Cuteness Overload!

Since we moved to a new house and have a little more space :rolleyes: and a fenced yard we decided to add a few more chickens to our small flock of now 2 (lost the 3rd girl to a hawk over the weekend :( )

And here is one of our new additions, doesn’t get much cutter than a chick taking a nap in your hand. :D

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/ef646a84.jpg

Awwwww adorable

How cute!

So cute! I want to get some eggs and hatch them but then I'd have full sized chickens eventually and my mom would never let me build a coop. Plus we don't have a lot of land. Are they dirty?

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Originally Posted by brikimura

So cute! I want to get some eggs and hatch them but then I'd have full sized chickens eventually and my mom would never let me build a coop. Plus we don't have a lot of land. Are they dirty?

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Well they are birds so they can make a mess however if you limit yourself to two (they are social and should have a companion) it's not bad at all.

I clean their coop once a week, monitor their water daily when checking for eggs, re-fill food once a week as well and that's about it.

Having the waterer and feeder suspended help reduce the mess and amount of cleaning.

They can make great pets and the bonus is that you have fresh eggs each day.

Very few things beat the cuteness factor of baby chickens. :)

Yeah, in rural areas hawks are a big problem with having chickens. We have some hawks down here that have full on dived right into the wiring of our coop. Btw Deb, keep a look out for snakes, they love chicken eggs. ;) :snake:

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Well they are birds so they can make a mess however if you limit yourself to two (they are social and should have a companion) it's not bad at all.

I clean their coop once a week, monitor their water daily when checking for eggs, re-fill food once a week as well and that's about it.

Having the waterer and feeder suspended help reduce the mess and amount of cleaning.

They can make great pets and the bonus is that you have fresh eggs each day.

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Cool, maybe I'll get some in the future. About how many eggs do the two lay a day? What age do they start laying?

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Originally Posted by brikimura

Cool, maybe I'll get some in the future. About how many eggs do the two lay a day? What age do they start laying?

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The number of eggs depends on the breed, from 1 egg a week (which is poor) to about 4 or 5 a week.

They usually start laying around 25 weeks.

This site has a great resource of info on care and breeds http://www.mypetchicken.com/about-chickens/


Warning though fancy chickens are like snakes they can be addictive ;)

Few more pictures :D


http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/9f1dc33b.jpg

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/e067cd71.jpg

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/aada83e1.jpg

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/7b7795e9.jpg

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/56186d5f.jpg

http://i954.photobucket.com/albums/a...k/f9de59bb.jpg

SQUEEEEEEE!!!

Can I have the one with the hat? :please:


dr del

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Originally Posted by dr del

SQUEEEEEEE!!!

Can I have the one with the hat? :please:


dr del

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That one is gonna be my favorite I have been wanting a Polish for a while and I have 2 ;)

Very cute:) I've got 9 1.5 week old chicks in a brooder in my diving room right now:) I love chickens! I had to get rid of my entire flock because they became incorrigible egg eaters, though. But at least it meant I got to get my new babies!

I think I saw an Australorp and a WCB Polish? What are the others?

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Warning though fancy chickens are like snakes they can be addictive ;)

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But cheaper, easier to keep, cheaper to feed, and productive;) If I didn't live in a neighborhood I'd have waaaay more than I do!

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Originally Posted by unspecified42

I think I saw an Australorp and a WCB Polish? What are the others?

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Polish that I recognized right away (pretty easy to spot) I also have some easter eggers and for the rest no clue really, we bought a package of mix breed hens online so it can be a bit of everything, and I am pretty bad at identifying chicks so I guess with some it will be a surprised which we don't mind.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Polish that I recognized right away (pretty easy to spot) I also have some easter eggers and for the rest no clue really, we bought a package of mix breed hens online so it can be a bit of everything, and I am pretty bad at identifying chicks so I guess with some it will be a surprised which we don't mind.

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That's fun! I considered doing that, but I really wanted a variety of egg colors so I picked them out instead. I stink at identifying them too. Does the one in the first picture have feathered legs?

Do you ever feed them mealworms?

I had never thought of doing it until a coworker said she raises them for her birds. So now I spend an extra couple of dollars every week when I go buy feeder rats and my chicks LOVE me! lol. They used to run away when I opened the brooder but now they all bumrush me and nibble on my fingers.

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Originally Posted by unspecified42

Does the one in the first picture have feathered legs?

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Nope no feathered legs in that group.

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Originally Posted by unspecified42

Do you ever feed them mealworms?

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I do every now and than as a treat and they go crazy about them, they are free range so they also find their own bugs in our yard, they love digging under leaves ;)

The 2 adults we have now (2 Bantams) are very tame and eat out of your hands regardless of having mealworms, one will even jump in your arms to be held :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Well they are birds so they can make a mess however if you limit yourself to two (they are social and should have a companion) it's not bad at all.

I clean their coop once a week, monitor their water daily when checking for eggs, re-fill food once a week as well and that's about it.

Having the waterer and feeder suspended help reduce the mess and amount of cleaning.

They can make great pets and the bonus is that you have fresh eggs each day.

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Since this is a chick are you keeping it inside to keep warm. Or is it at a stage now it can be outside on its own.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

Since this is a chick are you keeping it inside to keep warm. Or is it at a stage now it can be outside on its own.

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Right now until they are kept indoors under a brooder light, 90 degrees the first week and going down 5 degrees each week.

At 4 weeks old they will be going outside, they'll have all their feathers by than and will be big enough not to sneak out their coop they be kept in the coop for 2 to 4 week than at that time they'll will be complitely free range.