Mama Leghorn and her 6 chicks. One of the brown Rhode Island Red mixes died on Sunday. It ws malformed and we nursed it along, but it didn't make it :(. The speckled chick is a Speckled Sussex and came from another hatching but was a runt (it's not a runt now!!)
My three Americaunas
The nesting boxes
Mama Leghorn (Elvis, the kids call her) and chicks. 2 Leghorns, 2 leghorn/partridge rock,2 rhode island red/leghorn, and the speckled sussex.
One of the leghorn/partridge rock mixes
We got our chickens last Wednesday, and although we lost one chick, we have one healthy mama and 6 week-old chicks, plus three Americaunas that are about 9 weeks old now. The older ones are outside in the chicken tractor, but the babies and mama are in a brooder in the house. They're getting restless already, but they're not supposed to go outside for another month? I'm not sure they will last that long ;). I figure as long as they're big enough not to escape from the coop and get eaten by the cats, and it's warm, there's a nesting box to hang in if they need to be warmer.
The mama and chicks will eat anything - they go crazy over fruits and veggies, fries, rice, whatever scraps I throw in there. My Americaunas will not touch ANYTHING but their mash! I don't get it! I guess maybe they're eating bugs and grass and stuff too (we have't let them free range yet; probably won't until they've been in the coop for another week and know it's home), but I think it's weird that they're so picky.
The chicks are a lot of work; keeping them in fresh water and food; keeping the brooder clean (because man, they STINK), and keeping them from escaping! They're starting to fly to the top of the brooder and mama is getting tired of being cooped (hahah) up, but also can't stand to be away from her babies.
The kids love 'em though and after we sort out the roosters and they are about 6 months old, we should have lots of eggs!
2 comments:
those chicks are 6 days old, right? not 6 weeks? You're brave with the treats. We were told nothing under 2 weeks but chicken food and really limited until 4 weeks, so ours weren't spoiled. :-)
Maybe because they are with their mama, she is supposed to teach them about everything. The farmer told us to go ahead and feed starter feed and scraps. The guy at Pine Ridge told me NOT to feed the mama the medicated feed though...so I'm trying to encourage her to eat separately from a different dish; quite the challenge!
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