Chicks!
Stop the presses! Our baby chicks arrived today!! They came in a little cardboard box about 18" by 18" with breathing holes in it. My postmaster called me up and said "Hey, listen to this..." and held the phone to the chicks. Peep! Peep! Peep! I left right away and went to get them. They were peeping loudly and he was kind of relieved to see them go, I think.
We dipped their beaks in the water and they drank right away. They climbed into the pie tin so they could get more, More, MORE water. It was kind of a frenzy at first, as you can see above. We took them out because we didn't want them getting even more chilled than they already were. Baby chicks like to be 90-95F the first week. We'll reduce their temps about 5 degrees per week until they get well feathered.
Our chicks are very precocious. They can stand in their food and poop on it. Isn't that clever? We are feeding them starter food for the first 8 weeks. That's what the hatchery (Murray McMurray) recommends.They'll be on newspaper for the first three days (again, recommended by the hatchery). Then we'll put them on straw or wood shavings or dirt. Guess I better make up my mind, huh?
I put the camera on "macro" and held it in the box and took a few pics. This is the only one that turned out worth looking at. They are BUSY little devils! These are Speckled Sussex. They are on the ALBC's threatened list.
Labels: chickens
posted by Leslie @ 11:08 AM
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What newspaper do you give them? And which section? Do you think they favor sports? Or the lifestyle section? Maybe the editorials?
Sounds like you have a good start there at the Palazzo. Keep us up to date when you get the chance.
Well, Leslie, ongratulations on your new arrivals! They're so pretty! Love that close-up! I started mine out on a bed of pine shavings over which I layered newspapers, then paper towels (Bounty if you must know). I must admit I was probably a bit fanatical about it....everytime they pooped I covered it with another bit of paper towel. (Isn't Bounty known as the "quicker picker upper"?) At the end of the day, I rolled up all the newspaper and paper towels and placed a fresh layer down. By the end of the second day when they really had gotten the idea that their food was the grain and it was in the feeder, then I removed all papers and just left the shavings, which I recommend. They are highly absorbent, smell nice, and are also cheap. I pay $4.58 for a bale which is something like 3-1/4 cubic feet. Anyway, not that you asked for advice, and not like I'm an expert, but.....they seem to thrive being clean, dry, and warm. After reading all the stories of diseases they can catch, I am happy to report no losses, and they are all doing great. I'm convinced that the raw cider vinegar and probiotics in their water has had a positive immune-system boosting effect. We also handle ours several times a day to get them people-trained. Have fun with your babies! I can't wait to hear more about your adventures with them and see more marvelous photos. Blessings to you!
Hi Leslie, I'm "Idahoe" on HT. Like I said, I've read your blog and ROTFL at Rolf eating so many frogs he throws up. I remember doing that with BBQ potato chips.
I was thinking, with the chicks, to get the retail feeders/waterers they have for brooding purposes. I avoided buying them, stubbornly insisting upon making my own, and what I ended up with was poop soup or nearly drowning them. I put both food and water dispenser up on scrap lumber blocks when they hit three weeks to keep flying food particles from the water, but alas, it doesn't prevent messes entirely. Just mostly, which is good enough.
Did you get straight run or sexed chicks?
Congratulations! They are beautiful.
Steph
Pablo, they like anything with print. It looks like bugs to them.
Emily, all your input is greatly appreciated. No losses is stellar. We are expecting to lose a few just because we're inexperienced and probably won't recognize a problem as quickly as an experienced person would.
Kim, thanks for dropping by! Yes Rolf is disgusting - and the toad population around the house is noticably diminished this spring.
I haven't seen the commercial feeders and waterers; I'll check them out. I think elevating them a bit as the chicks get older is a great idea. These are straight run Speckled Sussex. We'd hoped to get Buckeyes but the breeder we ordered from didn't get enough this year and by the time that became apparent the other hatcheries had sold out. We'll see how we like the Sussex and we may or may not change to Buckeyes in a year or two.
Those are beautiful. No chicks for me this spring as last year's chicks are still with us and enough's enough.
Hey there, just thought id let you know, i was looking for pictures of "chipmunk chicks" to show to some friends of mine (they didnt believe me that they existed) and a google search brought me to your blog. Its awesome reading this post because it reminds me EXACTLY of when i ordered a box of chicks in the mail when I was a kid in 4H. we got an assortment of cochins, which were a bit smaller but no less hilarious and precocial. Your descriptions of their behaviors are dead on. ;D Two of my cochins were partridge color, so they were the chipmunk colors, and naturally I named them Chip and Dale. ;) That was many years ago, now; the chicks grew up and i showed them and sold them. Im a graduate student in biology now (still working with birds). Its nice to relive some of my memories through your eyes ;D
I find a ton of irony in the fact they are eating out of egg cartons!
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