Baby Chicks...One Week Old

Week Old Baby Chicks

I am pretty sure the chicks were about a day old when we got them so lets just say they are a week old here, I took this pictures on Monday, a week from when we got them :)  They are SO much bigger and starting to sprout feathers and test out their wings!

The brown Araucana is the only one with a name so far, We called her "Trouble" the first day because she was the most hyper and out of sorts when we first set them up in their box.  Last Tuesday J did her presentation at Classical Conversations on her new pet chicks and when she told her class the brown one was named Trouble she smirked and then said "cuz you know...(then started to sing) I knew you were trouble when you walked in...." lol.  

So far Trouble has the biggest wings and is the first to test them out..."flying" across the brooder (aka large cardboard box).  Trouble also seems to enjoy being held the most so far as well.  My husband comes home after work, goes into my closet (where they love right now) and says "Hey girls!" and they run up to him and look up at him...then Trouble will step up onto his hand when he lowers it into the box and just hang out with him.  So yeah, I can officially say I don't get jealous when my husband "picks up chicks"...lol ok lame joke but I had to do it :P

Check out Trouble's tail feathers poking out the back!  If she turns out to be a HE then HE really will be TROUBLE! lol

The Barred Rock chicks don't have names yet but my husband's great aunts came to mind the other day and suggested naming them Helen and Margaret, my hubby seemed to like that idea but we haven't actually officially named any of them...

I'm not sure which one it is, but one of the Barred Rock chicks is afraid of the dark...we have to keep a lamp in the closet with them at night because she starts crying when it's too dark.  Our neighbors have a heat lamp from their chicks we were going to borrow but so far we have been controlling their temperature in my walk in closet with a little space heater and a digital thermometer.

I love that the dark barred rock chicks have a soft yellow underside!

Trouble startled me this morning when I went in there, she was looking up at me and then tryied to fly straight up towards my face...she got pretty high! Not high enough to get out of the box yet though!

I set their water dish up n a brick to help keep it clean and they also seem to just enjoy the brick to stand on and peck at.

I also put a small branch in there for them to perch on....I wanted them to have some entertainment so I also cut up a toilet paper roll into a couple smaller tubes and then also seem to like playing(pecking) with them.  They do poop quite a bit but Tyler just laid down a bunch of newspaper so each day I just remove the top layer of paper and reveal the fresh paper underneath so it really is no big deal....I remember having hamsters as a kid..This is not any more work that that....actually less with with easy system of the newspapers we have going.  Once they are big and in a coop...I don't mind taking care of that because at least they earn their keep with the bug eating and egg laying!