fuzzi's "Gardens and Chickens...and Goats? Oh My!" Journal and More Thread

[fuzzi]

This just makes my heart happy. I'm so glad that you've got chicks. It'll be interesting to see what they turn out to be.
Odd that the store just called them chipmunk? They don't know what they ordered?

The chicks had arrived earlier in the day, shipping box was next to the tub containing the chicks. It said "mixed bantams".

I could have sworn that the staff said the chicks came from MMM, but their website says Hoovers.

 

[farmerjan]

It will be interesting to see what they are...

 

[fuzzi]

It will be interesting to see what they are...

There were silkies in the tub, lady wanted to know if I wanted any. No silkies! No!

To each their own, but I am not interested in owning chickens with frizzled, fuzzy, or otherwise fancy feathers. No naked necks, either. I want my chickens to look...like chickens!

 

[Mini Horses]

want my chickens to look...like chickens!

Me too ...

 

[fuzzi]

Videos from this morning:

Abigail visits the chicks

I'd like to track their development, think I will band them today. I use tiny zipties of different colors.

 

[Mini Horses]

So she's accepted them? Makes it so much easier to become a chicken, with a chicken mom

 

[fuzzi]

So she's accepted them? Makes it so much easier to become a chicken, with a chicken mom

Yes. It wasn't as instant a bond as with my other broodies, but she's also older. The Sussex were repeatedly broody as pullets, and at one year, the Dominiques haven't been broody at all, except for Tamar. I let her hatch/raise two. One is Joanna, the loquacious.

 

[fuzzi]

Naomi brought her brood out into the run at some point today, mid-morning.

One of the chicks found an opening under the wood frame, where the hens have scratched holes. It was cheeping in distress, protected from the world by hardware cloth, but unable to find its way back to its mom.

It was under the wire, here.

I was prepared to remove the screws and fender washers to rescue the chick. However, with a little digging on the inside and a few pokes in the bum with a twig to move it, the chick eventually found its original escape hole and went back into the coop.

Looks like she's giving them a lecture!

They all got pretty ID anklets, made with tiny zipties. I replace them as they grow.

Oops, another place blocked off!

In a few days they'll be too big to access the holes, which are sealed off on the outside with hardware cloth.

After I treated Tamar's wing I was standing and watching the chicks when Silas decided to investigate. One of the chicks went up to Silas, who gave it a pretty hard peck. As the chick turned and ran back to mom, Naomi threw out her wings, flipped her tail skyward, fluffed herself up, and started making threats! Silas retreated.


Suppertime, crumble mash:

 

[SageHill]

That lecture pic is a pic of the week for sure.