The chicks are now 16 days old, and have grown so much! It was too cold to get them out of the brooder and weigh them, but we’ll do that soon, on a nicer day. I did need to raise up one of the heaters because the larger chicks had to duck and crawl to get in. I kept the other one down low because we still have smaller chicks. Their colors are definitely changing and differing. We have lighter shaded chicks and darker chicks. The feed store said that their chick source guaranteed 95% females. This should be interesting.
Category: chickens
Perched
The chicks are two weeks old! I’m now adding chick grit to their feed, and I found a large jar of brewer’s yeast with garlic that I thoughtfully bought months ago and apparently hid in the back of the pantry, so that is going into their feed too.
I gave them a little clump of dirt and grass from outside. They were extremely dubious at first, I was hoping to get some video of excited chicks, but they waited until I was gone to pick it apart. Oh well.
They are also starting to attempt perching. We’ve had a stick in their brooder since day 1, and they flutter on that a little, but today I found one perched on the side of the heater. Tigger likes to perch on my hand and walk up my arm. Which reminds me, I need to get files to dull their sharp little nails.
A little later my eldest was able to convince another chick to perch on the little practice perch I made from scrap wood.
Rebanded
The chicks are really growing! Today we inspected everyone’s colored bands and replaced those that were getting small.
All but three bands needed changing out. The chicks escaped the barrier we put in the brooder, so we laid out the cut ends of the zip ties to see who else needed checking.
While we were doing band switching and health checks, we noticed that Seashell has a little something extra; namely two toenails on one toe (both feet). From a quick Google search, and browsing some chicken forums (oh my, I’m browsing chicken forums), it seems that the gene that causes extra toes sometimes throws extra nails too. We learn something new everyday!
I nearly forgot to take a video today, so the poor babies were upset about my bright video light. Luckily they settled down quickly after the lights went off.
So wet.
All the digging and moving dirt yesterday was well worth it. We are getting drenched. The spot right in front of the door is dry and mostly solid. Our neighbors graciously brought us cardboard so we can walk down the hill to the coop instead of slide.
I think I still need to raise the level of the ground under the porch; even though I tamped down the dirt, it still isn’t as solid as it will be after a couple soak and dry sessions and lots of foot traffic. Here is a picture a few hours later.
The water is flowing along all the trenches around the runs, so we may have to adjust our plan and fill all of them with rock instead of dirt.
The chicks are doing OK. The temperature in their brooder is staying above 50, but the low is forecast to be 41. I put a blanket around the heater end of the coop (the EcoGlow is radiant heat and the blanket is at least 12″ away), which helps some. I’m keeping a close eye on the temperature. I may need to figure out an additional heat source.
Here is a video of one chick trying out perching on the stick!
Batten down the hatches
or the hardware cloth, as you wish. I finished installing the hardware cloth around the base of the coop and used batten boards to secure them.
I then backfilled with dirt most of the way around. Some of the areas we are going to line with landscaping fabric and fill with rock to help divert water flow. I also filled the front area with more dirt trying to make it a little higher than the surrounding terrain so the rain runoff goes somewhere other than by the door. We’ll see soon if it works.
The chicks are still growing like little weeds. Today I tried getting them to eat out of my hand. No problem.
We are having a cold front and I am concerned about the temperature of the coop. They have two Ecoglow heaters and both the food and water are nearby. Here’s hoping it doesn’t get too cold.
Critters and Craft 