Peep, peep, peep...peep, peep, peep...six tiny voices are chirping up a storm in our sun room. We picked up the new chicks on Saturday and they are now happily scratching around and getting comfortable in their new home.
One of the chicks was an orphan from an earlier brood...no one had purchased her. So I took her in. She's rather large then, compared to the rest. Big Bird seems an appropriate name for her.
We haven't named the others yet. We'll have to observe them as they grow to see what names fit.
It's been fun to observe their antics. At first very timid, the little chicks cowered against the side of their new home. That didn't last long, thanks especially to Big Bird's presence. A couple weeks older and wiser, Big Bird showed the way and encouraged the littlest ones past their shyness.
My sister, Cathy, gave me a tip last year when we raised our first three chicks: a galvanized stock feeding tank works perfectly for raising chicks from arrival to when they are ready to go outside. She loaned me hers for last year; this year, I decided to buy one of my own. I also purchased a smaller water container for them this year, since I intend to refill it every day.
Unfortunately, I neglected to buy a divided feeding container for the chicks. The one I had got left behind in the move. These recycled sour cream containers don't work too well because Big Bird keeps standing in them. She is already practicing how to scratch around, and in her efforts she continually empties the food onto the bottom of the trough with her giant scratching feet. She's at that gangling chicken stage where her feet look enormous with long, eerie alien-like toes. Too cute!
So, I'll need to run out and buy them a better feeding dish.
The new members of our flock include one each of the following:
Some day they will be joining our three other adult chickens, who are Henrietta, Amy and Miss Prissy Fuzzy Bottom.
Our project list of course now includes expanding the chicken coop and building more nesting boxes. Likely the new chicks will need their own separate space for a bit while slowly being introduced to the existing flock. We're looking forward to perhaps selling a few eggs in the not too distant future.
One of the chicks was an orphan from an earlier brood...no one had purchased her. So I took her in. She's rather large then, compared to the rest. Big Bird seems an appropriate name for her.
We haven't named the others yet. We'll have to observe them as they grow to see what names fit.
It's been fun to observe their antics. At first very timid, the little chicks cowered against the side of their new home. That didn't last long, thanks especially to Big Bird's presence. A couple weeks older and wiser, Big Bird showed the way and encouraged the littlest ones past their shyness.
My sister, Cathy, gave me a tip last year when we raised our first three chicks: a galvanized stock feeding tank works perfectly for raising chicks from arrival to when they are ready to go outside. She loaned me hers for last year; this year, I decided to buy one of my own. I also purchased a smaller water container for them this year, since I intend to refill it every day.
Unfortunately, I neglected to buy a divided feeding container for the chicks. The one I had got left behind in the move. These recycled sour cream containers don't work too well because Big Bird keeps standing in them. She is already practicing how to scratch around, and in her efforts she continually empties the food onto the bottom of the trough with her giant scratching feet. She's at that gangling chicken stage where her feet look enormous with long, eerie alien-like toes. Too cute!
So, I'll need to run out and buy them a better feeding dish.
The new members of our flock include one each of the following:
- Buff Orpingtonn
- Barred Rock
- Rhode Island Red
- Ameraucana
- Black Australorp
- White Leghorn
Some day they will be joining our three other adult chickens, who are Henrietta, Amy and Miss Prissy Fuzzy Bottom.
Our project list of course now includes expanding the chicken coop and building more nesting boxes. Likely the new chicks will need their own separate space for a bit while slowly being introduced to the existing flock. We're looking forward to perhaps selling a few eggs in the not too distant future.
So cute!
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