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Post by compwalla on Sept 25, 2017 18:22:54 GMT
My baby chicks, that is. We've had chickens for a long time but we've always bought them as older pullets ready to live outside. This will be our first time raising baby chicks. I'm expecting nine baby Easter Eggers in the mail tomorrow. We bought a (very) used pack and play for ten bucks and have converted that into a brooder. There was some family debate over which kind of brooder light to get but we went with the Brinsea - the flat platform kind that the chicks can hide under - since it works more like a mama hen and there is less risk of it overturning, overheating, or otherwise harming the chicks. They should be ready to go out into the junior coop before it gets terribly cold and they should start laying by late March.
I am excited to an embarrassing degree about these baby chicks so brace yourselves for way too many pics of the wee floofs.
BABIES, y'all!!
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Post by gale w on Sept 25, 2017 18:27:22 GMT
When we had babies dh built a tiny perch with some scrap wood. It was maybe 2" off the ground. They loved it. I love when they try out their wings. So cute.
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Post by flanz on Sept 25, 2017 18:30:17 GMT
That sounds adorable. Can't wait for promised pix!
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Post by scrapmaven on Sept 25, 2017 18:30:40 GMT
I'm looking forward to seeing those cute little guys.
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Deleted
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May 1, 2024 3:01:27 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2017 18:31:44 GMT
I'm excited to see your pics & hear your chick stories!
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Deleted
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May 1, 2024 3:01:27 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2017 18:32:02 GMT
What type did you get?
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Post by compwalla on Sept 25, 2017 18:33:00 GMT
When we had babies dh built a tiny perch with some scrap wood. It was maybe 2" off the ground. They loved it. I love when they try out their wings. So cute. I read that if you give them a wee roost they will be less likely to roost on the feeder and waterer and will thus poop in it less. I need to rummage in the barn for something to make a roost out of... |
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Post by compwalla on Sept 25, 2017 18:39:50 GMT
They are all Easter Eggers so they will be various colors, slim, with long necks. Their eggs will range from light brown to deep blue to aqua. Every girl lays her own unique egg color but the chance of blue eggs is best. This is one of the grown up lady Easter Eggers we already have:  I picked these because they are less expensive than a purebred Americauna, they are pretty, they are usually pretty friendly to people, and I love the blue eggs. I know they don't taste any different but I just like them. If they weren't so damned expensive, I'd love to get a few Olive Eggers who lay olive green eggs. |
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anniebygaslight
Drama Llama
I'd love a cup of tea. #1966
Posts: 7,394
Location: Third Rock from the sun.
Jun 28, 2014 14:08:19 GMT
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Post by anniebygaslight on Sept 25, 2017 19:03:03 GMT
Ho lovely. Nothing so cute as chicks. Be warned, they make an awful mess, especially when they she'd dander everywhere.
Do you give them names?
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Post by hdoublej on Sept 25, 2017 19:09:26 GMT
How exciting!! I would love to have chickens but every time we get some, some other, larger critter gets them. We even had a bob cat scratch through OSB boards to get to our chicks one time.  I will live vicariously through you!  |
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Post by compwalla on Sept 25, 2017 19:18:00 GMT
Ho lovely. Nothing so cute as chicks. Be warned, they make an awful mess, especially when they she'd dander everywhere. Do you give them names? Only one of my hens has a name. It is dangerous to name them. We are getting chicks because we lost three hens this year. One to natural causes, two to predators. So we don't name them on purpose. I love having them and they are cute and entertaining but I try not to get too attached. Godzilla, though? It would break my heart if something happened to her. She's my chicken boo. 😂 |
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Post by gale w on Sept 25, 2017 19:42:16 GMT
They are all Easter Eggers so they will be various colors, slim, with long necks. Their eggs will range from light brown to deep blue to aqua. Every girl lays her own unique egg color but the chance of blue eggs is best. This is one of the grown up lady Easter Eggers we already have: I picked these because they are less expensive than a purebred Americauna, they are pretty, they are usually pretty friendly to people, and I love the blue eggs. I know they don't taste any different but I just like them. If they weren't so damned expensive, I'd love to get a few Olive Eggers who lay olive green eggs. We have 2 easter eggers and 5 other hens (mix of silver laced wyandotte and red sex link). We get about 1-2 eggs per day right now. Almost all green. The 5 are seriously slacking off while the EEs are killin' it. Have you ever noticed that brown eggs are brown on the inside of the shell, but EE eggs are pretty much white. |
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Post by compwalla on Sept 25, 2017 19:45:10 GMT
Have you ever noticed that brown eggs are brown on the inside of the shell, but EE eggs are pretty much white. Yes. They are machines! We get way more eggs from our EEs than from the other hens. And, yep, the color is only on the surface. From wiki: "The pigment oocyanin deposited on the surface of the shell accounts for the blue-green color. Easter Eggers are hardy and excellent layers." |
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Post by mikklynn on Sept 25, 2017 19:52:47 GMT
That sounds fun. I'd love chicks, but have no interest in chickens, LOL.
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Post by quinlove on Sept 25, 2017 20:03:37 GMT
Quite often when I'm at the post office, someone is mailing lots of boxes with "live chicks" written all over. About the size of a shoe box. I live south of Fort Worth.
Now I'll think of you when I see those boxes. 🐥
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casii
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,461 
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Post by casii on Sept 25, 2017 20:05:03 GMT
Awwww, new fluffy butts! I can't wait to see some pics and hear stories. We didn't get any baby chicks this year and I felt horrible withdrawal pains, so I'll have to live vicariously through you.
I'd love an olive egger or 2 in the future as well. I do have an Americauna rooster and some French Copper Marans so a cross of them might result in olive eggers, but I'd have to have a broody hen at the right time since I'm not investing in an incubator.
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Post by compwalla on Sept 25, 2017 20:06:16 GMT
That sounds fun. I'd love chicks, but have no interest in chickens, LOL. I didn't imagine I'd enjoy having them as much as I do. I love having our own eggs -- they just taste SO much better than grocery store or restaurant eggs. And the girls are very entertaining. I love watching them run across the yard towards me like the wee velociraptors they are when I open the back door with treats. And if you sit outside on the ground, they will come roost on you. They are so soft and my Australorp likes to be stroked. Our rooster is a real asshole, though. You have to watch out for him. |
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cakediva
Drama Llama
Making the world a sweeter place one cake at a time!
Posts: 7,411
Location: Fergus, Ontario
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Post by cakediva on Sept 25, 2017 20:12:06 GMT
I will live vicariously through you and your babies!
While the idea of chickens is intriguing, I know we are SO not the right people to own them.
Our next door neighbour has three chickens - and they roam their yard freely. They think of them more as pets than anything else. She's promised me all their eggs when they get laying (should be about now they are about 8-9 months now) - they maybe eat a dozen or two a month. And with three hens laying they'll get up to 90 eggs a month!
Can't wait to see all the baby fluffiness!
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Post by 16joy on Sept 25, 2017 20:21:00 GMT
I look at an Instagram account from time to time and she has chickens. Her daughter was paddle boarding in the bay with one of the chickens up front and their doodle in the back. It was a funny picture.
You may want to check the can of scraps at Home Depot to build the roost someone suggest. They will mark some scrap as free if you don't need very much. The can is over in the wood section and an employee has to mark it for you.
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Post by gale w on Sept 25, 2017 20:44:02 GMT
If you like chicken instagrams, look up Roo & Crew. I think you have to be approved to follow because of some serious trolling and stealing of pictures but he posts the most amazing pictures. He lives somewhere in Africa so he posts other animals once in a while as well. eta link. I'm not logged in and can see his feed so he may have un-privatized it. www.instagram.com/rooandcrew |
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oh yvonne
Prolific Pea
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Jun 26, 2014 0:45:23 GMT
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Post by oh yvonne on Sept 25, 2017 20:53:01 GMT
Ah, I wish I wasn't scared of chickens, this is so cool!
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Post by Delta Dawn on Sept 25, 2017 21:45:26 GMT
They won't be in the house? They might get cold.  I love baby chicks! |
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Post by compwalla on Sept 26, 2017 0:15:47 GMT
They won't be in the house? They might get cold. I love baby chicks! They will be inside at first but they should be old enough to outside by winter. We will start letting them scratch in the yard for an hour or so when they get their feathers and increase the time they're outside until they're out all the time. I love having hens but they are outside chickens.  |
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Post by gale w on Sept 26, 2017 0:28:16 GMT
We never had ours in the house. I wouldn't even consider it-they are dusty and stinky. We put a box in the big coop and hang a heat lamp over it (I do like the brinsea idea) and they do fine. It's hilarious when dh takes out the big box and the chicks freak about having all that extra room all of a sudden.
BUT our chicks were always bought in the spring after the cold weather is over. We've never bought fall chicks.
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Post by mom on Sept 26, 2017 0:35:42 GMT
How exciting!
When I was in high school, I raised chicks for the Houston Livestock Show as my FFA project. I had 50 day old chicks mailed to me - I loved having them! We got ours in the middle of winter so we kept them in our garage for a couple of weeks and then we moved them to their coop outside.
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gloryjoy
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,332
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Post by gloryjoy on Sept 26, 2017 1:12:28 GMT
FUN !!! |
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Post by compwalla on Sept 26, 2017 2:06:41 GMT
We never had ours in the house. I wouldn't even consider it-they are dusty and stinky. We put a box in the big coop and hang a heat lamp over it (I do like the brinsea idea) and they do fine. It's hilarious when dh takes out the big box and the chicks freak about having all that extra room all of a sudden. BUT our chicks were always bought in the spring after the cold weather is over. We've never bought fall chicks. The hatchery said that EEs don't lay until six months and I didn't want to wait until the end of next summer for eggs. We are used to getting fewer eggs over the winter and I figured if we raise them through the winter it will seem "faster" that they start laying. |
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Post by malibou on Sept 26, 2017 4:29:01 GMT
I can't wait to see the pics. Chicks are so cute.
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Post by Delta Dawn on Sept 26, 2017 4:44:42 GMT
We never had ours in the house. I wouldn't even consider it-they are dusty and stinky. We put a box in the big coop and hang a heat lamp over it (I do like the brinsea idea) and they do fine. It's hilarious when dh takes out the big box and the chicks freak about having all that extra room all of a sudden. BUT our chicks were always bought in the spring after the cold weather is over. We've never bought fall chicks. Were you mean to The Duck when he was little, too? You don't love The Duck enough. He is just a misunderstood youth. He is working at trying to turn his life around. You'll see. He is a good Duck. |
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StephDRebel
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,663
Location: Ohio
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Post by StephDRebel on Sept 26, 2017 6:29:37 GMT
Ho lovely. Nothing so cute as chicks. Be warned, they make an awful mess, especially when they she'd dander everywhere. Do you give them names? Only one of my hens has a name. It is dangerous to name them. We are getting chicks because we lost three hens this year. One to natural causes, two to predators. So we don't name them on purpose. I love having them and they are cute and entertaining but I try not to get too attached. Godzilla, though? It would break my heart if something happened to her. She's my chicken boo. 😂 Same here. We have sarah...and the girls. |
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I love baby chicks! 
