I stuck a threaded hook in the stem of a cabbage and hung it up for the chickens. They were not impressed. Interested, but they can’t seem to get enough enthusiasm to eat it.
The apple I hung up a couple days ago was devoured. But not right away. We’ll see what happens with the cabbage.
So I have been labeling all my YouTube videos with “chicks”. Now that they are fully feathered, I am labelling them “pullets”, except I’m not so sure they are all pullets. I took a picture of Seashell and Tigger on the chicken swing together and I think that Seashell may be a cockerel (male chicken under one year old), not a pullet (female chicken under one year old). Seashell is developing black feathers under his (?) chin, much like adult Faverolle roosters.
So there is a debate in the household on chicken names. My eldest would like the cockerel we keep (oh yes, it looks like if there is one, there are maybe 3 or 4) to be named Cockatrice. My husband thinks it would be funnier for the blog to have a rooster named Seashell. Maybe when we know for sure, we’ll do a poll.
So I really thought that hanging a ring of watermelon rind would be great fun for the chicks. Nope. Apparently it is a great scary thing.
At first the chicks were in a different run (I haven’t made the doors yet, although the poultry wire is now up). I put the watermelon ring up, but all the chicks stared at it from the other run. Then I helped one a little, she grabbed a piece, started it swinging, and scared everyone off. I missed getting video of another having a try and leaping three feet in the air when it moved.
Here is a video of a chick walking up on the poultry wire to avoid the ring. I don’t know why she didn’t cross to the other side. The paths chickens take have long been a quandary.
The chicks eventually figured out how to deal with the swinging ring, because a couple hours later the watermelon was cleaned out!
I had a great find at the feed store today! An insulated chicken waterer!
So I can put ice in the waterer and hopefully have cool water for the chicks for a little longer as we dive into our summer heat. Of course they have to figure out how to use the water nipples…
Not in the quitting way, but hanging things up in the coop.
I add chick grit to their feed, but I still have one chick (I think just one) that has runny droppings, so I cut off the bottom of a solo cup, punched two holes, and hung it up on the divider to provide more access to grit. The cup is red and the grit is reddish, so I hope the chicks that need it will start getting more grit.
I drilled two holes and hung up the treat dispenser that is supposed to roll. We’ll see if they can pick out the meal worms because rolling was not working.
The chicks are getting so big. I found a real feather on the ground today, and while they can still crawl under the brooders, not many fit under there any more.
Critters and Craft 