Spring Baby Chick Photos | We Got a New Batch of Chicks!

This year’s batch of chicks arrived in the mail and I took way too many adorable photos of our new chicks so I have a lot of baby chick photos to show you!  Just way, way too many photos. 

I hope these baby chick photos brighten your day! 

Having said that, I should warn you that the next paragraph is sad (it’s my only sad story, I promise) – but it’s the reality of getting chickens and I really try to keep it real.  Two of our chicks died in transport and it was heartbreaking to open the box and see their dead bodies.  That didn’t happen last time, so although I knew it was a possibility, I wasn’t prepared for it.  The remaining chicks were relieved to move from a small box to the brooder and started eating and drinking right away.  They seemed chilled though, because they really huddled a lot under the heat lamp – more than our other chicks.  Over the weekend, one chick seemed really drowsy and lethargic and he ate and drank a bit, but then totally face planted into the bedding and slept a lot.  Worried he’d get trampled, I removed him and tried to revive him, but he was super weak and limp – but still breathing.  I read that some sugar water can help so I mixed some up and tried to encourage him to drink.  He pulled his head back the way chicks do when they drink and his eyes even opened so I thought the remedy was a success, until his head kept rolling back and his body contorted wildly and he straightened fully and died right in my hands.  I screamed for hubby and was feeling quite ill about it, worried I had caused his death.  Sometimes chicks just die: they might be sick, weak from hatching, weak from the journey, too hot, too cold… so many things.  I know there’s probably nothing I could have done and it’s probably not my fault, but they’re so wee and delicate and adorable that the guilt it just terrible.  So while I LOVE having chickens, and tell everyone to get them, know that there’s some stress and sadness involved.  With that story out of the way, please enjoy the efforts of my chick photo shoots!

Egg cups for scale, lol.

You can’t be sad or stressed or worried looking at fluffy chick butts.  It’s a scientific fact.  So here’s a bunch.  It’s their preferred pose, like they’re mooning me or something.

It’s either fluffy butt or angry birds, lol, those are the two classic chick poses.

This one reminds me of Pewter – and look at that teeny tiny comb – so I am betting rooster… Sweet face too, going to be a heart-breaker, this one.

Last time I had all black baby chicks, except for one yellow Silkie chick, so seeing this yellow peeper is so nice.  I don’t know what kind of breed she is, but the one that died in my hands looked the same.

I actually don’t know which breeds are which at all – I ordered a lot of different breeds of chicks this time, just for some fun and variety.  In the peep of chicks I ordered, I had 2 Golden Cuckoo Marans, two Black Copper Marans, 2 Whiting True Greens, 2 Cream Legbars, 2 Swedish Blue Hens, 2 Speckled Sussex, 2 Silkies, and 2 Barnevelders.  But I’m not sure which breeds the three chicks who died were – but I know for sure they weren’t Silkies, because those chicks are super noticeable.  Once they start to grow, I should be able to tell them apart a little.  Some of them already have different markings and feathers…

Hubby says these ones look like chipmunks and they are waaaay more active and hyper than the other chicks.  They want to run and I’m nervous about what kind of crazy chicken they’ll grow into…

At the time that I placed my order for chicks, my Silkie hen, Coal, was super broody so I thought it would be fun to pop some chicks under her but by the time my chicks arrived, she was no longer broody.  But I had already ordered two silkies, to keep her company and feel like “real” babies.  Hubby has been pushing me to re-home Pearl, our Silkie roo, but that means Coal would be alone.  I want to see if either of these chicks are hens and how they get along with Coal before making any decisions.  But Silkies don’t really roost so they need a buddy to keep warm in the coop! 

Oopsie-daisy.  Taking photos of these wriggling, squirming chicks is more difficult than it may seem!

I think the chicks were a little afraid of the camera because sometimes they would screw up the courage to bolt past it into my hands – or hubby’s!  He was hanging around for a minute, helping me corral them.  They would dive into our hands and settle down and hide.  I made sure the “photo shoot” lasted only a couple of minutes for each chick.  It’s good they get to experience some things and get used to being handled (plus I want some baby chick photos to cherish) – but the chicks also need to stay cozy and not experience too many stressful things.  So a few quick photos, a minute of snuggling, and then back in the brooder! 

I hope you enjoyed these baby chick photos!  We definitely still have snow around here but it’s melting and the sun has been shining, so I’ve been in a spring mood – enhanced by the arrival of these sweet chicks.  I ordered them earlier in the hatching season, this time around, because I would like them to get out into the coop and hopefully laying earlier!  My last batch of chicks didn’t lay eggs until the middle of November, so hopefully these chicks will lay earlier because they hatched a couple of months earlier.  But I do worry that maybe it was too cold during the journey here and that’s why three died already?  I’m still new to this and learning a lot as I go.  I try to do my best and care for these chicks as best I can.  You can read about all of my chicken and egg adventures right here.