June 18, 2013

Chicks!

My baby chicks arrived!

Silver Laced Wyandotte (gray striped) and
Speckled Sussex (brown striped) chicks. 

The only problem, they were two days early! Based on a hatch calendar, I ordered Monday hatched chicks to arrive on Wednesday. This kinda messes up my schedule because I gave Mama Buff her eggs based on a Wednesday arrival and Thursday home hatch day.  Oh well.


I got 8 Silver Laced Wyandottes (Dan's choice) and 8 Speckled Sussex (my choice). We got a bonus, free, exotic rare breed chick for ordering. I believe it's the mostly black one in the lower right-hand corner of the above photo. No telling what it is.


The chicks are all healthy, except for one splayed leg. I used the treatment at PoultryHelp.com for Spraddle Legs.  I don't anticipate any problems with it correcting itself.

There's nothing cuter than baby chicks, is there? Except maybe baby goats!

Chicks! © June 2013 by Leigh at 

21 comments:

Farmer Barb said...

I am curious to see what your spot head turns out to be. Are the Speckled Sussex good layers? I LOVE the Silver Laced Wyandottes. Did you go straight run or all female? I adore the little puffball phase. It goes so quickly. Enjoy!

Amy Dingmann said...

Baby ANYTHING on the farm is adorable, and chicks are so exception! Enjoy the little fluffballs!

Carolyn said...

Ah, baby chicks. Makes anybody go soft.

We've saved a handful of splayed (or whatever they call it) legged chicks that exact same way & you can never tell the difference after a few weeks! Good luck.

Leigh said...

Barb, we always get straight run because we want a good dual purpose breed. Straight run gives us enough pullets and cockerels to test out both aspects.

I've heard mixed stores on the laying ability of Speckled Sussex. I am figuring out that some breeds seem to lay better their second year, and with larger eggs. So we'll see.

Amy, I agree!

Carolyn, I'm glad to hear you've had success in treating splayed legs. That's encouraging!

Nina said...

All chicks are so sweet. It's amazing how quickly they grow though! Will you still be able to slip them under broody mama when the time comes?

DFW said...

Too cute! I always gravitate to the baby chicks in my small local hardware store in the Country. The girl that works there always picks one up & places it in my hand. Oh, if I only had a place to keep it!

Michelle said...

Yay!!! I love baby chicks! Especially if you have a broody momma standing by to raise them. They will make awesome little foragers that way. Silver laced Wyandottes are the best layers I've ever had. Last time I ordered golden thinking the only difference would be color, and the gold would be better camouflage. However, they aren't as good of layers as their silver predecessors. Enjoy!

Renee Nefe said...

The yard next door to our church just got chickens. I didn't see a coop for them though, so I'm worried for them because we do have wild canine critters.
Darly wants chickens now. our HOA doesn't allow it though and hubby is happy about that.

Susan said...

I love Speckled Sussex - I have one (Dotty - or Dorothy Gail) - and she is the friendliest thing. I would bet your 'exotic' chick is a rooster. They always make it sound like you're getting a wonderful bargain...

Anonymous said...

Love the little puff balls! Wondering if the all black chick is a Jersey Giant?

Benita said...

All that peeping! I miss holding the little fluff-balls. Love Silver Laced Wyandottes!

Quinn said...

I can hear the peep-peep-peeping from here :)

Woolly Bits said...

I am still waiting for the space to be free to have our own chicks.... I want fluff, too:) not sure about available breeds, but I'll keep my eyes open (I don't think you can order them here - we have to find someone and go there in person....)

good luck with all your "babies" on the farm!

Bettina

Bernadine said...

How sweet. We brought our chicks home the day before Easter and they are big. We also bought Wyandottes but only four of them. Good luck with them. We are having fun watching them grow and look forward to fresh eggs daily.

Leigh said...

Nina, I'm hoping I'll have success slipping them under Mama at night. It worked last time. My concern is that these will be a few days bigger.

DFW, they are hard to resist. Hopefully you'll hve your chickens soon!

Michelle, thank you for that about the SLWs. Interesting that the color makes a difference.

Renee, I hope they have a coop too, or else their new owner will have to learn about that the hard way.

Susan, I'm getting it's a rooster too. I read the McMurray forum about these free chicks and a lot of them are male, and not always rare or exotic. One gal got a Rhode Island Red for hers.

Martha, I'll have to look the Jersey Giants up. Wouldn't their chicks be larger too?

Benita, tons of peeping! Mostly happy sounds like little birds. :)

Quinn, it's amazing how much noise they can make!

Bettina, I'm thinking locally purchased chicks would probably be better. I think going through the postal service is probably pretty stressful. Thankfully they are all pretty healthy.

Bernadine, good to hear from you! It's amazing how fast they grow, isn't it? I got 16 chicks because I had to have a minimum order of 15 for shipping. It's definitely more than we need!

matty said...

So sweet~ The little brown striped make me think of Aracaunas! They are quite the same, aren't they?

I love chicks! So much possibilities! Do you slaughter your hens instead of overwintering them, or do you overwinter just a few??

Leigh said...

Matty, the brown ones remind me of my Welsummers too. :)

The only chickens we've slaughtered have been extra cockerels. We've lost a few chicks to accidents and one chick was killed by our first rooster. We've lost three chickens to hawks, and one just dropped dead. So far my hens have laid well in their 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th summers. My original Welsummers are laying just as well as my Buffs in their 2nd year. I reckon some day we'll have to stew our old hens, but we haven't gotten to that point yet.

Katy said...

So I assume Riley is kept away from this box? ha ;) When I had ducklings in a rabbit cage my cat would lay on top of the cage. You know, just...hanging out !

CaliforniaGrammy said...

You're right, there's nothing cuter than baby chicks! They are so stinkin' adorable!

The Stay @ Home-Gardener said...

Leigh, you have nearly as many chicks as I do field ants (with the connection of ant mound colonies). LOL

Leigh said...

Katy, actually, Riley pretty much ignored them! Except for one glance at the box when there was one big peep. Mostly he's got his eye on chipmunks and squirrels. :)

Janice, and they grow so fast!

Cloud, oh no, ants! I hope Colorado doesn't have the biting kind. Ant bites are one of the unfortunate prices I have to pay for gardening.