Saturday, February 7, 2015

Our flock is complete.

A week ago we picked up our first 4 chicks, we planned to get 6 total. I was going to go back to the feed store twice more...when they got in the different breeds I wanted. Today I went to pick up chick #5, Elsa the Salmon Faverolle. When I got there the new arrivals were so tiny, I swear there were even smaller than the first 4 at the same age. This presented a problem. Chicks are not really supposed to be brooded alone, but you can't put tiny new ones with bigger older babies. I was hoping a week wouldn't make that much of a difference in size...I was wrong. I was looking at the new itty bitty chicks and hatched a plan. Jason was going to kill me, but it had to be done. I came home with 2 baby chicks instead of just one. Rapunzel the Welsummer will keep Elsa company in their own brooder until they are both big enough to join Belle, Anna, Jasmine and Mulan.

The big girls moved to a new brooder.

The bitty's moved into the old brooder. They hatched on 2/4...just 1 week after the big girls.

Rapunzel wasn't planned, but Welsummer's are nice chickens and lay chocolate brown eggs. Elsa hopefully will lay pinkish tinted eggs. So I will have 2 chocolate layers, 1 blue or green layer, 1 pinkish layer, the other girls will lay light brown eggs.


Elsa has a cute little beard, feathered legs and an extra toe on each foot...the breed is funky cute when they are all grown up.

They are cute, and seem very strong and healthy.


Just tiny little peanuts.

Awww I love baby chicks!

This size difference issue made me worried for the chick I was planning to pick up in 2-3 weeks. Jason let one spare slide, if I showed up with 2 again instead of one, because it would be another itty bitty compared to everyone else, it would probably be pushing my wonderful indulging husband too far. So I decided to give up on my Buff Brahma for now, and picked up a Buff Orpington. She had come in with my first 4, but I was not planning on this breed so I had passed on the yellow fluff balls when I picked my original 4. I'm glad there were a couple left a week later. Ariel was reintroduced to her sisters, they had only been away from each other for a week...they accepted her pretty quickly with no fights or anything.

In other awesome news...Belle (my little bearded Easter Egger) has been doing great and for the last couple of days seems to be over what ever was going on. I am so happy she pulled through, for a couple days there I thought we were going to lose her.


The girls are getting so big, they are about to start going through their ugly stages LOL. It is wild how much changing they go through, Jasmine here will be black and white striped in the end. Mulan behind her will be black with a white lace pattern. I can't wait to post before and after pics in about 3 months.

No comments: