Growth

The chicks are growing fast. On those rare occasions when the sun shines, I roll their home out into the sun, and they go wild. I look forward to the day when they can wander the backyard like their older brethren do.

Lily and Dolly are doing fine and laying lots of eggs. They started not roosting at night, rather sleeping in the pine chips like I think they should always have done. I took the opportunity to remove their roosting pole out of the house. I’m going to install a new one which will have room for all 5 hens on it. I’m going to go natural and use a tree branch instead of a wooden dowel.

Lily has started a new behavior which I find interesting. She sleeps at night facing out the door and watches the nighttime activities.

Dolly was spotted on the deck for the first time! Lily has been climbing up there for a while, but Dolly is new to it.

World expansion

The three chicks were growing quickly and starting to fight, so I decided to expand their world. I cut a door in the box that they had called home. This gave them the ability to roam out into the enclosure. At first they did not want to, but since I moved their food and water out of the box to make more room for them, they were forced to go out. Soon they were all over the place.

I also installed a stick for them to practice their roosting skills.
One of the lighter colored chicks can fly! I don’t mean jump, but actually fly around and around. It’s truly amazing.

Darla the dark chick is starting to look like a little crow. I’m sure she’ll soon turn into a good looking hen.

They are adverse to human interaction, but my neighbor and two of her friends came over, and after an amazing amount of persistence managed to get all 3 chicks to snuggle up against them. Thanks girls.

I also installed a wooden border around the bottom of the pen, in an effort to keep Mr. P from sticking a claw through and snagging one of the girls. In time, they will get big enough to keep him at wings length. The border was my spouse’s idea.

Pine shavings have replaced the paper shreddings that I used at first and that has helped the odd smell to disappear. I look forward to the first sunny warm day when I can take them out to see the big world. For now they will have to live with the sunlight that comes through the garage windows and of course the heat lamp.

The next generation

I have begun raising my next generation of chickens. My two adults are fine, but I know they have a limited lifespan.

I got a Buff Orpington, a Black Sexlink, and a Gold Sexlink. I made a cat-proof cage for them to live in. It is the garage. It has a brooding lamp which keeps the area under it about 85 °. They have enough room to move out of the warm zone. The have water and food, and lots of paper shreddings to root around in.

I’m hoping to introduce them to the adults in late April. Fingers crossed the introduction goes well. I’ve read that it doesn’t always go smoothly.