Last Sunday we picked up six new baby chicks for our flock. This is our first time getting baby chicks and so far it’s been awesome. We figure they are about 10 days old today – as they were 6-7 days old when we picked them up on Sunday. We have two Ameraucana, two Barred Rock, one Leghorn and one Rhode Island Red – and I wanted to introduce you. . .
This is Dora. My 2-year-old daughter named her. She’s a Leghorn chicken. Leghorns are known for laying lots of eggs, up to 325 eggs a year. Leghorns lay white eggs.
This is Chima. Named by my 5-year-old LEGO fanatic son. It’s pronounced Chee-ma and it’s based on this series of Legos. Oye, if you tell a kid they can name a chick, I guess you can’t really tell them what to name it. Chima is an Ameraucana chicken. She will lay blue or green eggs! She has the most beautiful coloring and check out her eyeliner . . .I don’t think she knows how good lookin’ she is. And she’s named after Legos. 🙂
Meet Apple. I named her that on a whim and it stuck. She’s a redhead, so I’ve decided we’re sticking together. She’s a Rhode Island Red which means she’ll be perky, maybe a little fiesty and she’ll probably lay about 275 brown eggs each year.
And then we come to the baby chicks that we haven’t yet named. I’d love your ideas! Leave the comments on this post and I’ll share them with the rest of the family.
No name, Ameraucana chicken. Her eggs will be either green or blue, just like her counter-part Chima. You can notice that they don’t look very similar, Chima and this one, but they both Ameraucanas. Goes to show that every chicken is different! Ameraucanas are listed as one of the top five brands for kids.
No name, she’s a Barred Rock, also called a Plymouth Rock. These chickens are known for being easily socialized and good when you have kids around them. She will grow into a very pretty black/white patterned bird! Barred rocks lay medium-colored brown eggs.
And finally, the other Barred Rock chicken. They look very similar, it’s hard to tell them apart. The first one I pictured has more white markings on her wings (which you can’t see in the photo) but otherwise, they are hard to tell apart. As mentioned above Barred Rocks are also called Plymouth Rock chickens.
All seems to be going well with the baby chicks. They seem to be healthy, happy, chirping birds. They are getting used to be around us and are fun to watch. They are not that messy or noisy – I’m surprised.
I have one question for you seasoned chicken owners – look at Dora’s comb – it seems more pronounced than the other birds. Could it be that she’s older than the others? Or could it be that she’s a rooster? She is very fiesty and she seems to be a bit older than the other birds. What do you think? I sure hope she’s not a rooster, my daughter would be devastated if we would have to find her a new home.
I wrote up a checklist of things to do if you’re getting baby chickens.
Backyard chicken resources
- Building Chicken Coops For Dummies
– $13.59 (reg. $19.99)
- Chicken Coops: 45 Building Ideas for Housing Your Flock
– $13.57 (reg. $19.95)
- The Joy of Keeping Chickens: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Poultry for Fun or Profit (The Joy of Series)
– $10.17
- Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, 3rd Edition
– $12.36
One of my favorite all-time books is A Chicken in Every Yard: The Urban Farm Store’s Guide to Chicken Keeping
So what do you think about our babies? I’d love to hear your ideas for names! And I’m always looking for chicken advice, stories or photos!
Gorgeous, I love Legos and Chima is the perfect name for an exotic chick. Your son is genius. All are beautiful. Also concerning rooster? Maybe Dora? My chicks with half grown, now 3 1/2 months old. I am just now seeing the possibility of rooster like characteristics.
Is Dora a rooster? We have four out five of our chicks that look exactly like her. YIKES
Well, it’s my first time having chicks, I can’t tell if they are all female or not. I bought them from the local feed store as laying hens. Just now noticing the lil thing growing above the beak. I thought I had a few male,. But after researching, I have no clue. When I got them they were lil yellow fuzz balls.. idk how they can say they are hens, guess time will tell
Did Dora end up being a roo? I am running into the exact same issue. We named her Fiesty!
Sessy
I had a Black Australorp that I named Fluttershy( my friends are into My Little Pony lol) When she was a chick she was very shy and she would always flutter her little wings around. Haha. Good luck with your chicks! They’re adorable! 🙂
I love these pictures of your chickens. The Ameraucana with the eyeliner is a beauty! Did he end up being a boy? , What camera and photo editing do you use.
We have two Rhode Island Red babies. We named them buffalo and barbecue 😉
We raise white leghorns and its pretty difficult to be sure on gender until they are older. You have to watch how they interact with the other chickens, their reaction to loud noises.. (look up sexing white leghorns). Another way to tell is how the chick reacts when you pick it up. Pullets will struggle and try to get away, a cockerel will be calm. Good luck!
I don’t have chicks or hens at all but I love reading about yours. Maybe one day I can have a coop of my own. I saw someone mentioned the name Oreo. . .one of the kids at my son’s school did a science fair project on hatching a chicken egg at home. And he named the chick Oreo. So cute!
how ’bout some Northwest representation?
Skoosum – “strong, good, in line with the world”
Tumtum – “heart”
ha! love iphones –
*Skookum
The no name Ameraucana should be Brownie!
Oooh I like that one! And who doesn’t love brownies?
I have an Ameracauna just like your Chima! 🙂 Hmmm…is that one your sons (Legos). I love all your cute babies, how sweet!!
now this might sound cheesy, but for me…i would name those 3 after my favorite stores that i shop at. I would name them:
1) WAGS (Walgreens)
2) Costco
3) Meyer (Fred Meyer)
or, i would name them after the savings system from my favorite drug stores. lol only to make it cheesy and yet sound cute.
1) ReRe (Register Reward)
2) E-B (Extra Bucks)
3) Catti (Catalina)
4) Coup (Coupons)
I like the name of Catalina for one, I’ll 2nd that!
Always wanted a Henrietta, play on hen…
Disco for one of the barred rock, play on the word discount, plus when they strutt around they look like you could be playing “Staying Alive”, which I hope they do!
How fun , love hearing about them.
The middle picture my 3 year old daughter liked she said L-A-M she said letters as the name 🙂
Pidge, Sweetpea, Olive.
Oooh. Name one of the barred rock, Onyx after the precious stone. The last one has eyes like one that’s for sure. They’re all so stinkin’ cute. Maybe name another Fairbanks or Valley after WVHS.
Leghorns combs are a little more “pronounced” earlier on. I wouldn’t think roo yet; however… Based off the 2nd little ameraucana’s posture… Is guess roo! Great coloring! I have two separate heritage flocks I’m elping to preserve. Love them, with too many to name here 27 chicks in the brooder & 42 in the incubator for a Easter hatch. Those chicks names will just appear as their personalities come through! Enjoy!
When I saw Barred Rock chick, Oreo came to mind. 🙂
All your talk about chickens and coops last summer inspired me to take in a homeless hen and her 3 chicks. I don’t know what kind they are, doesn’t really matter to me. Her “babies” are now grown and laying eggs (2 girls and 1 boy). I named them-
Mama Lady, Missy-Missy, Matilda and Cock-a-doodle Duke!
Dr seussie! Those green eggs are so cool!
You have to name one Skittles! Seems like a great chicky name!
Skittles!? That’s fantastic. Love it.
We just got our first chicks! They’re about the same age as yours. I was just saying that they aren’t nearly as much work as I thought they would be. We have a RIR and a Barred Plymouth Rock also. I named my BPR Lenore. I think Chickens should have old lady names. Just for fun.
I also have 2 Barred Rocks and a Rhode Island….Barred Rocks are Checkers and Chicken Little (follows husband around) Rhode Island is Waddles..I sat outside all weekend with them and watched them and named them as I saw them…They were bigger than yours when I got them…we also bred the Barred Rocks to a Rhode Island rooster and call them Rocky Rhodes!! LOL
I think you should name one of them Catalina! You must pay homage to your forte’! Lol!!! Beautiful chicks Heather!
Kelli – Love the catalina idea. . . .
They are so cute! Our HOA has restrictions on farm animals, or I would be right there with you!
I’m awful at picking out names, but I think something historical for the Plymoth rock chicken like Mayflower or Pocahontas might be fun. Since the Ameraucana will have colored eggs, you could go with Easter; or flower name like Daisy or Tulip. Like I said, I’m pretty bad at naming things…..my husband is Italian, otherwise my kids would have the same names as everyone else in their classes! 🙂
My chickens are named, Agnus, Bertha, Helga, and Five (can you guess what name my toddler came up with). I love German names for chickens. I have no reasoning other then they are not classic names for any other kind of pet and chickens are not normal pets. We have two Golden sexlinks, Agnus and Five, that we can’t tell the difference between the two, and we just call them the twins.
Love the German names for the hens!
Lucille or Lucy would be great for that redhead:) and Imogene would be sweet for yellow chick. He could always be called Gene if he is a rooster.
I love the name Lucy or Lucille. Great idea. Love the ideas.
We also got chicks two weeks ago but had two adult birds we got last fall. The adult birds are Hero and Rosy (names from Thomas the train). My two year old named our new chicks: Dora and fluffy. I named one Hershey’s and our barred rock is still waiting on a name. I like chima, think your son would mind if I used it for our new chick?
I bet he would LOVE to know that someone else likes the name he picked so much! That’s hilarious that you have a Dora as well. 🙂 And I like the name Hershey’s – too bad they couldn’t lay chocolate eggs. 🙂