wondering around in the grass and she was standing on the door sill trying to reach a piece of grass without having to go outside.









Scarlett
Little miss Scarlett O'Hara is a good girl - quite big compared to the others. She will let you pet her, but cuddles are out of the question...














Squinty
Is apparently a roster...oh well!
There have been mysterious crowing noises coming from the barn... He is also getting more aggressive....ugh!














Felicity
Is just lovely, very shy and quiet. Perchance a roster, can't really tell. "She" has big feet but other than that it could be a hen. We have never had this breed before though...maybe they all have big feet...lol











Guinevere
Her tail feathers are beautiful, a silvery blue that is slightly iridescent.















Buffy
What can I say...shes gorgeous and so friendly! =D ♥

Oldies (The Garden Excursion)

The hens are having quite a time, we had a cow escape from our neighbors field and it ran through the chicken run and tore the wire down. Now they can free range outside with out having to escape or fly...they just walk right out! I snuck out and caught them in the act of vandalizing the veggie garden, cheeky buggers!...
Harriett was "just" passing through the garden as I came out....















Then Henrietta comes along and is "just looking for bugs"...















And when I pretended to look away...the lettuce screamed as it was being eaten. A quick picture and then I had proof of who was eating all the lettuce, Haha!












Benjamin was the guard that they posted for a look out, but then he saw something shinny and was gone like a very fluffy bullet. The poor hens never even knew he was gone.


















♥

Newbies (3)

Well all the girls are growing up fast! *tear* Sorry that it took so long to get some stuff on here...been as busy as a bee! =D
The chicks all moved out of the water trough, they are now in the barn in a 12' x 12' room/stall. They have tons of leg room and hay bales to climb.

Squinty is a Barred Rock, she loves to chase you and peck. She appears to be quite a bossy little girl. The reason for her name is because one of her eyes is slightly more closed than the other. ^-^












Rosie is still her sweet little self, always open to a good cuddle.. =D
















Whitey is a White Leghorn (well known for laying an enormous amount of eggs during their lifetime).
They are also very hard to tell apart as of yet, so they all have the same name...lol

Her friend there is Abby Sciuto, who is a Black Star Sexlink.










Felicity here is looking quite scruffy and bedraggled, I guess its because she is a different breed from the others. Her feathers are not growing as quickly as everyone else, poor girl!














Buffy her is getting such a sweet personality! She runs up to you and leaps into your arms now (or very close to that anyway!)....














Sammy is also growing at a different rate to the others. She is also very hard to catch now, thats why the picture is from a distance. =p














A very snooze-ie Whitey, she woke up right as the flash went off.

















Hootie is a looker, very pretty ear tufts.
















Two little girls playing on the chicken version of a playground(haybales) =D















Snooze time, Whitey and Hootie about to go down for a wee nap (After all that playing around everyone needs a nap right!)...ZZzzzzzz...







♥

How to care for chicks

Where do I keep them?
For every chick you need about 1/2 a square foot of room. We have 24 chicks so it would be about 12 square feet. We have a black (Tuff Stuff) water trough that is 110 gallons and approx. 3' by 4.5' and 2' high. At about two weeks old you will want to put some wire mesh on the top for the escape artists.






Do they need to be kept warm?
Yes, they most defiantly need to be kept warm at all times, you will need a heat lamp with the right type of heating bulb. I prefer the red tinted ones, but after awhile the red will peel off. At the moment the heat lamp is about two feet from the bottom of the water trough, as they get older you will have to move it higher. Always keep an eye on the chicks and make sure that they aren't shivering and huddled together, or panting with wings drooped. To tell how warm it is just stick you hand in(at their level) and see how hot your hand feels, if its warm then you're good, it its so hot it hurts move it higher. After all you don't want mini roast chicken!!!















What do I use to line the bottom of the container?
For the first day you should line the bottom with just news paper, after you're sure that they know where the food is you can put some wood shavings on the bottom, don't use cedar shavings as the oil in it can be bad for them. Change the news paper and shavings at least once a day. More if need be. Also make sure that they don't eat the shavings, NEVER use sawdust!!

What do I feed them?
At your local feed store they should have bags of start/grow chick feed, always check to make sure that is for chicks, some are just for ducks or turkeys. Keep their feeders full at all times, their metabolism is a lot faster than ours so they need to eat constantly.

What do they drink?
They drink water from the very beginning, when you first get them you should give them sugar water(two tablespoons per quart) for a day or two. After that plain water is fine, there are different types of water soluble chick vitamins and supplements. I've never needed them though.

What do I do when I first get them?
It is best if while placing them in the container you have chosen to dip each chicks beak into the sugar water and make sure they all get some water, they will be dehydrated and tired after the journey. As tempting as it is, don't cuddle them for at least a couple of hours they need to recuperate.

I hope you enjoy the wonderful world of chickenhood!!!! ♥

The Newbies (2)

Well its been awhile so here are some more pictures of the chicks!
Boy are they growing up fast. *sigh*
Samantha "Sammy"
Now Sammy's wing feathers are starting to come in!! =D

















Rosie
Rosie's tail and wing feathers are coming in now. She is getting even cheeky-er if that is possible, when you put your hand out she will climb up it and try to escape.

Cheeky girl!







Felicity
Felicity is getting very fast, it took me awhile to catch her for this photo. I think I might have tired her out. ^-^











Hootie
Hootie is an Araucana and she has the cutest little ear tufts, she looks like an owl as her name implies! =D











Buffy (the fluffy)
Buffy also enjoys a good cuddle if the opportunity arises. She is a Buff Orpington, which are known for their sweet personalities.

The Old Girls (And Boy)

At the moment we have nine laying hens and a bantam rooster named Benjamin. Here are their bios...


Sweetie
Sweetie (Araucana) has been with us for about five or six years now. She is the Houdini of the flock, if there is a way out of the run she'll find it and will also teach the other hens who are brave enough to follow her out to freedom. She has fluffy ear tufts and lays greenish/blue eggs. When she was a chick she had the cutest black eyebrows she looked like quite the Egyptian!





Green Day and Cheeky(Cheeky is the one in the back)
Green Day is a Silver Laced Wyandotte, she loves to free range with Sweetie and that crowd. She lays light brown eggs and she has a rose comb.

Cheeky is a Silver Sebright bantam(which is a like a miniature chicken) She is as her name suggests very cheeky, she is also exceptionally good at flight compared to the other hens, and almost impossible to catch.





Henrietta
Henrietta is a Barred Rock(which is a cross between Dominiques and Black Javas) and lays medium brown eggs, she also likes to roam about unattended during the day. She is not however smart enough to get back into the run so we must find her in the evenings and put her up to roost.






Lilly
Lilly (Red Sexlink) is only a year old and quite personable when she chooses. She will come when you call her by name. Born on Easter or very close to it, she was given to us because her owner got her as a chick for an Easter present and had nowhere to keep her. She is almost house trained.... =D








Lucy
Lucy (Red Cochin Bantam) is a complete scared-y chicken, you can't get within five feet of her and she runs away. She looks a little stressed out all the time, but she is very cute and tiny compared to the other chickens. Lucy is quite the devoted wife to Benjamin. She also enjoys the free ranging life style and can sneak out of very small holes...







Scruffy
Scruffy (Araucana) is also fond of free ranging, but not very smart. She lays light brown eggs (some Araucanas don't lay green eggs, but most do). She is a loner and doesn't hang out with the other hens much if she can help it.







Pecky
Pecky (Barred Rock) has a sweet personality, fond of people but not cuddles. She was once quite broody and hatched two chicks, but both turned out to be roosters (Little and Jr.) so we had to give them away. She loves to scratch up the garden and eat grubs...yummy!






Harriett
Harriett (Barred Rock) is also a loner and the largest chicken we have at the moment. Her hobbies are eating and scratching up the garden to let the weeds grow. =D








Benjamin (aka "Benji")
Benjamin (Barred Cochin Bantam) is our only rooster. He is very sweet and fluffy, and has a secret love for cuddles, but he would never admit it. He is gentle, kind and has never attacked anyone, unlike the other roosters we've had. He is quite the country bumpkin. ^-^