Chickens, week 4 ?

I’m not even sure what week this is anymore.  Life has been too much in upheaval to have any sort of normalcy.  These pictures are almost a week old already… but I felt it was worth it to show them because the chicks change so rapidly!

 

They are growing quickly and most of their baby fuzz is gone.  I am amazed that they seem to hit growth spurts just about every day!  They are also getting closer to where we can identify the breeds better.  This one is a Barred Rock (that was my choice for the hens).

 

 

The Brahmas still have the most fluff and are still at that slightly ugly stage – but the feathers on their feet keep growing!

 

 

 

Some breeds we’re still unsure of – like this one.  Dave thinks it might be a Dark Cornish, but we’re still unsure. 

We are getting better at separating which are pullets (hens) and cockerels.  The hens have much softer feathers – probably because they don’t go for that rough-and-tumble fighting.  In some cases, the feet are different colors between the sexes.

 

We’ve opened up the second level on the brooder/coop – and actually they seem to prefer it up there.  Maybe because they’re taller that way?

With Dave gone most of this past week, his city-girl wife ended up cleaning their coop!  Actually it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but I’m still ready for them to be moved outside…

 

This picture is actually from the previous week, but I wanted you see to Henrietta (or Etta for short).  The Buff Orpingtons all seem to be friendly, but she is by far the friendliest of them all.  Every time Dave opens the doors, she is right there to greet him and be petted. It doesn’t take long and she’s jumping up on his arm, walking up his shoulder, pecking at his mustache, etc.  She is very sweet!

 

And for those keeping track and wondering – Crip *is* still alive.  I don’t have a picture of him because he tends to hide under roosts and behind other birds.  He is slowly getting larger and finally starting to develop wing feathers, but he is about half the size of the other birds and way behind in development.  But - as long as he keeps thriving, we’ll let him be.