Chickens at 5 weeks!
Here's an update on the chickies. At five weeks, they have a fairly consistent feather coat and the last of the chick down is disappearing. Earlier this week, they were put outside in their own little house (seriously, it's a repurposed kiddie house) with a heat lamp. As far as I know, they've only lost one, probably due to trampling (if it's too cold at night, they'll dogpile for body heat and whoever is on the bottom gets squished). I brought them down some finely chopped ham and took some pics.
Here's Blue, the blue andalusian. He's beginning to show that he's definitely a boy. You can tell by how his comb is getting bigger and his neck feathers are growing in darker. Also, there's some subtle stuff about the shape of his head and you can even see the beginnings of wattles. He's a friendly little guy. Stags are often very stand-offish, but he's fine. On the other hand, due to his unique coloring, he's been handled more than any other chick in the bunch, so maybe that's it.
This is one of the Red Star pullets with more of the same in the background. They're incredibly gentle and friendly, which is really surprising for a hybrid. When I came with treats, several of them rushed me enthusiastically. When they get grown, they'll be quite a handful. Really tame chickens have absolutely no fear of people and will do annoying things like land on your head and shoulders, peck at your hands (or pant legs), and generally try to mug you for noms.
This is a group shot, just a mess of chicks so you can see how they've grown. The darker brown ones are either brown leghorns or welsummers. Notice how little of a comb they have, except for the one on the far left, whose head is pointed straight down. That's another stag (boy), that one in particular is a welsummer stag.
Here's Blue, the blue andalusian. He's beginning to show that he's definitely a boy. You can tell by how his comb is getting bigger and his neck feathers are growing in darker. Also, there's some subtle stuff about the shape of his head and you can even see the beginnings of wattles. He's a friendly little guy. Stags are often very stand-offish, but he's fine. On the other hand, due to his unique coloring, he's been handled more than any other chick in the bunch, so maybe that's it.
This is one of the Red Star pullets with more of the same in the background. They're incredibly gentle and friendly, which is really surprising for a hybrid. When I came with treats, several of them rushed me enthusiastically. When they get grown, they'll be quite a handful. Really tame chickens have absolutely no fear of people and will do annoying things like land on your head and shoulders, peck at your hands (or pant legs), and generally try to mug you for noms.
This is a group shot, just a mess of chicks so you can see how they've grown. The darker brown ones are either brown leghorns or welsummers. Notice how little of a comb they have, except for the one on the far left, whose head is pointed straight down. That's another stag (boy), that one in particular is a welsummer stag.