The above photo was taken on the May 31st; it was a warm day so we thought the chicks would enjoy some fresh air and a stroll through the garden. They adorably pecked at ants and the little weeds that were just sprouting. But that was over a week ago and my little babies are becoming toddlers. I doubt that's a good analogy but oh well. They are starting to lose their down as their feathers come in.
If you click on the photo you can see the feathers on the wings. You can also see some of the chicks new digs. The water spilled in one of the original boxes and soaked the cardboard. I was going to just let it dry out but instead I took that opportunity to adjoin a larger box to the remaining original box. It actually works out much better: it's larger, and with the flaps up and taped the walls are much higher. The low height of the original box had become a problem as the chicks can now make short flights, I remedied that as well.
We also had a problem with the chicks kicking the bedding into their water, I had used a small bowl to elevate the water dish but it wasn't wide enough and the chicks knocked it off. I now have brick to set the waterer on, and so far it's working great.
Each weekend I had intended to construct another phase of the coop, but this past weekend was just too busy and now I'm falling behind. Though the weekend prior I did put in a wall with a door in what will be the chickens new home. I'll try to put pictures in soon. Until then, here is a little video of one of the chicks... before we get into that I have some exciting news- we have names for the chickens, they are Horace, Pip, Pepper, and Stripe.
I've had some chickens around the yard occasionally for the last couple of years. One in particular was able to roost quite high in the trees. I first noticed her when she was clucking about 20 feet up in the mulberry tree. I frequently saw her on the roof as well. Very early one morning Izzy surprised her and although she managed to escape by hiding in the heavenly bamboo, I never saw her in the yard again. I think she decided it was safer to stay in the lot behind my house. I hope Horace turns out to be Hortense.
ReplyDelete