Checking on My Chicks
The youngest residents at my farm are thriving.
Not long ago, I shared photos of some of my baby chickens. Since then, the young flock has grown to include another group of chicks and a sweet, friendly peachick. All of them were incubated and hatched right here at my farm. They’re now about a month to six-weeks-old and doing excellently - alert, healthy, and very curious. Soon, they will be old enough to join the others in the chicken coops.
Enjoy these photos.
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- After hatching in my incubator, and then spending a couple weeks in a brooder, the chicks are carefully moved to a crate in my stable feed room where they can still be well-monitored. The peeps will stay here for a little longer until they are large enough to move down to the chicken coops. Everyone at the farm loves visiting these babies. The red heat lamp adds a reddish tint to the photos.
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- The chicks are very eager to explore their surroundings. Chickens have their own personalities – some are more active or more curious than others.
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- These chicks all have clear eyes and are very alert – signs of good health.
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- I also have one peachick in this bunch – she’s extremely friendly, and comes to the front of the crate as soon as a visitor arrives.
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- Chickens love to roost – and they start practicing within days of hatching. Here’s a chick perched atop a stuffed bunny toy.
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- These chicks also love playing and interacting with each other. These two were just pecking each other playfully before the photo was taken.
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- Here’s our baby peahen just looking at the camera. Looking closely, one can see the corona growing on top of her head. All peafowl have a corona, the fancy feathery crest. It is quite bare now, but as the peachick grows, this corona will become bigger and more colorful.
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- Chickens are gentle, shy birds, but because these are being raised around a lot of activity, they will be well-socialized and friendly.
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- The peahen loves to perch on visitors’ arms. If given the chance, she’d spend all day here.
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- Our peahen doesn’t let you out of her sight – she follows guests around as much as she can from the crate.
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- The water bowls are checked frequently to ensure there is always fresh, clean water for drinking. By this age, they are all familiar with waterers and feeders, but it is still good practice when they’re moved to new surroundings to show them where these sources are located. Most baby birds are lost because they don’t eat or drink. Usually after one chick finds the water source, the others will follow, but be observant and make sure they are all able to access their bowls and waterers.
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- Most birds, including chickens, hear well. Birds have ears on both sides of their heads, and unlike humans, birds do not have external flaps on their ears. Instead, the opening of the ear is covered by a special tuft of feathers. These feathers protect the ear without impairing perception of sound.
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- Here, one can see the outline of this chick’s ear. The inner ear is also crucial in maintaining balance, a function that is particularly important for birds that fly.
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- Now that I am spending more time at home, I make it a point to visit all the animals at my Bedford, New York farm every day. I have a mélange of types and breeds that are really interesting to look at and fascinating to study. Here, many of them are waiting patiently for their daily greens.
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- These chicks are happily exploring their surroundings. At this stage, they have access to a small outdoor area that is separated from the bigger birds.
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- These babies are a week or two older than the ones in my stable. They will slowly gain more outdoor access as they grow and then finally be mixed in with the regular flock. These chicks were very good eaters right from the start.
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- The chicks are hardy, but require extra protein while they’re growing. A good chick starter feed will contain protein for weight gain and muscle development, plus vitamins and minerals to keep them healthy and to build their immune systems.
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- I also like to mix in new chickens with my flock. Here, two new small roosters and a hen. They are also housed in the first coop until they are acclimated to the new area.
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- Female chickens are called pullets for their first year, or until they begin to lay eggs. For most breeds, chickens generally start laying eggs around four or five months of age.
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- And back in my Winter House kitchen is another one-day old peachick keeping warm under the red heat lamp suspended above the bin in which it is housed – it just hatched the morning this photo was taken.
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- And a few hours later – a chick joins our peachick – both alert, curious and already so active. My peeps and peachicks are doing very well. I will share more photos with you as they mature.
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