Sorry for the delay, Folks. The Mulder fam went camping for a week and a half- and I did not take the chickens or the computer with me. I did manage to take some pictures before we left (top: 5 weeks old), and then some today (bottom: 7 weeks old). The 6th week is gone forever… with their baby feathers. I was shocked to find them all looking like full-grown birds upon our return. No more junior high… these peeps are varsity now.
I’m not sure if you know this, but chickens aren’t the brightest of the animal kingdom. It’s fine. They don’t have to do my taxes or anything, but MAN if they could just figure out that sleeping IN the coop is so. much. safer. than perching outside. Every night after dusk I shoo/herd/man-handle the 10 or so rebels that nestle down just outside the coop window and put them inside for safe-keeping. Granted, they are getting a bit crowded for the mini-coop, and I need to work on an overflow area so they can be contained but roomy after dark.
They are so much heavier/denser than my egg layers. It’s wild. They continue to burn through the feed- at least 50# every 5 days. It’s all in one barrel now, so I can no longer keep track of bags depleted. I know I bought 1 bag of starter mash and 14 bags of broiler mash all total. We’ll see what’s left at the end… if any. Now that they are old enough to graze and wander, they’ve added grass and hay and bugs and veggie scraps to their diet.
I think they’re pretty happy. Stinky (as we all are after bedding down with 49 of our closest friends for 2 months), but happy.
These bottom pictures crack me up. If they look like they’re ticked at me, it’s because they are. It’s beautiful afternoon here and they simply don’t want to be bothered with photo shoots.