horselover1999's 2025 flock

[horselover1999]

A continuation of this hatch-a-long...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/flock-restart-hatch-along.1651317/

All 11 (I had a 100% hatch rate!) are happily in the brooder.
I know who some of these chicks are, but some of them I am guessing on because they hatched overnight.

In egg # order...
Walnut- Black Copper Marans
Olive- Black Copper Marans
Iris- Olive Egger- white with spots
Violet- Olive Egger- Barred
Pineapple- Olive Egger- Splash
Lotus- Olive Egger- Blue with Pea comb
Currant- Olive Egger- Blue with Single comb
Basil- Olive Egger- Barred
Clover- Olive Egger- Partridge/Red/Speckled, looks like a chipmunk
Maple- Olive Egger- White with few spots
Crackerjack- Olive Egger- Barred with Gold leakage

I'll post pictures later, it's loading photos super slow right now.

 

[Slothinc]

Congrats on an amazing hatch, the chicks are all beautiful!

 

[horselover1999]

If you haven't read the HAL thread, I had to assist Maple hatching. Maple got shrink wrapped in the middle of zipping and was pipped at the wrong end of the egg, but somehow still had access to the air cell.
I was worried yesterday, Maple is almost a day younger than everybody else, it carried its head at a weird angle, and was acting weird. I went ahead and gave Maple a drop of Nutri-Drench, and put a few more drops in their waterer. I weighed Maple last night and this morning. Last night was 42g, this morning was 39g. I am doing comparison weights with a couple other chicks, and they also lost the same amount of weight overnight, which I am attributing all of that to not having eaten yet because it was dark and I had just turned on the light, and them having pooped overnight.
Well, this afternoon, if I didn't know how to distinguish the two white chicks apart by their spots, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart! Maple was carrying its head at a normal angle, and I saw it drink water, poop solid poop, and peck for food! Maple has also gained a gram since this morning!

In other news, I made a small quilt as a brooder cover, and it has increased visitation to the cold(er) part of the brooder by 99%! I checked the thermometer before I removed it, and it was 80°. I removed it, cleaned their brooder, and picked up a couple chicks. when I was done, the thermometer said 77°. It's definitely working, and I made it out of fabrics I already had in my stash! It only took about 2 hours to make.

I will be making individual posts about each chick (with pictures) about its personality and quirks. Maybe a few chicks a day.

So far, Maple is a very quiet, reserved kiddo. It will happily wait for its siblings to eat, then it goes over to eat once everybody else is done and preening or napping. However, Maple is a bulldozer, like all the other chicks, and will run right through the more dominant chicks. I saw a streak of mischief when I was cleaning the brooder. I am using puppy pads until they are consistently eating out of a feeder and not just a tray, and Maple was pecking at the edge of the pad, trying to either eat it or lay it down flat so poop could slip in between the pad and the brooder wall.
Maple is the smallest chick of the batch, but the feistiness is there!

Who should I feature next?

 

[Cheekychook12]

If you haven't read the HAL thread, I had to assist Maple hatching. Maple got shrink wrapped in the middle of zipping and was pipped at the wrong end of the egg, but somehow still had access to the air cell.
I was worried yesterday, Maple is almost a day younger than everybody else, it carried its head at a weird angle, and was acting weird. I went ahead and gave Maple a drop of Nutri-Drench, and put a few more drops in their waterer. I weighed Maple last night and this morning. Last night was 42g, this morning was 39g. I am doing comparison weights with a couple other chicks, and they also lost the same amount of weight overnight, which I am attributing all of that to not having eaten yet because it was dark and I had just turned on the light, and them having pooped overnight.
Well, this afternoon, if I didn't know how to distinguish the two white chicks apart by their spots, I wouldn't be able to tell them apart! Maple was carrying its head at a normal angle, and I saw it drink water, poop solid poop, and peck for food! Maple has also gained a gram since this morning!

In other news, I made a small quilt as a brooder cover, and it has increased visitation to the cold(er) part of the brooder by 99%! I checked the thermometer before I removed it, and it was 80°. I removed it, cleaned their brooder, and picked up a couple chicks. when I was done, the thermometer said 77°. It's definitely working, and I made it out of fabrics I already had in my stash! It only took about 2 hours to make.
View attachment 4056743

I will be making individual posts about each chick (with pictures) about its personality and quirks. Maybe a few chicks a day.

So far, Maple is a very quiet, reserved kiddo. It will happily wait for its siblings to eat, then it goes over to eat once everybody else is done and preening or napping. However, Maple is a bulldozer, like all the other chicks, and will run right through the more dominant chicks. I saw a streak of mischief when I was cleaning the brooder. I am using puppy pads until they are consistently eating out of a feeder and not just a tray, and Maple was pecking at the edge of the pad, trying to either eat it or lay it down flat so poop could slip in between the pad and the brooder wall.
Maple is the smallest chick of the batch, but the feistiness is there!
View attachment 4056738

Who should I feature next?

She’s adorable
Lotus next?

 

[Slothinc]

Maple is awesome!! Way to go little chicky, surviving the rough hatch and doing so well now! I love your quilt, that is amazing that you made it in two hours

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

Yes!! Go chickies!

 

[horselover1999]

Today's news!
I noticed that their pecking was stronger than it has been, so I thought I would introduce some of the food scraps and treats that they might get as adults. Today was zucchini and blueberries! I'll update later with their progress on this.

Today's featured chicks...
Lotus and Iris!

Both Lotus and Iris are bold little kiddos that love to come running when I tap for food, and both love to peck my hand when there is nothing in it. I was feeding them from my hand yesterday, Lotus thought that one of the food-free places of my hand was the perfect place to grab... multiple. times. in. a. row. Iris is in the most dominant gang of chicks, while Lotus is a wannabe to the gang, in the middle group.

Lotus

Iris

 

[Cheekychook12]

Today's news!
I noticed that their pecking was stronger than it has been, so I thought I would introduce some of the food scraps and treats that they might get as adults. Today was zucchini and blueberries! I'll update later with their progress on this.
View attachment 4057271

Today's featured chicks...
Lotus and Iris!

Both Lotus and Iris are bold little kiddos that love to come running when I tap for food, and both love to peck my hand when there is nothing in it. I was feeding them from my hand yesterday, Lotus thought that one of the food-free places of my hand was the perfect place to grab... multiple. times. in. a. row. Iris is in the most dominant gang of chicks, while Lotus is a wannabe to the gang, in the middle group.

Lotus
View attachment 4057276

Iris
View attachment 4057277

They are so cute! It’s always so interesting to see how they interact with each other

 

[horselover1999]

Continuation of yesterday's update-
They loved it! I checked on them a few hours later and they were chasing each other around with the blueberry skins, and almost all of the zucchini was eaten!

Today's news-
They graduated to shavings! I had to move them into my broody hen cage/pen while I cleaned their brooder, and they loved it!
Their leg feathers are starting to grow in, which is prompting some pinfeather pecking of birds with white toes whose veins show up better.

Today's chick features:
Basil and Pineapple!

Basil screams rooster to me, but we'll just have to wait and see, it could be just a really bold hen. Basil is always one of the first up to my hand to peck it, and is one of the most persistent at wanting to peck my hand. Whenever I pick up another chick, Basil is guardedly watching, stretching up towards the chick I am holding to see what is going on. Basil's intense little stare can be seen in this photo...

Pineapple is another one that falls into the middle of the pack, and was the victim of the foot feather picking this morning. Pineapple wasn't just the victim, but was pecking its own foot, too. Not the brightest of the bunch, but smart enough to walk away from the bullies!

 

[Cheekychook12]

Continuation of yesterday's update-
They loved it! I checked on them a few hours later and they were chasing each other around with the blueberry skins, and almost all of the zucchini was eaten!

Today's news-
They graduated to shavings! I had to move them into my broody hen cage/pen while I cleaned their brooder, and they loved it!
Their leg feathers are starting to grow in, which is prompting some pinfeather pecking of birds with white toes whose veins show up better.

Today's chick features:
Basil and Pineapple!

Basil screams rooster to me, but we'll just have to wait and see, it could be just a really bold hen. Basil is always one of the first up to my hand to peck it, and is one of the most persistent at wanting to peck my hand. Whenever I pick up another chick, Basil is guardedly watching, stretching up towards the chick I am holding to see what is going on. Basil's intense little stare can be seen in this photo...
View attachment 4058221

Pineapple is another one that falls into the middle of the pack, and was the victim of the foot feather picking this morning. Pineapple wasn't just the victim, but was pecking its own foot, too. Not the brightest of the bunch, but smart enough to walk away from the bullies!
View attachment 4058233

Basil reminds my of my cockerel Chonky boy when he was a chick, same curiosity and intense stares
We knew he was a cockerel from the moment he hatched