Hello everyone - I have decided to move my blog over to Wordpress. The new address is lisahaschickens.wordpress.com. It has all the old stuff plus a new post! Also, I am working on the formatting and redoing some things, so bear with me. I apologize for any inconvenience. Hopefully this move will make for a better blog experience for all of us!
See you there,
~Lisa
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Teeny Tiny Tail Tufts
(Mystery Chick shows you her(his?) tail tuft)
Well, it is day four and all is well at Lisa's Chicken Shack. I am sad to report that the One Sicky Little Chicky did give up the ghost eventually yesterday after a long and hard fight. But, hey - that's nature. I only wish it hadn't dragged on so long - that was the most stressful part. That's all I'll say about sad stuff - moving on.
Everybody else appears well at this time. I was worried a bit for a while because starting last night and through most of today, they have spent much of their time sleeping. Before then, they only seemed to sleep for short periods and spent most of their time eating, drinking and playing. I tried not to let panic set in because both of our losses so far have started out as overly-sleepy babies. In an attempt to see if this was a bad sign, I resorted to my usual tactic of internet research and found a nice question and answer site called www.feathersite.com. On it, site owner says he gets many questions from concerned amateurs about whether it is bad that chicks are sleeping a lot. He said it's totally normal - remember, they are babies and need lots of sleep. So, I decided to think of them like human babies in fast-forward. At first, they needed to eat and drink quite often and so would catch frequent, short naps. Now that they're older, they are more efficient eaters and so can sleep "through the night," so to speak. This was the most common site for me through last night and much of today:
Since I've got this picture up, I'll mention this: today I read that you are supposed to be able to "color sex" Cuckoo Marans from birth. Apparently usually males are lighter, more silvery with less-defined head spots, while the females are usually closer to true black in color with strongly-defined head spots. This is not always true, but mostly. So, I ask you - can you see a difference between any of them? The above picture has five of my six in it. I guess some are a little lighter than others, but none are really "silvery" and none are really "true black," are they? I am now a little worried that I have all of one sex. If you go here and scroll down to the second picture from the bottom, it shows you what the difference is supposed to look like. If mine are all females, that would be fine, but I seriously doubt it. If anything, hatcheries would err on the side of giving you more males (though theoretically they didn't sex them at all and so they wouldn't be able to choose). I really want at least one female so I can have chocolate-colored eggs! Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Anyway, they are still growing like weeds and today's themes are tailfeathers and better pictures. This morning for the first time, little teeny tufts of tail fluff were visible on some chicky tushies. By this evening, most of them have them. I'm not kidding when I say they change by the hour! By earlier this afternoon, one Marans chick (today I have learned that "Marans" is both the plural AND the singular term)had visible the beginnings of two real tailfeathers. By this evening, another Marans plus the Cool-Looking One (an Amer.) had them too. A few minutes ago I went up for a photoshoot in an attempt to show you some tailfeathers and I definitely scored some of my best pics so far. I have been using the flash and it helps a TON. I really hope it's not giving them brain damage or something else equally horrible. They don't seem to mind as far as I can tell.
(Marans chick with visible tailfeathers, rather than just fluff... if you click on the image for the larger version, you should be able to see them)
(A Buff Orpington and Mystery Chick have some dinner with newly-visible tail tufts)
(the Buff Ameraucana hams it up for the camera and shows off her long, light wingfeathers and a hint of a tail tuft)
(a little love between sisters, Owl (top), and Big Scary One, who is turning out to be not so scary...)
(Hello, Gorgeous! Cool-Looking One, our darkest Ameraucana, is pretty for the camera, showing us her lovely, developing wingfeathers and a prominent tail tuft)
(finally a good, clear picture of a Marans' comb)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Cocks' Combs & The Taming Process
After two gloomy posts in a row, I do want you to know that all in all, the babies are doing quite well. As I mentioned before, it is extremely rare for an entire batch of chicks to make it to adulthood, so we shouldn't dwell on the negatives.
Combs
It is unbelievable to me how quickly they are growing - they literally change by the hour. Their wing feathers are very noticeable now on all of them. By yesterday afternoon, we could see the beginnings of little combs growing on three of the Marans. The best picture I could get of it is above. If you squint and look really closely, you might be able to see the little, tiny ridge of bumps forming in a line down his beak. Below is another picture - I really don't think you can see it in that one, but it's still cute so I thought I'd post it anyway.
Now, we've established that I've never had chickens before and that all my knowledge has come from books and websites and a little from my parents. We have also established that it's nearly impossible to distinguish the sexes of young chicks and even experts are accurate only 80% to 90% of the time. However, I have read that sometimes defining characteristics begin to show themselves on certain breeds within the first week of life. Since the Marans were stright run and I have six of them and three of the six are distinctly showing comb growth while the others are distinctly not, I am going to guess that one group of three is one sex and the other group of three is the other. Only time will tell, but I am placing my money on the ones with combs as cockerels (boys). Apparently some breeds that are particularly good for egg-laying develop early combs in pullets (girls) as well, but since this group is definitely half and half now, I'm guessing it's a defining characteristic. Cockerels generally develop combs and wattles before pullets. So there you go. I will keep you posted.
Taming
I have to apologize for the mostly terrible pictures so far. The red heat lamp makes for terrible lighting and I can't seem to get them out from under it much anymore, much less pick them up and hold them. I have used flash to make the pictures much better, but I'm afraid that the flash scares them even more. The babies are naturally terrified of gigantic, noisy, lumbering creatures such as ourselves. This I knew, but in all my reading I've never come across specific instructions for taming them. They all just said that chickens generally make for good pets and they will get used to you and think of you as their "mama" and follow you around and some will even enjoy being held and petted. In light of this, I just assumed that if I picked them up, they would quickly calm down and realize that my hand was a nice, warm, comfy, safe place to hang out. I was wrong. You know how in Monday's post I said that all of them except the Ameraucanas seemed not to mind being held? Yeah, scratch that. Once they were about 24 hours older than that, and bigger and feeling more recovered from their trip through the mail, they were all terrified of me. Now if I do anything like lean over the brooder or reach in to pick up a feeder or waterer, this is what happens:
They all run screaming into one corner and smash each other up against the walls in terror. Now when I catch one (if I can), in order to clean off it's bottom, it screams bloody murder the entire time and tries its darndest to leap from my hand. Clearly death would be better than being held by me. This was upsetting me... was I doing something wrong? Did I inadvertantly handle their first days in a way that scarred them for life? Help! Well, so I finally decided to research the subject online. There is surprisingly little info out there on this topic and it is not so easy to find because any Google seach with the word "chick" in it is bound to bring up about 90% porn. But, in the end, I found a little amateur site made by a nice young girl who grew up raising backyard chickens with her dad. Go here if you would like to check it out.
It turns out that this is all normal behavior for chicks that you did not hatch yourself. The key is to get them used to your hand and to reward them for coming to you when you call. The first few days are tricky because the babies really can't eat anything but chick crumbles, so you can't really offer them anything more exciting as a treat. Still, I have already made good progress by holding some crumbles in my open hand and placing it in the brooder. Every time I move my arm into or out of the box, they are terrified. BUT, most of the soon figured out that my hand held food (albeit the same food that is in their much-less-scary feeders only inches away) and they happily hopped over and started eating from my hand. This is a step in the right direction.
It is interesting to me that it seems to be the same chicks each time that are willing to come over and eat out of my hand. It is three of the Marans, one of the Buffs, the Buff Amer., the Cool-Looking One, the Amer that I am temporarily calling "Owl" (because that's what she (he?) looks like), and sometimes the Mystery Chick. By the way, in the picture above with all the chicks huddled together, you have a great view of the color difference between the Mystery Chick and the other Buffs. He/she is a totally different color. Anyway, one of the Marans is now the boldest and hardly moves away when I lower my arm into the brooder and he doesn't hesitate to come start eating from my hand. He also like to hop on and stand on my hand and peck at my ring because it's nice and shiny.
So, I am excited. Since they got their first grit today, they should be able to have treats other than crumbles starting tomorrow, I think. Grass clippings, foods in the cabbage family, and bugs - particularly earthworms - are supposed to be favorites and OK for them to eat at this young age. In theory, they will be far more thrilled with the treats than the crumbles and will quickly learn to run to me rather than from me in order to get the treats. Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted!
Learning To Be Chickens
It is also incredible to me how quickly they are learning to act like big chickens. Several of them have discovered the long-standing favorite chicken pastime of scratching - and BOY do they love it. The ones that do it will stand in a spot and scratch at high-speed with all their might until they have flung wood shavings all the way across the brooder and into the feeders and waterers and all over their friends. I went upstairs just before lunch today to find that a group of three of them had been busy scratching at a single spot on the floor. They had managed to dig a large hole all the way down to the cardboard and were busy scratching and pecking at the cardboard floor, disappointed that they couldn't go any deeper. At this point I have to reiterate that so far all the hype has been true - chickens are great entertainment.
One Sicky little Chicky
So it's day three and that means no more sugar in their water (just vitamins and electrolytes at this point) but they do get to try baby grit for the first time! This morning when I woke up, they were all still alive, thankfully. Also, the one Maran which I previously thought was looking pekid seems to have perked up and is doing just fine. However, I have a new concern and I think this one is pretty valid. First thing this morning, one of the Buff Orpingtons (pictured above) had a large amount of waste stuck to her behind. She was just a little too easy to catch so I could clean her off and she didn't protest quite enough for my liking.
(a picture of her behind a few hours after I cleaned her off - tthere's still a lot of manure there, but she can eliminate at least)
Unfortunately, since then I have not seen her eat, drink, or do much besides stand under the light all fluffed up. I have read that that is a sure sign that a chicken is not feeling well. I'm not sure what more I can do for her. I have picked her up and made her drink three times (if you stick their beaks in the water, they instinctively take a gulp) which seems to temporarily perk her up, but not for long. I fear we may lose her. Keep your fingers crossed, but it's not looking good.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Nothing in Life is Certain Except...
Sadly, we lost one of our babies sometime overnight. This is to be expected, but it's still no fun. Not all baby chicks are slated to make it to adulthood, and they are particularly vulnerable when they are tiny like this. I had my eye on this particular little guy since yesterday afternoon - he/she didn't look so great to me. He/she wanted to sleep more and eat and drink and play less than his broodermates. Those were not good signs, but I kept hoping. Whenever I'd pick him up, he'd perk up and move around and even eat or drink a bit - but it wouldn't last. Anyway, it was one of my seven Cuckoo Marans, so now there are six. There is one more Maran that isn't looking top-notch, so I'm not going to get too attached, but here's hoping.
Everybody else is looking quite well. Last night by the time we went to bed they were pretty quiet and mostly sleeping. At 6:15am this morning, they were all up and eating and drinking and peeping (except the dead one and the sleepy one). I removed their fallen friend, emptied, scrubbed, and refilled their waterers, and checked them for pasting up.
Pasting up is a condition that can happen during shipping or in the following week or so. It is where the babies have loose droppings and they build up in the down on their rear ends and then it dries and hardens. This is dangerous because it blocks the vent (a chicken's rear end "exit" - used for pooping, laying eggs, breeding, etc.) and then they can't eliminate, get backed up, and die. I found two chicks this morning with a concerning amount of buildup and I cleaned them off. A few others had a small amount back there that isn't a problem yet, but I will keep an eye on them.
Their new favorite game seems to be "kill the thermometer." I have a simple glass thermometer attached to a piece of cardboard that lives in the brooder to monitor the temperature for the babies. I periodically move it around to various parts of the brooder to check the temperature at a given spot. This morning I put it in the middle under the light. The babies then proceeded to hop all over it and try to peck it to death. Five or six at a time would all crowd on top of it and start attacking. This very much seems to amuse them. A couple of them have also taken to attacking the walls of the brooder, pecking as hard as they can at various points on the walls. Some parts of the cardboard give a little when they do this... others do not. They seems to get very mad at that stationary parts and shriek at them. They are quite pleased with themselved when they get a wall to move a bit, though, peeping contentedly as they peck it over and over again. It really is quite entertaining to watch.
(a lone game of Kill the Thermometer - the others were too scared of the camera to keep playing)
I also remembered this morning that I once read that the babies like something soft in which to snuggle up and take a nap. I've read that stuffed animals or old blankets or wash cloths will do fine. So I tossed a clean white terry cloth in there and they seem to love it. The most aggressive ones like to climb to the highest point on it (probably and inch and a half high) and stand on top and look down at everyone else. The others like to snuggle down into it and take naps. Very cute.
(playing King of the Hill)
(nap time on the snuggly towel)
By 7:00am the sky was light and the babies all simultanesouly decided it was time for a nap. I was sitting there watching them and within a minute they all went from running and playing to lying face-down on the floor, asleep. It's hard work being a baby!
Everybody else is looking quite well. Last night by the time we went to bed they were pretty quiet and mostly sleeping. At 6:15am this morning, they were all up and eating and drinking and peeping (except the dead one and the sleepy one). I removed their fallen friend, emptied, scrubbed, and refilled their waterers, and checked them for pasting up.
Pasting up is a condition that can happen during shipping or in the following week or so. It is where the babies have loose droppings and they build up in the down on their rear ends and then it dries and hardens. This is dangerous because it blocks the vent (a chicken's rear end "exit" - used for pooping, laying eggs, breeding, etc.) and then they can't eliminate, get backed up, and die. I found two chicks this morning with a concerning amount of buildup and I cleaned them off. A few others had a small amount back there that isn't a problem yet, but I will keep an eye on them.
Their new favorite game seems to be "kill the thermometer." I have a simple glass thermometer attached to a piece of cardboard that lives in the brooder to monitor the temperature for the babies. I periodically move it around to various parts of the brooder to check the temperature at a given spot. This morning I put it in the middle under the light. The babies then proceeded to hop all over it and try to peck it to death. Five or six at a time would all crowd on top of it and start attacking. This very much seems to amuse them. A couple of them have also taken to attacking the walls of the brooder, pecking as hard as they can at various points on the walls. Some parts of the cardboard give a little when they do this... others do not. They seems to get very mad at that stationary parts and shriek at them. They are quite pleased with themselved when they get a wall to move a bit, though, peeping contentedly as they peck it over and over again. It really is quite entertaining to watch.
(a lone game of Kill the Thermometer - the others were too scared of the camera to keep playing)
I also remembered this morning that I once read that the babies like something soft in which to snuggle up and take a nap. I've read that stuffed animals or old blankets or wash cloths will do fine. So I tossed a clean white terry cloth in there and they seem to love it. The most aggressive ones like to climb to the highest point on it (probably and inch and a half high) and stand on top and look down at everyone else. The others like to snuggle down into it and take naps. Very cute.
(playing King of the Hill)
(nap time on the snuggly towel)
By 7:00am the sky was light and the babies all simultanesouly decided it was time for a nap. I was sitting there watching them and within a minute they all went from running and playing to lying face-down on the floor, asleep. It's hard work being a baby!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Meet the Babies
I was originally planning on writing an entry about my chick choices prior to delivery, but again, I was surprised by their arrival this morning. So, I'll give you a quick run down right now.
I have to admit that I have drooled over the online chick catalogs for years now. Silly, I know. But they all seem so exciting and exotic that it's hard for me to not want a few of EVERY kind. I am my father's daughter. There are large and bantam (small) sizes of most breeds with a few "giants" (which are particularly huge and have no bantam equivalent) and a few "true bantams," which only come in the small size. There are fat ones and skinny ones, ruffled (called "frizzled") ones, silky ones, crested ones, feather-footed ones, and ones with super long tail feathers. There are mean ones, wild ones, tame ones, comical ones. There are bad layers, ok layers, good layers and great layers. They lay brown eggs, blue eggs, white eggs, green eggs, pink eggs, and the mysterious "tinted eggs." Every place I've looked in all of my research talks about birds that lay "tinted" eggs. I still have not found one definition of "tinted." I take it to mean, simply, "not white." But, when a bird lays, brown or blue/green eggs, it is specified. I have no clue what "tinted" means. If anyone knows, please share!
Anyway, my first instincts are to dive in head first - buy chicks without having a coop or anything else ready, and buy a whole assortment of crazy, exotic kinds. BUT, after much thought and with much restraint, I have restricted myself to three breeds: Buff Orpingtons, Ameraucanas (not to be confused with Araucanas), and Cuckoo Marans. I will now introduce you to the breeds and to my babies.
Buff Orpingtons
Orpingtons originated in England in the 1880s. They were originally developed as a good dual-purpose breed, which means they are good for both eggs and meat, and the original color was black. In the 1890s, a buff (gold-colored) strain was developed and it is now the most popular color of this breed. They are a popular breed for home flocks because of their mild dispositions and excellent mothering and foraging abilities. They also are very cold-hardy and will continue to lay through the winter. Their color is generally a true, metallic gold and is quite striking.
I have decided to go with all heavy breeds for now - no banties. I am in the mood for some calm, friendly pets that are easy to handle. Bantams are by nature flightier and more independent - maybe I'll add some to the flock next year. Anyway, I chose them because I love the buff color and the large, fluffy look of the Orpingtons. I believe that I have four Buffs up in my brooder at the moment. I ordered them all as pullets and there was a total of 9 delivered, but the sexing is only about 90% accurate, so there's a good chance one will be a rooster. I gave five of them to the woman who split my order with me. We shall see as they grow. When I say that I "believe" that I have four, it is because there are two more yellow, fluffy chicks in the brooder, but I believe one is an Ameraucana, and I believe the other is my mysterious "free rare breed chick" which McMurray Hatchery provides with each order of 25 chicks if you want it (of course, I did).
I had trouble getting decent pictures of the babies as the light was not great and I had to hold them in my hand to get a good angle.
(buff orpington chick. all four look pretty much identical at this point.)
The babies are already starting to show their personalities, and the Buff chicks are my middle-of-the-road chicks. They are perky and happily run around the brooder, eating and drinking, but they aren't very aggressive. They will hop a bit on the meeker Maran chicks sometimes. When I pick them up, they seem fairly contented to sit in my hand.
Ameraucanas
The breed that is called "Ameraucana" is a new breed that has only recently been recognized at some shows. This is because it is generally considered a "mongrel" cross between a true Araucana and some other undiscolsed breeds. Like the Araucanas, they generally lay blue or green eggs... but because of the uncertain lineages, they can also lay pink, white, cream, brown, olive, or even gold-colored eggs. They are often called "Easter Eggers" because of this. A true Araucana is a different thing - it is the original breed discovered in South America in the 1930s. They are very distinctive because they are missing their last vertebra and thus do not have tails, which makes them quite odd-looking. They also lay strictly blue/green eggs - no other colors. They are an extremely rare breed and are almost impossible to find from anywhere but small, specialist hobby-breeders. Most hatcheries that market "Araucanas" are actually selling Ester Eggers or Ameraucanas. If you are not looking to show birds (which I am not), then Ameraucanas/Easter Eggers are a great breed to have.
This breed is much like their eggs - they come in all colors. Anything from solid black or white to multicolors, stripes, lacing.... anything. As Forrest Gump said... "You never know what you're gonna get." I think that's half the fun.
Speaking of fun, the Ameraucana personality is general described as "fun" and "comical." This part I have seen already. These are definitely the clowns of the brooder. There is one we currently call "the big scary one" because it is way bigger than the rest of the chicks and has bold black eyeliner and a mean look on its face. This chick spends about 99.9% of its time standing on the heads of other chicks with its feet shoved in one or more holes of the feeders and eating constantly. Periodically it hops down and dashes at top speed across the brooder to the waterers, takes a gulp or two, and then high-tails it back to the feeder, climbing back atop its nearest comrades. Feeding is serious business for this baby. There is another one that we call "the cool-looking one" because its coloring is very different from all the chicks. This one likes to play games. It will pick up a piece of bedding or gro-gel (a supplement they get for their first 24 hours) and walk up to another chick and taunt it with its newly-acquired toy and then dash away in hopes of a game of chase. It often gets its way and it is endlessly entertaining to watch.
The other part of the Ameraucana personality is that they are supposed to be "calm and friendly." I have to say, this part I do not see yet. These were the last of the chicks to finally settle down for a nap - probably five hours after all the others - and they are by far the most active and likely to bully the other chicks. They also have no interest in being picked up at this point - they peep at the top of their lungs like I'm torturing them, try to constantly jump out of my hands, and every single time I've picked one up it's pooped on me. This is something I'll have to work on.
I ordered 9 Ameraucanas and I believe only 8 were shipped (they sent me an extra Buff and an extra Maran to make up for it). I ordered all pullets and gave three to the lady with whom I split the order, so I have five left.
Although they all do look a bit different, I had a very hard time holding them for pictures. This is the best I could do.
(this is what three of my five look like, coloring-wise, but they are all disinct. unlike with the Buffs, I can tell them all apart already)
There is also a buff-colored chick that I think it an Ameraucana because it has slightly puffy cheeks (characteristic of the breed) and darker gold bars down its back, unlike the Orpingtons.
(buff-colored Ameraucana chick)
The fifth Ameraucana is The Cool-Looking One that likes to play games. It is a dark, chocolate brown with a black saddle and head.
(The Cool-Looking One)
I also tried to get a picture of the Big Scary One, but it protested by far the most, so the shot is blurry.
(The Big Scary One)
Cuckoo Marans
My third breed is the Cuckoo Maran, which is an old French breed that is nicknamed the "chocolate egger" because it is a good layer of dark brown/terracotta-colored eggs. I thought that was too cool to pass up. Cuckoo is actually the name of the color, and Marans come in several different colors. "Cuckoo" is what Americans would call "barred," like a Barred Rock. They have small black and white striping over their entire bodies.
Marans are also supposed to be calm, friendly birds that tend to be at the bottom of the pecking order. This has proven true so far as well. They tend to be the meekest in my brooder, getting pecked and walked-on, and they are also the smallest. The chicks are all characterized by light, cream-colored patched on the tops of their heads and some have them elsewhere on the body as well. Otherwise they are solid black. These babies are also happy to be picked up and held and the like to take frequent naps.
I ordered 8 and got 9 delivered. I gave two to the lady and so I have seven left. For some reason, the Marans were only available as straight-run, which means not sexed. So, theoretically, half of them are boys. We will not be able to tell until they are a few weeks old. Once they are old enough to be distinguished, I found a man who is interested in all the boys that I don't want to keep. This is good news because we don't need more than one or two roosters at the house and there's a chance that one or two of the others are roosters as well (statistically).
(Maran chick - all seven that I have look very similar, but I'm starting to be able to tell them apart)
Mystery Chick
Lastly we have our "free rare chick" that McMurray offers with each order of 25 or more chicks. I couldn't pass that up. It is the hatchery's choice of sex and breed and they do not tell you what you are getting. So, we'll just have to wait and see. I believe mine is one that looks much like the Buff Orpington chicks, but is smaller and lighter, more silvery yellow than their gold color. I'll keep you posted on my guesses as to what it is. I tried to look around online for chicks that looked like that but it was too hard to tell at this point. If it turns out to be a girl (unlikely since hatcheries are generally overflowing with boys) and it keeps its current coloring, I will name it Sylvia.
(Mystery Chick)
Ok, that's it for now. I am planning to pick out a couple of chicks to photograph once a day so that we can keep track of their growth and then maybe I'll put up a post with all the pics in order so we can really see the progression. Yay babies!
I have to admit that I have drooled over the online chick catalogs for years now. Silly, I know. But they all seem so exciting and exotic that it's hard for me to not want a few of EVERY kind. I am my father's daughter. There are large and bantam (small) sizes of most breeds with a few "giants" (which are particularly huge and have no bantam equivalent) and a few "true bantams," which only come in the small size. There are fat ones and skinny ones, ruffled (called "frizzled") ones, silky ones, crested ones, feather-footed ones, and ones with super long tail feathers. There are mean ones, wild ones, tame ones, comical ones. There are bad layers, ok layers, good layers and great layers. They lay brown eggs, blue eggs, white eggs, green eggs, pink eggs, and the mysterious "tinted eggs." Every place I've looked in all of my research talks about birds that lay "tinted" eggs. I still have not found one definition of "tinted." I take it to mean, simply, "not white." But, when a bird lays, brown or blue/green eggs, it is specified. I have no clue what "tinted" means. If anyone knows, please share!
Anyway, my first instincts are to dive in head first - buy chicks without having a coop or anything else ready, and buy a whole assortment of crazy, exotic kinds. BUT, after much thought and with much restraint, I have restricted myself to three breeds: Buff Orpingtons, Ameraucanas (not to be confused with Araucanas), and Cuckoo Marans. I will now introduce you to the breeds and to my babies.
Buff Orpingtons
Orpingtons originated in England in the 1880s. They were originally developed as a good dual-purpose breed, which means they are good for both eggs and meat, and the original color was black. In the 1890s, a buff (gold-colored) strain was developed and it is now the most popular color of this breed. They are a popular breed for home flocks because of their mild dispositions and excellent mothering and foraging abilities. They also are very cold-hardy and will continue to lay through the winter. Their color is generally a true, metallic gold and is quite striking.
I have decided to go with all heavy breeds for now - no banties. I am in the mood for some calm, friendly pets that are easy to handle. Bantams are by nature flightier and more independent - maybe I'll add some to the flock next year. Anyway, I chose them because I love the buff color and the large, fluffy look of the Orpingtons. I believe that I have four Buffs up in my brooder at the moment. I ordered them all as pullets and there was a total of 9 delivered, but the sexing is only about 90% accurate, so there's a good chance one will be a rooster. I gave five of them to the woman who split my order with me. We shall see as they grow. When I say that I "believe" that I have four, it is because there are two more yellow, fluffy chicks in the brooder, but I believe one is an Ameraucana, and I believe the other is my mysterious "free rare breed chick" which McMurray Hatchery provides with each order of 25 chicks if you want it (of course, I did).
I had trouble getting decent pictures of the babies as the light was not great and I had to hold them in my hand to get a good angle.
(buff orpington chick. all four look pretty much identical at this point.)
The babies are already starting to show their personalities, and the Buff chicks are my middle-of-the-road chicks. They are perky and happily run around the brooder, eating and drinking, but they aren't very aggressive. They will hop a bit on the meeker Maran chicks sometimes. When I pick them up, they seem fairly contented to sit in my hand.
Ameraucanas
The breed that is called "Ameraucana" is a new breed that has only recently been recognized at some shows. This is because it is generally considered a "mongrel" cross between a true Araucana and some other undiscolsed breeds. Like the Araucanas, they generally lay blue or green eggs... but because of the uncertain lineages, they can also lay pink, white, cream, brown, olive, or even gold-colored eggs. They are often called "Easter Eggers" because of this. A true Araucana is a different thing - it is the original breed discovered in South America in the 1930s. They are very distinctive because they are missing their last vertebra and thus do not have tails, which makes them quite odd-looking. They also lay strictly blue/green eggs - no other colors. They are an extremely rare breed and are almost impossible to find from anywhere but small, specialist hobby-breeders. Most hatcheries that market "Araucanas" are actually selling Ester Eggers or Ameraucanas. If you are not looking to show birds (which I am not), then Ameraucanas/Easter Eggers are a great breed to have.
This breed is much like their eggs - they come in all colors. Anything from solid black or white to multicolors, stripes, lacing.... anything. As Forrest Gump said... "You never know what you're gonna get." I think that's half the fun.
Speaking of fun, the Ameraucana personality is general described as "fun" and "comical." This part I have seen already. These are definitely the clowns of the brooder. There is one we currently call "the big scary one" because it is way bigger than the rest of the chicks and has bold black eyeliner and a mean look on its face. This chick spends about 99.9% of its time standing on the heads of other chicks with its feet shoved in one or more holes of the feeders and eating constantly. Periodically it hops down and dashes at top speed across the brooder to the waterers, takes a gulp or two, and then high-tails it back to the feeder, climbing back atop its nearest comrades. Feeding is serious business for this baby. There is another one that we call "the cool-looking one" because its coloring is very different from all the chicks. This one likes to play games. It will pick up a piece of bedding or gro-gel (a supplement they get for their first 24 hours) and walk up to another chick and taunt it with its newly-acquired toy and then dash away in hopes of a game of chase. It often gets its way and it is endlessly entertaining to watch.
The other part of the Ameraucana personality is that they are supposed to be "calm and friendly." I have to say, this part I do not see yet. These were the last of the chicks to finally settle down for a nap - probably five hours after all the others - and they are by far the most active and likely to bully the other chicks. They also have no interest in being picked up at this point - they peep at the top of their lungs like I'm torturing them, try to constantly jump out of my hands, and every single time I've picked one up it's pooped on me. This is something I'll have to work on.
I ordered 9 Ameraucanas and I believe only 8 were shipped (they sent me an extra Buff and an extra Maran to make up for it). I ordered all pullets and gave three to the lady with whom I split the order, so I have five left.
Although they all do look a bit different, I had a very hard time holding them for pictures. This is the best I could do.
(this is what three of my five look like, coloring-wise, but they are all disinct. unlike with the Buffs, I can tell them all apart already)
There is also a buff-colored chick that I think it an Ameraucana because it has slightly puffy cheeks (characteristic of the breed) and darker gold bars down its back, unlike the Orpingtons.
(buff-colored Ameraucana chick)
The fifth Ameraucana is The Cool-Looking One that likes to play games. It is a dark, chocolate brown with a black saddle and head.
(The Cool-Looking One)
I also tried to get a picture of the Big Scary One, but it protested by far the most, so the shot is blurry.
(The Big Scary One)
Cuckoo Marans
My third breed is the Cuckoo Maran, which is an old French breed that is nicknamed the "chocolate egger" because it is a good layer of dark brown/terracotta-colored eggs. I thought that was too cool to pass up. Cuckoo is actually the name of the color, and Marans come in several different colors. "Cuckoo" is what Americans would call "barred," like a Barred Rock. They have small black and white striping over their entire bodies.
Marans are also supposed to be calm, friendly birds that tend to be at the bottom of the pecking order. This has proven true so far as well. They tend to be the meekest in my brooder, getting pecked and walked-on, and they are also the smallest. The chicks are all characterized by light, cream-colored patched on the tops of their heads and some have them elsewhere on the body as well. Otherwise they are solid black. These babies are also happy to be picked up and held and the like to take frequent naps.
I ordered 8 and got 9 delivered. I gave two to the lady and so I have seven left. For some reason, the Marans were only available as straight-run, which means not sexed. So, theoretically, half of them are boys. We will not be able to tell until they are a few weeks old. Once they are old enough to be distinguished, I found a man who is interested in all the boys that I don't want to keep. This is good news because we don't need more than one or two roosters at the house and there's a chance that one or two of the others are roosters as well (statistically).
(Maran chick - all seven that I have look very similar, but I'm starting to be able to tell them apart)
Mystery Chick
Lastly we have our "free rare chick" that McMurray offers with each order of 25 or more chicks. I couldn't pass that up. It is the hatchery's choice of sex and breed and they do not tell you what you are getting. So, we'll just have to wait and see. I believe mine is one that looks much like the Buff Orpington chicks, but is smaller and lighter, more silvery yellow than their gold color. I'll keep you posted on my guesses as to what it is. I tried to look around online for chicks that looked like that but it was too hard to tell at this point. If it turns out to be a girl (unlikely since hatcheries are generally overflowing with boys) and it keeps its current coloring, I will name it Sylvia.
(Mystery Chick)
Ok, that's it for now. I am planning to pick out a couple of chicks to photograph once a day so that we can keep track of their growth and then maybe I'll put up a post with all the pics in order so we can really see the progression. Yay babies!
Chick Chick Chick Chick Chickies!!!!
To my utter astonishment, this morning at 7:07 am our phone rang. This time of year, it is still dark until about 7:30 am and I was still asleep. The phone woke me and I stumbled out of bed to find the phone. I got there just in time to look at the caller ID and see that it was a "private number" (blocked), so I assumed it must be a wrong number. But, I decided to check the voicemail just in case since it was such an odd hour. The fact that it could be the post office with my chicks did not even cross my mind. How could they be there first thing Monday morning? That means they would have had to either travel through the US mail on Sunday (fat chance of that), or they had to sit somewhere in their box, cold and alone over the weekend. Besides, the hatchery said "sometime during the week of February 9th" - I really didn't think that before dawn on Monday morning was an option.
Anyway, I checked the messages and heard,::peep peep peep:: "Hi, Lisa, this is Kathy at the Post Office and I'm calling to let you know that your baby chicks have arrived. The window opens at nine."::peep peep:: ::click:: No way. Not possible. They're here?! They're here!!! Holy crap they're here!!! It took my sleepy brain a minute to wake up enough to realize that it wasn't a dream. My next thought was - which Post Office? I'd done research ahead of time on this topic and realized that there were many post office options around us, but I figured that I would get a notification email that the chicks had shipped and THEN I could call around to the various post offices to figure out where they'd end up. Since their arrival preempted my chance to do this, and Kathy from "the post office" didn't mention in which post office she was located, I was at a loss. Long story short I ended up calling five different post offices to no avail. But, the main branch said they would try to track them down for me and they eventually did. They were very nice. Turns out the branch where the birds went was the one place I called over and over and never got an answer at all. Go figure.
At this point, I still had about an hour and a half until the "window opened" so I dashed about like a maniac, filling my makeshift brooder with wood shavings (luckily purchased yesterday from the feedstore for just such an occasion), turning the heat lamp on to heat up the booder (set to 90-95 degrees under the lamp during my preparations yesterday as well), mixing up their special "arrival water" concoction of electrolytes (called Quick Chik) and table sugar to fill their baby waterers, and filling up their feeders with my organic chick starter feed (also called crumbles). I have to tell you that I was FREAKING OUT. I was so surprised that they were already here, plus I am still recovering from the multiple mightmares I've had in which my chicks arrive and I'm not ready for them and they all die one by one as I run around trying to get them food and water.
(my brooder. It is a 2'5"x 4'4" cardboard box with a 250 watt heat lamp hung about 18 inches from the floor, filled with wood shavings (not cedar), and 2 one-quart waterers and 2 one-quart feeders, both propped up on two by fours in order to minimize spillage. The chicks are already in it at this point. I wanted to get a shot before they were in there but it all happened too fast!)
When it was all ready, I headed down to the appropriate branch to arrive right at 9:00am. I got there at 9:04am and there were already five people ahead of me in line. As I waited, I could hear my babies peeping desperately from somewhere inside the mail room.
PEEP PEEP PEEP!!! PEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!
As I waited for what felt like an eternity for each person to be helped, the babies would periodically stop peeping. This set me into full panic mode every time. Oh great - they've been in this box for days already, they're freezing and starving, and now they've gone quiet! I just kept picturing the babies' dropping dead one by one as the minutes ticked by while I waited. Besides, I have been doing a ton of reading and everything I've read has said that I can most certainly expect some dead babies on arrival. The trip through the mail is not an easy one, and it's worse in late winter when it's coldest out. Sometimes they're all dead... if not, you lose quite a few soon after you get them home.
When my turn finally came, the seemingly deadpan man at the window broke into a smile when I told him I was there to pick up some chicks. "Oh yes! Yes you are! They're right here! They've been waiting for you. Take good care of them and enjoy them." When I took my box back out past everyone else in line, most of them were smiling too. Those cute little peeps really seemed to lighten the mood in the fairly dreary post office.
My first thought when I saw the box was how could it possibly hold 26 chicks? It's so small! As I drove home, the peeps escalated each time I hit the breaks, accelerated, or turned a corner. They quieted quite a bit when I turned the floor heater up to 90 degrees and put their box right under it. When I finally got home, I was prepared for the worst... but when I opened the box a living, breathing, peeping mass peered back at me. It looked like most of them made it! Amazing. I still assumed I'd find a few dead ones underneath the live mass. I felt like I was racing time as I picked up each chick, checked its rear end for "pasting up" (more on that later) and then shoved its beak in the drinking water before letting it go. I was still convinced that they would start dropping dead from stress at any moment. But, miraculously, when I finished the task, I had 27 live babies, 0 deaths.
(here they are - I think you can see about 25 of the 27 here. they really don't like to stand still so I never could get all 27 in one shot.)
During all this time, I had been communicating with a local woman who was planning to split my order with me. I had them at the house less than two hours before she showed up, and I have to tell you - it wasn't easy giving some of them away to her. Brian and I both already felt like they were OUR chicks and didn't know how we would choose which to give away. Besides, by the time she arrived, they had all just figured out the feeders and were chowing down happily and snug and warm and hydrated. The woman said she wanted anything we didn't want to keep (and she would pay me for them), so I picked out ten chicks for her, stuck them in a box, handed them to her, and tried not to look back. So now, here I sit, with 17 chicks left. They are all happily peeping away (the happy peeping sounds distinctly different than the distressed peeping), eating, drinking, pooping, playing, sleeping, and bugging each other.
(having a drink at the chick founts)
(eating from the baby feeders - they are real piggies!)
(milling about under the heat lamp and scratching at the feed that I scattered on paper towels - this is only for the first day until they figure out the feeders. The paper towels are slippery and if left in there too long can cause leg problems)
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