Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Chirpy is now 4 weeks old and has lost most of his chick down. He continues to grow and will soon need larger accommodation. He can barely fit under the Ecoglow heating pad, even on its highest setting! His comb is already quite pronounced, which would suggest that he is indeed a rooster.

The other chicks will be two weeks old tomorrow and have made amazing progress in the last week. As you'll see in the following photo, Sweep's wings and tail have feathered up really quickly and he has some black feathers on his right wing.

Blondie's feathers are growing much more slowly, and although you can't really see it from the following photo she is now just starting to grow some tail feathers. She did not like being separated from the other chicks when I took the photo and was really keen to get back to Sooty and Sweep.

Sooty is a real beauty. I still can't decide if Sooty is male or female, but for now I'll assume that she is female (wishful thinking I reckon!). When Sooty flaps her wings I've noticed that she has some white flight feathers, and as you can see from the following photo her tail is already well developed.

It's really nice having a selection of chicks, and it's been interesting to watch them as they grow and develop because being cross bred I'm really not sure how they will turn out.

I've not disturbed the prue Rhode Island Red eggs that are in the incubator at all, and have not even candled them to see if they are fertile, but I intend to check them some time within the next week. Fingers crossed that they will all contain healthy chicks!

Poultry in motion

Chirpy is now three weeks old and continuing to thrive. He is absolutely full of life and has lots of character. It's a real problem getting him to stand still long enough to take a photo! I had hoped that when the other chicks came along I might be able to put them all in together, but Chirpy is so much bigger than the other chicks this just isn't possible.

The new chicks are now 6 days old, and already showing some surprising differences. Blondie and Sweep, are very similar in their colouring, but Sweep's feathers have grown much faster and he/she already has the beginnings of a tail. Sweep is on the left in the following photo. The two chicks are very similar in size (even though the photo suggests that Sweep is considerable larger than Blondie).

I think the difference in feathering could be down to gender. I would guess that Sweep is possibly male and that Blondie if female, although it could be the other way around! Some Araucanas do not have tails and I'm wondering if this is the case with Blondie, but it's really too early to tell.

Sooty is also starting to grow some lovely black wing feathers. He/she is also showing the beginnings of a tail. I have really no idea if Sooty is male or female.

Out of the three new chicks, Sweep is the most boisterous, although Chirpy is still way out ahead as far as daredevil flying stunts are concerned! It's amazing how they all have their own little personalities.

I'll leave you with this charming photo of Sweep looking directly at the camera. I don't know what you think but I can really tell that there's a little bird brain behind those eyes wondering why I'm pointing that strange camera thing at him!

Here we go again!

The final egg in the incubator was not showing any sign of hatching so I removed it today and gave the incubator a thorough cleaning before setting 7 more eggs. These are Rhode Island Red pure breed eggs I obtained from Emma on the NIPoultry forum. So the cycle of hatching starts again!

The three chicks that hatched on Monday are all doing well. They are all eating and drinking and are starting to show the first signs of feather growth.

Blondie (photo above) is just a little ball of fluff and is starting to grow some white wing feathers. Sooty (photo below) is a very attractive little chick and is starting to grow some black feathers. I note that his black colouring even extends to his feet.

Sweep (photo below) is just as fluffy as Blondie and is also showing some white feather growth. It's actually quite difficult to tell her apart from Blondie from some angles.

Finally, we must not forget about about Chirpy (photo below) who is now two and a half weeks old and is two or three times the size of the other little chicks. He is sprouting feathers all over and some of the new feathers have a more reddish colouring. He is extremely friendly and loves to get out of the brooder for a bit of fun. He is a bit of a dare-devil when it comes to flying and is fast as lightning!

The photo doesn't really show you just how much he has grown, but he certainly is looking much less chick-like now and much more like an adult hen. I have since read the line behind his eye indicates that he is male, and I've noticed that he has the beginnings of spurs on his legs. I hope he is still as friendly when he is a fully grown cockerel!

Introducing our 3 new chicks

Only three of the five remaining eggs in the incubator have hatched today. I candled the other two eggs and one looks as if it is infertile - it certainly has not developed properly, so I removed it. The other egg looks to be well developed so I have left it in the incubatior to see if it will hatch. It may be that the embryo has died at a late stage in its development, but I'll give it another day or two to see if it starts to hatch.

"Blondie" (photo above) was first to hatch today, closely followed by "Sooty" (photo below) who had started to peck a hole in the shell of his egg yesterday morning, but took over 24 hours to emerge.

Finally "Sweep" (had to be really!) hatched this afternoon. She is quite similar to Blondie, but has a few little patches of grey here and there.

I recorded a video of Sweep emerging from her egg and have uploaded it to YouTube. You should be able to view it by clicking on the window below.

It will be interesting to see how the chicks final feather colouring relate to their initial colouring, but I expect that Blondie and Sweep will end up looking something like their Light Sussex mums and that Sooty will look like his Araucana father, in which case he'll be a very handsome fellow!

Newly hatched chicks

Two chicks have hatched so far this morning, and a third is on its way. I'm not sure if the other two eggs are going to hatch - it is difficult to see clearly inside the incubator because of the condensation. The two newly hatched chicks are strikingly different in appearance!

One is blonde, and one is black. The breeding stock the eggs came from consisted of  two Araucana roosters (one Black and one Lavender) and a mixture of Light Sussex and Rhode Island Red hybrid layer hens. The two chicks could be completely unrelated which would account for their very different appearance, or the difference could be down to one chick being male and the other female. I wonder what number 3 will look like!

More chicks hatching soon

Chirpy is now 2 weeks old, and growing visibly as each day goes by. He is starting to grow some tail feathers and feathers at the base of his wings. He has a very strong perching instinct and perches on my hand when I take him out of the brooder.

Chirpy is a very energetic little fellow and has flown clear out of the brooder more than once when I've had the lid off to change his drinker or give him some food. I still have the bottom of the brooder lined with pieces of fleece blanket, but I'm thinking that he could probably go on to wood shavings soon, although with his scraping ability there will be wood shavings everywhere!

He is soon to have company, although he will continue to have his own private brooder for now. Out of the 7 eggs in the incubator, I think 5 are going to hatch. I candled the eggs a couple of days ago and two of them (including the one I inserted when Chirpy hatched 2 weeks ago) were clear and did not contain an embryo. I removed the infertile eggs just in case they exploded, and also to give the hatching chicks a bit more room.

The chicks are due to hatch tomorrow (Monday) but already three eggs are starting to open and occasionally I can see a tiny beak poke out. I have the bottom of the incubator lined with paper towel in readiness, and have increased the humidity level by completely filling the water pot in the centre.

By this time tomorrow hopefully I'll have some fluffy new chicks. I've made another brooder and have it warming up ready for them, although they can stay in the incubator for up to 24 hours after hatching.

From strength to strength

Little Chirpy, now 10 days old, continues to grow at an amazing rate. His wings are now well feathered and I can see his tail feathers just starting to grow. He is absolutely full of beans and a joy to watch. I lift him out of the brooder for a little run around sometimes and he is unbelievably fast on his feet. He can jump and fly a couple of feet or so, which is good fun for him but frightening for me to watch! He has taken to perching on top of the Ecoglow heater so I'm thinking of putting a little wooden perch in the brooder for him.

It's quite hard to know how much he is eating. I use a terracotta plant pot tray as a feeder and as soon as I give him a fresh tray of chick crumbs he gets into the tray and scrapes the chick crumbs out all over the floor of the brooder. The following photo was taken "mid scrape", only seconds after giving him a tray of fresh food.

I clean out the brooder and give him fresh food and water at least once a day. Quite a lot of chick crumbs were going to waste, so I put some of the "slightly used" crumbs in under a hedge for the wild birds to eat and they love them. Just as well I bought a 25kg bag!

I'm very sad to say that my sick Barnevelder hen passed away last night. I had hoped that she was on the mend, but she had become very weak and although she had a strong will to live she finally succumbed. She will be sadly missed.

The ups and downs of keeping hens

Our little chick is one week old today and he is doing great. He has a healthy appetite and is exhibiting the full range of chicken behaviour - scratching around, stretching, perching, preening and even dust bathing! It just proves how cruel it is to keep hens in battery cages where they are totally unable to express themselves or exhibit any of their innate behaviour.

He is getting bigger and stronger by the day, and as you can see from the following photo his wing feathers are nearly fully formed. He will be flying in no time!

However amidst all the joy of having a little chick we are at the moment also experiencing the down side of keeping hens. One of our lovely Barnevelder hens is ill. If you have a dog or cat you'll know how upsetting it can be when they get ill, and it is just the same for us with our hens.

The Barnevelder hen is not even two years old, but I noticed a couple of weeks ago that she was a bit dull. I had let all the hens out of their pen for a run around and she was not keeping up with the rest. When I picked her up she was very thin and her droppings were runny and creamy coloured which is never a good sign.

The hens were due their regular worming treatment, so I did this, but the Barnevelder hen did not show any signs of improving. She seemed to be getting ever weaker so earlier this week I separated her from the other hens and put her in what I call the "intensive care ward" (an enclosure in the corner of the garage bedded with straw with an infrared lamp above to provide some gentle heat).

I went to see me local vet a couple of days ago (I did not take the hen because I didn't want to stress her). The vet gave me some antibiotics to mix with her drinking water, and since being on this treatment she seems to be eating and drinking more and her face and comb are a better colour. When I lift her out of her enclosure to allow her to stretch her legs she seems quite happy having a peck around.

It's early days, but I hope she makes a full recovery.

Who's a pretty boy then?

Little "Chirpy" as we have called him (yes, I know....) is now 4 days old and growing up fast. I could not resist sharing these photos with you of him standing on my hand.

As you will see quite clearly on the next photo, his wing feathers are starting to grow. His legs are also noticeably stronger and he is much more confident on his feet.

He is eating, drinking (and pooing) well now. I have been giving him fresh food and water every day. Apparently chicks can not regulate their body temperature until they are about 10 days old - without heat they would quickly perish. The Ecoglow heater is a great job - he has mastered the knack of standing with his body under the heater while keeping his head out so that he can see everything that's going on.