Chicks, see how they Grow

Hatched on July 12, my little Cochin chicks are growing fast, and looking rather awkward.

Above with one chick (out of nine) showing after hatching.

The first two days they spent hinding under the hen, with the rooster always close by.  As the nesting area is raised I was concerned they would fall out and built a ramp.  By the third day she took the chicks out and started nesting with them under the laying area, so I bedded that with straw.

Young chicks need chick grower ration (which is what is in the dish the chick is standing on in the picture above).  They also will eat the mother hens ration, and scratch.  Chicks must be provided a safe place to drink fresh water. It needs to be a proper system so they do not get wet, as getting wet can be a real problem for chicks whose down will soak up the water (as well as getting a chill they can drown). 

Above we see the two-day-old Cochin chick just beginning to explore.

After a few more days they became quite independant.  The rooster in particular would keep a good eye out and would make a call if he suspected danger.  Rather than running to him, or the hen, the chicks would run and hide.  It was quite interesting to watch as they became invisible in tall grass in a second.

At a month old they have lost most of their down and are not looking quite as cute.  They explore and try to fly, often climbing up on some tall branches they have in their enclosure.  Their feet are getting feathers, and they are becoming quite brave.  If I offer them small bits of bread some chicks will take it from my hand, others wait for mother hen to take it and give it to them.  They also really like dandelion leaves.

Above the chicks at 1 month of age.  There are still  nine of them.

Although they are perhaps not as cute now, its interesting to see how their feathers change.  The one at the bottom of the picture looks proportionately bigger than the others, which is a bit of a trick of the camera but you can see how it has some bigger black feathers on its legs.

Our Newest Chicks

In the spring my husband bought me a pair of bantam Cochin Chickens.  I have always wanted Cochins, but we just never managed to get them for some reason or another.  I was really excited, not only are Cochins a super cute breed of chicken, but they are known for being a really good breed for raising chicks - that is to say Cochin hens are known for being broody.

My husband and I have never raised chicks from eggs yet, we always bought mature birds, although one time we did buy week old chicks - most turned out to be roosters so we sold those.

As the summer went on I was worried, the hen laid many eggs, but was not sitting on them.  I know a hen will  usually lay many eggs before sitting on them but got worried when she kept laying other batches of eggs in other areas of her coop.  I had no choice but to wait.  One day in June I did not see her in the pen, and soon realized she was indeed finally sitting on the eggs.  I had no idea how many eggs she had under her. 

For the next 21 days we waited.  Then on July 12, when I came home I noticed something was different, indeed mother Cochin had hatched out some chicks, and one had even fallen from the coop.  I picked that one up and it rushed under its mother to get warm.  We didn't disturb mother hen to see how many she had but were certain it was at least 4.

The following day we found out that mother hen had 9 chicks.  We put the chick starter, as well as a dish of food for the hen, in the coop.  We also put a very shallow dish of water in for them, knowing chicks can drown or get chilled if wet.

A couple of days later, mother hen took her little ones out of the coop and into the fenced yard to look around, it was the first day it had not rained here in ages.  The chicks seemed to enjoy it and stayed fairly close to mother hen.  Both the hen and rooster kept a watchful eye on all nine chicks.

If you are planning on keeping chickens and letting them raise chicks be sure you have a pen that is strong and the wire is such that the tiny chicks cannot get out.  You need to have chick starter for the little ones too, and be sure there is no water that they can fall into or even shallow water that will wet them and give them a chill.

Read more here:  Raising Pet Cochin Chickens
Why Won't My Chicken Eggs Hatch?