Hanging it up

Not in the quitting way, but hanging things up in the coop.

Solo cup grit dish

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.

Hanging treat dispenser

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.

Real feather lost

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.

Getting so big! And fluffy because it is cold

One cuddle chick

I have one chick that actually seems to enjoy staying on my lap. Cloud is usually the first one up and the last off.

Cloud testing the finger perch

She really enjoys the mealworms (yup, bribery), but then stays even when the treats are gone.

Cloud cuddling in the crook of my arm

She attempted being a shoulder chicken, then another chick tried to join her and the result was chaos.

Still growing

We weighed and re-banded the chicks today. We weighed them first and moved them out to have some outside time. They are all growing nicely!

Chick growth chart

After having some chill time outside, and a bunch of grass, we worked on rebanding. (I tried to take a picture, but they are so wiggly!) They all needed new bands, some more than others, but I feel better that they all have nice loose bands now. Another plus about their five toes, that fifth toe does a great job holding up the cable tie.

While they were outside, I also cleaned out their inside area. I’m pretty sure half the litter was old food. Messy things. Good thing they are cute.

120 toes

Faverolles have five toes on each foot. I have twelve chicks. I did not do the math when I decided to clip their sharp little nails. I did not manage to clip every nail (I was going to file, but the nails are still so little and the toes are kind of floppy), but I did manage to only expose one quick. 1 out of 120 is not bad. I quickly (#punintentional) put some “no-pick” purple goo on it and the chick was fine. And all of them have at least been exposed to the process. Phew.