White Leghorn chicks

So I mentioned earlier that we bought 4 chicks in total, well the other two are white leghorns. This wasn't a breeder, but she gets the chicks from a hatchery and she keeps them in her backyard in rather cramped conditions.  To me there were too many birds in one pen and she is just selling birds to make a profit. She doesn't seem like the type to really care for all those birds. Needless to say, we will not be buying from her again. We did take two little leghorns, just to save them from the pen. She did say that they were off heat, but they were about 4-5 weeks old and they are bigger than the Marans.

They were a bit scruffy looking and they don't look pure white, one has a spot on the head and the other one a spot on the back. These chicks have definitely been bred for egg production and not to standard. Leghorns are supposed to have yellow legs and beaks. These two have very pink looking legs and beaks, but what can you expect from a hatchery and not a breeder? Then again, I will quite happily take a bird that is not show standard from a breeder. I'm not interested in showing chickens, just as long as they are healthy.

Speaking of health, the two sets of chicks are in separate brooder boxes and under quarantine from each other. This meant another cardboard box. The chick with the spot on the head is rather cheeky and likes to jump out of the box!

As I only had one heat mat, this threw me a bit. If the leghorn breeder was nice and clean, I would have put all the chicks together (probably not the best practice, I know). Anyway they were supposed to be off heat, but I figured that these two would be cold, especially at night since they don't have about 30 other chicks to huddle with. 

So out came the propagating mat. This is a mini electric greenhouse, the base is on a thermostat warms up the base.  I have this sitting on the base of the brooder and covered with a layer of sand that should keep them warm.

At first I put a box with the side cut out over the mat, but these two did not want anything to do with it. the kept on crawling behind it (like in the photo above).

I then replaced it with another mini shelf from Kmart and placed a pillowcase over that. This seems to settle them quite a bit. They were huddled on the heat mat this morning before I left for work.

Have to say, these two seem to like people more. They scream like anything when you pick them up, but once on your hand or lap, they refuse to let go! This meant that we had to devise a small perch quickly, we just jammed a stick in the brooder box and held it up with some empty containers. Instant success, these two were jumping up and down on it.

These two chicks are already demonstrating that they will be noisy. Cheep, cheep CHEEP! Then you pick them up and they fall asleep on you, but you can't put them down again! I guess they are living up to the cartoon character "Foghorn Leghorn" reputation.

 Seeing this pic reminds me that I have to get them an anti tip bowl.

These two are already great flyers and can jump pretty high! In comparison to the French Marans, these Leghorns need a net over their brooder box as they can easily jump out. The Marans so far have shown no interest in leaving the box.

Stay tuned for more chicky pics!