By Suzanne Rhodes
Official Kids Mag
"They're super cute!"
That's what Marcus A., age 7, says about his 15 fuzzy
little peeping chicks. Marcus lives out in the country
not far from Harrison. His dad got the chicks the first
week of May from a feed store and brought them
home in his truck. He put them in a big steel stock
tank, and it's Marcus' job to help feed them and keep
their home clean. "They were just about a week old
when we got them," Marcus said. "We have Rhode
Island Reds, Australorps and Easter Eggers." They will
all grow up to be laying chickens.
Easter Eggers, as Marcus explained, lay colored eggs,
like green, pink and light brown. "We might have a
rooster or two, but I think they're probably all regular
chickens. We keep the chicks in my shed. You always
need to put a light on them. We use a bulb that has
a dome around it that reflects the
light. It has to be 95°. They huddle
up together and that makes it even
warmer. You put your hand over
the light, it's hot."
Marcus checks on the chicks a
couple of times a day to make sure
they have enough food and water.
They eat a special kind of feed for
baby chickens. "They're adorable,"
he said. "They flap their wings and
jump, and some of them squirm
down under the other chicks and
pop their heads out somewhere
else, and go back down and pop
their head out somewhere else —
it's pretty funny!"
He said that sometimes he holds
them, but only occasionally "because
one time I dropped one. He almost
squirmed away. He was okay. I put him
back in. They have to get used to us."
Marcus laughed when he described
how "some of them actually peck
their buddies' eyes 'cuz they've got,
like bugs on them, or another chick
has something stuck in their down and
they actually peck the little bugs out of
them, and then they eat it."
When the babies grow up to be teenagers — at
around three months old — "they're ugly. It's like
they have feathers on their head but they still have
their down as a chick on their back and behind." At
this stage, they'll be released and on their own in the
chicken coop. Marcus' dad and grandfather built the
coop with a fenced outdoor area
where the chickens will live. "When
it's night, they'll come inside so
the coyotes can't get them and eat
them."
He said his mom and dad have
raised laying chickens before, and
"we always had tons of eggs." Once
again, his job will be to collect the
eggs. "It's really cool living in the
country," he said.
Caring for Baby Chickens is
serious Business
— and Funny Too!
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officialkidsMag.com • June & July 2020 • 39
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