After losing ALL of our chickens to the most recent dog attack (thank goodness the neighbors are finally getting rid of their dogs they can’t control), we have some new chicks to help re-establish our flock. We actually got the chicks about 3-4 weeks ago but this is the first opportunity I’ve had to sit down and post about it.
A friend I met on our American Dominique facebook page (who lives not far from me) was so nice to willingly hatch me out some chicks from his stock. We have 14 chicks total!!
The chicks are looking great and I just love seeing their little fuzzy butts run around and hearing their sweet cheeping 🙂
I think we probably have around 6 or 7 of each sex but will not be positive until they feather out completely. Typically in young Dominiques the pullets will be darker overall sometimes with some sooty-coloring to the tops of their legs and the cockerels tend to be lighter with yellow legs and looser head spots. I’m so excited to see how these chicks turn out.
Normally we would let one of our hens go broody and hatch chicks the old-fashioned way, but of course with no more laying hens we couldn’t do that 🙁
The upside is because these will be hand-raised they will not be as afraid of us to handle them as opposed to chicks raised by their mama hen. They are still quite wary of us, but if we spend a good bit of time with them (especially with treats in hand) they warm up very quickly to our presence.
June and Georgia LOVE watching the chicks. They get so excited to be able to pet one of them, although we are still working on being gentle 😉
I guess that’s enough cuteness for one day. Before we know it they will be pooping EVERYWHERE, growing out of their brooder and into their pen. Guess we better enjoy the fluff balls now!
We're enjoying all of our chicks as well. It must have been horrible to lose your whole flock! What a loss!