Trained jumping fluffy baby roosters jumping for CAKE

 

CAKE = dried mealworms, sunflower kernels, and gelatin binding goo

Flock 2 May 4th

 

Baby Chicken Land - Day 1

 The ten new chickens came home from Tractor Supply on April 8, 2021.  We figure they were born on Sunday April 4 and shipped on Monday, arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday, and we bought them on Thursday 4/8.  They aren't very loving yet since they aren't quite ready to be bribed with treats, but they're so insanely soft and so cute.  We haven't given all of them specific names yet, but here are their tentative names.  It's easy to count them, because there are 4 white, 3 brown, 2 bumble bee, and 1 black silkie = 10 tiny chickens.

1: Yoyo (white with yellow beak and ....   frizzle!).  Yoyo for yellow body, yellow beak.  Feathered feet.

2, 3, and 4:  White Silkies - they're very mellow and not very curious or inquisitive, so I endearingly call them the Fluffy Dummies.  Feathered feet (feathered everything haha)

5, 6, and 7:  The brown babies.  Sable, Minky, and Foxy.  Clean legs and feet.

8 and 9:  The bumble bees Buzzy and Fuzzy.  Very intricate patterns, clean legs and feet.

10.  Little Tom (named after Mark's brother).  Black, silkie, fluffy, feathered feet, and LOTS of attitude.

 

We set up a wonderful new playland for them yesterday, here they are dust bathing in "Dummyland".
 

Raven Crowed This Morning!

 When we opened up the coop to say "good morning" to Flock #1, Raven flew to the top perch and crowed!

Raven (top male rooster from Flock #1) was clearly trying to say "cockadoodle doo"  Although it sounded more like "hooo hooo hooooo" in a very high pitched voice.

Awwwww Raven's first words!

Uh oh More Chickens! Flock #2, Welcome to P2

Uh oh......We bought 10 more Bantams today at Tractor Supply.  Here's a sneak peek of how tiny and cute they are:

Chicken Sneak Peek 3-25-21

 The babies are growing up SO fast.  Here's a few zooms on Lemon (and one on Raven flying).

When one chicken hears a noise that might mean danger, he makes a distinctive trill-like "chirp" that starts what we call "freeze frame".  The chickens FREEZE, absolutely still and quiet, up to a minute, until someone sounds the "all clear".  Mark and I are trying hard to learn "chicken".

A beautiful backlit photo of Lemon, Nugget, and Angel

Angel

Angel

Angel

Raven captured in a rare "in flight" view

DAY 12, ADORABLE NEW BONDING PHOTOS

 The Chicks Are Still Small and Wonderful

We had bonding time with the chicks yesterday, DAY 11. Mark holds them while Mary snapped the photos. The pictures speak for themselves.

DAY 10, HERE WE GO AGAIN

 Little Chickens That Never Get Big

It is almost hard to believe the babies have been here for 10 days. There have been so many surprises raising these Bantam chickens. One of the best surprises is how little they are, and supposedly, they will stay fairly small when compared to "standard" chickens.

DAY NINE, ALL THE BIRDIES ARE FINE!

 Little Guys, Starting Their Third Week of Life

Tree fragment perches are still very popular

Last night the clocks got reset, someone forgot to give the babies the memo. They were already awake and peeping by the time I got to the kitchen. We hastily set up their brooder home. As usual they bolted out and headed directly for the water dish. A night under the heater makes them very thirsty.

DAY EIGHT, EVERYONE'S GREAT

 Happy Two Week Birthday Baby Birds

Around February 28, 2021, somewhere down in Texas amid one of the worst winter storms ever, a big bunch of baby bantam chickens were cracking their way out of eggs, ready to meet the world. Out of that massive hatching came our eight little charges. With attitudes and personality equally as big, as they are physically small, these little guys are beautiful beyond belief. 

Mark had a great bonding afternoon visit with the babies...   he is holding each one for five minutes.  They love him :D  He's top rooster.

Skunk has a tail.... no really, a REAL tail!  With his sleek long wings and very tail-like tail, he's starting to look like a sparrow. We'll get tail pictures tomorrow.

BONDING TIME

To help adjust the babies to US, we are spending time with them every afternoon. This means holding each little bird individually, petting them, talking to them softly and feeling their magical energy. After all the holding and touching we spent time feeding them their favorite treat, mealworms. 

BEDTIME

Putting the kids to bed at night is a favorite time for Mark, he gets to tough their ultra soft little bodies as he pushes then towards Mama Hen. They do protest loudly, for about a minute, then they cooperate and very quickly all the complaint peeps die away in the night, giving way to glorious rest. It goes like this: protest, protest, protest, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. They are adorable.

DAY SEVEN, TINY BIRDS FROM HEAVEN

 The Babies Survived Another Night

Good Morning!

Let's drink, baby birds are thirsty after a night under the brooder heater

Mary shot video of the morning wakeup. It was already after 7 AM and the tiny birds were ready to come out and greet the world.

DAY SIX, SITT'N ON STICKS

 Baby Birds Can't Wait to Play

By the time I got up at 7:15am Mary had the brooder open and was already playing with baby chickens. Their little peeps cut through the morning air in a gentle and peaceful way. Meanwhile, baby chicks love sitting on "Tree" the broken limb fragments I gave them yesterday.

Crew of eight baby chicks greet the morning with joy and gusto

DAY 5, EVERYBODY'S STILL ALIVE!

 12th day out of the egg! Little Birds Learning to Fly, 

The gang raced out from under the brooder heater to greet the morning and nom, nom, nom, nom.

That is Nugget top right, smiling, sitting on thermometer face. Lemmon up on center of feeder.

DAY FOUR, WE'VE GOT BIRDS!

We love our chickens. 

The group emerged for breakfast as soon as the sun (aka heat lamp) came out

DAY 3 GLAMOUR PHOTOSHOOT

 BABY CHICKS FIRST PHOTOSHOOT

DAY 3, THE CHICKENS ARE GROWING

 SECOND NIGHT, ALL GOOD!

BABY CHICKENS DAY 2

 SUN UP

Everybody made it through the first night

THE BABIES ARRIVE

WELCOME TO CHICKENS AT P2, 2021

Baby chicks, homeward bound from Tractor Supply Company