The Chicken Hoarder

The Chicken Hoarder

"Chicken Hoarder" was a name I was given by a friend at church this week, especially after my last post called From an Edible Egg to a Fuzzy Chick. I have to confess, there may be some truth to that statement (But is it a bad thing? I guess that's something a true hoarder might say, haha).

22 Eggs in the Incubator

Thirty days ago I put 22 eggs inside an incubator to see if I could hatch some of my girls' eggs. Last week, 15 of those eggs hatched and now I have 15 little squawkers in my basement. I hear them peep all day and all night long. Those little peepers are keeping my two kitties quite entertained and keeping my kids quite busy constantly filling up there water and food. It's amazing the amount of food chicks eat! They turn into a full sized chicken after the first six weeks of life, so all they do is eat and eat and eat.

PS - Blonde's baby hatched!!! But now we can't figure out which chick is hers. Chicks are covered in fuzz that constantly falls out and changes color until they grow into their feathers.

The warmer is the black square. Chicks sit on top and underneath to keep warm. Fourteen chicks are huddled underneath the warmer in this picture, and one little sweetie is grabbing a snack.

Chicks, once hatched, need to be kept

underneath a warmer until they grow their first set of feathers. I can tell once this happens because all of their "fuzz" falls out and starts tumbling around my basement floor. They continue to grow layer upon layer of feathers as they grow.

I love having babies in the house until they grow their first set of feathers. That's when they get bigger and messier and louder and stinkier. And that's when they get kicked out of my basement and put inside my baby chicken coop outside. At that time, I take their warmer away.

Chicks do not get introduced to the rest of the flock until they are about the same size as the other birds. If introduced too soon, the hens will eat the babies alive.

WHAT?!?!

This is my Sweet Pea. Because I was her caretaker after the attack, we became very close. She follows me around the yard and demands that I pick her up every trip out to the coop. Sweet Pea still has a bald spot on top of her head, behind her red comb.

Yes, chickens eat chickens. I'm sorry if this is a complete surprise and shock, but it's true. When I got my second flock five years ago, I had no idea that I was supposed to wait to introduce chicks to an existing flock until they are full grown. Sweet Pea, one of the chicks, had her head pecked on so much by the bigger hens, that I could see her skull. I had to separate her from the other chicks and keep her inside my basement for several months until her head healed. She still remembers being my "house chicken" even years later, because she is constantly trying to find a way to get back inside my house. Sweet Pea never grew feathers on the top of her head and is still bald because of that brutal attack when she was a baby.

Once the chicks are close to being full grown, I let them free range with the older hens. Younger chickens have to establish their presence in the "pecking order" of the flock in order to become the newest member of the flock. Free ranging the younger birds with the older birds allows them to interact with each other, and if the older hens start pecking, the younger birds can run away from the attack and hide if needed.

I felt a bit under the weather this week, so my son cheered me up by taking silly pictures of the chicks playing games in the basement. My daughter named this little one "Oreo". Oreo is playing Foosball.

Roosters are a huge help with establishing the pecking order. When an older hen is pecking and bullying a chick too much, the rooster will chase the older chicken away from the baby showing that the younger chicken is accepted into his flock. It's really cool to see this in action! After a rooster protects a younger chicken, the other chickens of the flock leave it alone. The rooster, by instinct, also knows not to mate with the younger hens until they are ready to lay their first egg.

Gentleman-like behavior!

Another silly picture from my son. This chick, who is still unnamed, is playing Air Hockey.

The pecking order is brutal, and sometimes even bloody, but eventually all the new birds get accepted into the flock. It just takes a couple weeks, tons of patience, and a couple good roosters.

My 15 chicks will stay in the basement until the end of March. It's so fun and interesting watching them grow every single day! My heart is full of chicken love.

Thanks for reading my Country Squawk,

Kelly