Got some chicks!!!

[gothnurse3]

I finally got my chicks!! 13 little RIR....straight run....I pray they aren't all roosters. We have them inside for now because they are so small. I'm sooo excited!!!

[Nursingnaturalmom]

HOw Fun!
We have 7 day old chicks. 9 Buff Orpington Pullets and 16 Gold Star straight run. Out of those 16 I think 4-6 are roosters. I only knowt hat because Gold Star Roosters are white, everyone else is reddish/Golden color.

Enjoy your new babies!

[jadekat]

We just got 4 chicks a few days ago. The kids are really enjoying them!

[hildare]

[mamabearsoblessed]

O welcome to heaven .
Chickens are addictive and wonderful!!! Congrats on your new babies!!
We are bringing our 6 new Buff Orpingtons babygirls home this weekend . So far we have 2 White Rock roos and 4 RIR pullets~ all 6 weeks old.
I LOOOVE my flock!!

[Chicky2]

Yay! We love chicks. We got a great assortment of Brahmas, rare leghorns, hamburgs, orientals, oriental long-tails, and, cochins a couple of months ago. Our other chickens are over 2 yrs old, so it was time to add to the flock.

[mumm]

Another new chicken mama here!

4 RIR, 4 Australorps, 4 Aurcanas

We lost 1 arucana at about 4 weeks. (literally lost it. We couldn't find it at the end of the day. I guess something grabbed it.)

The RIR are very friendly to my 9 year old.

When can I let them handle the weather on their own? I bring them in every night still (they are 9 weeks) and it is too crowded for them inside. I want to leave them in the coop where they are safe from the toddlers!

[lovermont]

We got straight run last year - 3 RIRs and 3RIWhites. We ended up with 3 roos and 3 pullets. So 2 red girls and one white. One red died a month or so ago now (not sure why). We got four new chicks, one buff orp, one barred rock, and two aracaunas. We're trying to merge the two "flocks" now. You can see more at my "farming" blog.

Originally Posted by mumm

When can I let them handle the weather on their own? I bring them in every night still (they are 9 weeks) and it is too crowded for them inside. I want to leave them in the coop where they are safe from the toddlers!

I've heard you should wait until they are fully feathered. We did that last year mostly because we didn't have the coop built yet! This year I want to get them out of the basement sooner but I'm not sure if that will happen...

[mumm]

Yeah! Another blog to read.

When are they "fully feathered?" 18 weeks? If you've never done this before, things that I'm sure will be obvious in a year have no meaning now!

I panicked last night when I felt a lump on one chickens throat. Then another chicken, then a third. Then on all of them. I was sure they would all be dead by morning! Oops, just a normal full crop. :

I let them sleep in the coop outside for the first time last night. I ended up tarping the windows up and giving them two heat lamps. They seemed comfy at 11pm and looked all cozy still when I checked at 6 am. I'm so happy to have them out of the house! Less dust, less noise, etc. but I miss being able to look at them every 15 minutes to make sure they are okay.

Not long until I will be that "crazy chicken lady"