The girls are getting Huge!

Holly & Cheyenne

Speckles & Cheyenne

The girls are almost 6 weeks old now and getting huge. Maggie is the largest, followed closely by the two Australorps, then Lilly, Then Sandy and finally Speckles coming in as the smallest. But what she lacks in size, she makes up for in personality. She is a hand full. She flies out of the brooder and onto my shoulder. If I leave the room for too long, she flies out and comes looking for me. She is going to be a problem when it comes to taking them outside...I do not think she is going to want any part of that.

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They are finally roosting on the limb, they still nap and such on the floor of the brooder. I think once they have a flat roost, they will spend more time on it. They are just spoiled and like stretching out on the floor.

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I bought them some earthworms from a local lady who raises them. I took them to the girls and put a few on a disposable plate and waited. Lilly was the first one to see one move and grab it...it was on then. Oh my at the yelling, running, chasing and frenzy over the ones on the plate. I think you could safely say that they liked them. LOL

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More chicken news and updated pics later.

New digs for the girls...

This morning the girls ran to the side of the brooder, bumping into each other and chirping like criminals in solitary confinement. They got to me.
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I took the frame for my portable hot tub ( 6' in diameter ) and moved it into the living room and set it up for the girls. They were running, jumping and play fighting as soon as I released them in it. Naturally, Speckles flew up onto the side. She is the alarm bird. So we repeated the fly up and perch, me pick her up and say no and put her back, her fly up, me pick her up and say no and put her back...finally she gave up and stayed inside.
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I took the saw outside and went up the ridge behind the house and found a dead fall to cut the perch for the girls. I cut it off and brought it inside and they were not too sure about that. Finally they pecked at it and jumped on it so they are now sitting and roosting on it for short periods of time. I noticed when it was time to sleep, they were sitting on the shavings snoozing. So, in a few days they should be doing okay.
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More chicken news later ....

Three weeks old and getting rowdy

They are growing, becoming very independent and demanding. They want attention, treats and freedom from the brooder. They sing and chirp to get your attention and when that fails to get the response they want, they begin pecking the side of the brooder. Maggie continues to be the fastest maturing and Lilly the slowest...which is right in line with their breeds. It is nice still having Lilly so fluffy and fuzzy.

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The love baked yams, steamed broccoli, yogurt and plain pancakes. This morning they had some baked yams with flax seeds which they seemed to enjoy immensely. I put a dish of calcium grit in the brooder last night and that was a huge hit. They spent time eating it, playing in it, guarding it from each other and sleeping in it.

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More chick news later...

20 days old and new location

The girls are 20 days old and growing fast. I moved them into the living room today next to the front window. They loved the sunshine coming through the window. I also got them a perch and put it in the brooder and took the top off...Lilly loved it! Speckles did her normal of flying up to the side and hopping onto me. I guess to her I am a more comfortable perch.
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They also got their first taste of baked yams. I baked them plain, peeled them and gave them the firm center cut into small pieces. it was a frency in the brooder. The would chase the one who had a piece and then realized there was more on the plate and they went after it.
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Later this week I will start getting the wood and such for their coop to start building it. They are all doing great, getting feathers and getting big. Maggie is the biggest one and the most matured. She is almost fulled feathered at 20 days.
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Much more chicken news and fun to come.

Girls get new feeder...

I wanted to try to keep them from scratching shavings into their water so much, so I bought them a long feeder and moved their water to the corner. It is working so much better. They have plenty of room to lie down, more food available to them and cleaner water....mission accomplished!
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Cheyenne is making sure that Lilly gets one on one attention as well as Sandy...the other girls get attention from me also. Here is Cheyenne and Lilly today:
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Sandy getting loving from me:
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So the girls are all happy, healthy, and loved. What more could a chicken ask for?

A few minutes outside

It was nice, warm and sunny out today so I took three of the girls outside for about 10 minutes. I took the three flyers at 16 days old. Maggie, Molly and Speckles fly up to the top of the brooder whenever I open it so, I took them out first. They had a blast once they got up the courage to start looking around. They enjoyed the hummingbird buzzing around, playing with the grass and the rocks. Maggie and Molly were the most curious, Speckles ran to perch on Cheyenne's hand to see if it was safe. After the girls started looking around, it was a fiht to get them to come back inside. However, once I got about 5 feet away from them, they came running. So back inside they went. Tomorrow if it is nice out again, I will take the other three girls out for a few minutes.

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They are growing so fast. They are looking a big ragged right now as they loose their fluff and get feathers. They are really a joy to have around, although messy! I have to clean their waterer out about every 2 hours because they kick it full of shavings. LOL

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More chicken news as they grow!