We made our babies a new chicken cage today. It took us all day. They had been living in this little cage in our bedroom, and we would take them out several times a day to explore and have fun. But they were outgrowing that little cage, so we worked all day to make them a big, secure place. When we put them in it they loved it. It was in the livingroom, and they could see us, and we could see them, and they seemed so happy and secure. But as soon as we started to go to bed, they started freaking out. They had never been out of that tiny little cage before at night. They have been screaming for about an hour, even tho I have turned off all the lights. My husband sugested that I turn on TV for them. But that didn't help, unless I was in the room with them. I've never seen them freak out so much. I don't know if I'm going to get any sleep tonight. I suppose I should just calm down, and maybe they will too. I put their little cage in the big one, with their heating pad in it, so hopefully, they well eventually calm down. Wish me luck tonight, lol.
This is just not an easy trasition
Easy Elle, Easy Elle. Take a deep breath. They will be just fine. Just who's in charge here. LOL Good luck. Haystack
Well, truth be told. I leave the light on for my babies at night. How old are they? If the are older then the light could go off but it may take a couple days for them to settle down into a sleeping corner and actually sleep. I know it awful to hear them. It usually only lasts a night or two then a routine is esablished. Mine were so load once I had to put the in the bathroom and shut the door. LOL It was horrible. But after awhile (like the big chickens) they knew when night came it was time to sleep. Lights out, so to say. :) Best wishes to you getting through this transition. Jeanmarie
Who's in charge?? Lol Well it certainly wasn't me last night. They were just so scared. They became actually hysterical. But once I put their old basket in the new cage, they jumped in and went to sleep. This is the old basket that they would always try to jump out of, but I guess they felt very secure in it. I suppose they just needed to sleep in their old bed, lol. They're 2 1/2 weeks old. Boy this is going to be lots of fun, when they spend their first night outside. Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about them taking the car, and not coming home by curfew.
yes Elleisn its hard for them to make the transition, but they will.i put mine in the big coop with a divider from the big girls, and they are adjusting quite nice..in fact next weekend i'm moving them into their own "big" coop, then the older ones can still see them, and get used to them..but they are used to them, the big girls dont even pay any attention to them at all..but my golden comets are easy to adjust to new surroundings and chicks..
have faith it will all work out..my new ones are only 3 weeks old..they learn quick..
cindy
Aren`t those gold comets the nicest chickens?I just love mine and have ordered more,they are so quiet and tame,nothing seems to bother them.They are so hardy,I have had no sickness and they faired the cold windy winter just fine.
oh yes green i love those comets.i have never seen a bird so cold hardy..and youre right nothing seems to upset them. my DH even shoots near them and they just look up and dont apy any attention to him..i have 27 now and wouldnt trade them for anything in the world..
have a great sunday
cindy
Elleisn that is a crack up! (they won't take the car) I laughed so hard!
I'm very sensitive to my babiez too... if they fuss, I'm there in an instant.. I've even got my DS trained to hear a "distress" call.
I've put some babiez outside at two weeks and they did fine.. (mild weather here) They were loud, but far enough away and with some others so I knew they would be okay.
That is a good idea to just give them the basket to sleep in.. they may surprise you in a week or so and not even bother to go in it anymore..
Thank you for sharing.. That was a great story.
ZZ's is right, as usual. I too laughed so hard, I saw a movie in the making. I just saw that car backing out of the driveway and heading out. I can still hear them hens snickering. Have a great day all. Hay
They truly put a smile in my heart every time I look at them.
Elle I gotta tell you, I think you have put a few smiles on our faces also. It sure has been great having you aboard.
Looking forwar to more of your sense of humor, in future stories. You Rock. Hay
You have a great way of looking at things Elle!
:D
Yesterday it snowed at least 4 inches, I'm geting rather sick of the snow. Today it was in the 60's , so I took out a load of laundry, and my babies, and hung up the clothes. The sun was on my face, the babies were digging around in the dirt, getting really filthly actually, but having so much fun, I was hanging up the clothes, I just thought life just doesn't get any better than this.
DH is building a bigger brooder for me. My chicks are a little over a week old and the bin is too small. They grow so fast. I went to Tractor Supply and got a 30 x 30 rabbit pan and some 36" high chicken wire. DH is figuring out how to put it together. Then I'll move them from the 12 x 24 plastic bin. I bet they have the same reaction tonight as yours did Elle. Wish me luck.
They are getting very big and bratty. They can now fly up and sit on my lap. When I try to shoe them out of the tomato plants, they just look at me and say yeah right, we can do anything we want, lol. They are so much more than cute, but they are getting rather bratty. I really love them. They are so funny. Their names are Claire and Alice.
Elleisn, I saw on the news you had snow your way. I know the feeling. I think its spring fever. I had it. LOL They really enjoy the dirt and dust baths. Its good for them to. It helps with mites. I am sure they will have many more days outside now. As will you! ;)
WOW beclu, they have grown up so fast!
They have grown so fast, especially their feet. I,m just glad I don't have to keep buying them shoes. They are now sitting on my lap, proofreading what I,m writing, lol.
LMBO How are they doing with proof-reading? Maybe I need one over here. hehehe
Well they're doing pretty good actually. They poop on every mispelling I do. That's better than the nun I had as a kid who would just yell at me when I mispelled something.
Elle! I had to laugh. It sounds like you are going through what I call the chicken teen years. Bratty! Thats an excellent word, haven't heard it used in years, but it really describes the teen years doesn't it. Haystack
Elle that sounds alot better than the teacher i had in school, if i mispelled something i got cracked on the knuckles with her ruler!~!! OWIE!!!
cindy
Yeah Cindy! We called em knuckle Busters. LOL Haystack
They are getting very big now, almost 4 wks old. Rather bratty still, but very cute and funny. We kept trying to keep them out of our tomato seedlings, but once we planted all we needed Saturday, we just let them have the rest. Lol, it took them about 1 minute to totally demolish them this morning. Now the only thing I have to discipline them about is "don't chase the cat". They are bold and brassy, and think they can get away with anything, but the cat is still bigger than they are. They can now fly up on our dining room table, and from the floor onto my shoulder when I'm sitting at my computer. Needless to say we are going to be building their outside house this weekend. They are so fascinated with the fact that I follow them around and pick up their poop, they think I must be a collector. Now they run over and show me their poop. And their feet just astonish me, it reminds me of my Great Dane puppy. Boy are they going to be big if they ever grow into their feet.
Elle, I know exactly what you mean about their feet. Mine are only 2 weeks old and their feet look huge. We just built them a new cage, 30" high and 2 of them can almost fly to the top already. I have to put a wire cover over it at night so they don't get out.
It was so funny when we first took them out of their little basket when they were just a few days old, and they discovered their little wingy things, lol. One of them had a couple feathers, but the other one just had little bones and fuzz, but that didn't stop them from enjoying being little chickens.
Love the colors, they are so darn cute. Three look like amaraucana, but what about the others? What kind? Hay
Hi Haystack, If you're talking about my pic, they are supposed to have Blue or BLR Wyandotte fathers. Not sure about the moms. All of the eggs were brown, so probably not ameracaunas. I have no clue what they will look like when fully feathered. I'm beginning to think 4 of them are roos. They do a lot of posturing. Becky
Can anyone here tell me how to tell a girl from a boy at 4 weeks? One of my "girls" has gotten almost twice as big as the other, stared down my cat today, and when I picked her up to put her back in her cage, she had little nubs of spurs on the back of her legs. It was just amazingly bold. She walked over to the cat, about a foot and a half away, lowered her head, and just stared. After a couple minutes, the cat gave up, lol.
I think it depends on the breed. I always find that the females are smaller. But tend to feather out quicker. But that is not a sure thing with some breeds. I also look for the larger combs and pink in the wattles. :) Again, nothing is for sure. my kids say they know the roos because mom always picks them as hers. hehehe Yes my track record in picking chicks is boy, boy boy... :D
Elleisn, can you post a pic? I have 2 Modern Game chicks that go at it all the time.. but they are hatch mates! No real fighting.. just the stare downs.. LOL She is just as bad as he is.. I think it's gotten to be a game more than anything.. they never get mean.. it's funny as all get out..
Beclu, my guess would be the redish one and the gray one in the front are pullets.. the other 3 are roos.
The red one is "iffy" I just can't tell for sure..