Finally my Buff Orpington hen had her first hatch. Over the weekend she had 12 eggs hatch and 1 dud. Three days later the second Buff Orpington hen had hers hatch and she has 11 chicks! They are so adorable, I waste more time just watching them bumble around and pecking at the chick starter feed.
This pic was taken when they were about 24 hours old!
Oh, I am awash in envy! Lucky you! They are just precious.
yes, I am GREEN GREEN GREEN!!! I cannot wait for my buckeyes to start raising their own!!! how exciting!!! now you have to tell me everything, so i know what to do when the time comes...
They re so precious!!!!! Love it.
Hey hmstyl, Are you interested in sharing? next time i go to Cleveland I would love to see them and maybe work out a trade!
e-mail me
newsteadm@bellsouth.net
hey Eufaula, the Buff babies are really growing fast! All 23 of them are doing great. Sure, I'd love to have you visit and maybe work out a trade. I'm sending you an e-mail today.
Cindy
Just thought you might want to see what the Buff babies look like after one month. They are really cute, and almost completely feathered.
You can still see tufts of baby fluff around their heads and in between their feathers. I still have all 23 babies!
This message was edited May 27, 2006 9:56 PM
They are really curious about everything - especially the camera.
Here is the King of the Coop! He spends a lot of time standing guard outside the nursery coop
My goodness, that's quite a flock. I love to watch the babies with their mama. They seem to constantly run around her face and try to see what she's going to do next, almost as if they're saying........ "What are we going to do Mama, what are we gonna do ? Then there's that cluck cluck sound she makes, like she's talking just to them. I could just get a cup of coffee and sit and watch them for hours.
I didn't know if Buff Orpingtons would set. How old is your hen? I'm hoping that some of mine will eventually go broody. Surely some of those eggs were from other hens..........as, she didn't lay all of them ?
I've had 2 bantams go broody, but none of my bigger chickens so far.
Maybe they need to get a little more mature.
Lovely babies. Hoping we'll have some broodies hatch some for us next spring...
Those two Buff hens are both almost a year old now. One of them went broody while they were in the big coop, but the eggs were duds, so I moved her into the "nursery" coop and put in the rooster. The second hen I put in there with her since they were both the same age, the same breed, and I was afraid the rooster would wear her out if there was only one hen. They each laid those eggs themselves, after I put them in the coop with the rooster. The fist hen laid 14 eggs and hatched 12; the second hen laid 12 eggs and hatched 11. I'm still amazed that all 23 babies have lived!
I gave one chick to my daughter as a pet, and hopefully she will enjoy it enough to want a few more! She is kind of testing the waters in her subdivision to see if the neighbors will have a problem with it before she gets any more.
They really are fun to watch. I go out there to give them food and water and I end up hanging around and watching them.
My 2 White Silkies just had their first hatch, also. I'm wondering how soon they start laying eggs again - just curious. And wondering if I keep any of the young do I need to get a new rooster - the rooster is in the same pen. If I do need a new rooster, what's the best way to introduce him?
