Chicks Day Five March 2016

Chicks Day Five 

March 2016

See her little feathers coming in on her wings? The black chicks are Black Stars and the yellow chicks are Buff Orpington's.

I tried to get pictures of the Black Star's cute little yellow bottoms!  Not all of them, but just some of them.

The chicks are co-mingling and have shown zero issues after being combined.

All LEGS and FEET!

You can see some wing feathers coming in on the Buff Orpington's in this picture.  Dd read that the birds whose wing feathers appear first have a likelihood of being male.  Our Buff's have a 50/50 chance of being male.  The Black Star's are *suppose* to be all female (or 90% likely).

What beautiful little faces they have!

Yellow bottoms!

The chicks are eating some of the 'chicken starter' food.  I read that you shouldn't use wood shavings when they are really young, as they might eat it.  I also read you shouldn't use newspaper, as it can get slippery and somehow mess with their leg development.  So, I've been using old towels, dish towels, and shop towels and changing them out twice a day.  

For small water and 'feed starter' dishes, I have taken old plastic lids and put a lot of rubber bands to create a block so they can't get their heads in the water.  They will drink/eat between the rubber band bands.  They will also stand on top of the lids and poop in the water!  So, I have to rinse out and refill the lids a few times a day.  But these little lids are really perfect for this stage.

As you can see, there are chunks of fruit and veg for them to eat and peck at.  They have especially liked different lettuce pieces.  One chick will grab a piece of lettuce and try to run away from the group, and the group will all run after her!  It is really funny to watch, and they all make a big fuss; making lots of noise during this game they play.

All twenty chicks

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