I asked the peepers to smile pretty for a one week anniversary photo, but they all said “nah, talk to my back.”
Our first week has come and gone and so far so good. Everyone is getting cute little wing feathers and there’s a bit more running and flapping then sleeping. So far we’ve had no pasty butts or other issues, although their box needs a thorough cleaning tomorrow night.
I haven’t spent a lot of time holding them or hand training them. It’s not really my thing I guess. Mostly I just want the next 5 weeks to go fast so that we can get them out to the coop with the big girls and make life easy again.
On the other hand, I do spend lots of time out in the pumphouse watching them do their thing. They freak out as soon as you come in, but if you’re still for a minute or two they forget you’re there and go about their business until you make a noise or move.
We do have a runt. One of the silver laced wyandottes is about half the size of her twin. I watched for about 30 minutes tonight to make sure that’s she’s eating and drinking, etc. And as far as I can tell she’s healthy, just tiny. Either she’s got a case of “failure to thrive” or she’s really a stow away banty. I’d rather it’s the latter than that she be sick.
Isn’t she cute though? That’s her by the big Buff Orpington chick. She was always smaller than her twin, but now she’s barely the size of the two banty chicks (see the dark one in the background). And developmentally she’s about as far along as they are – which makes me lean towards the stow away banty theory. Either way, she spends half her waking time eating and the other half trying to get warm under the heat lamp.
And then, I got a couple of the chicks to humor me long enough for portraits. None of them have names yet – they’re still hard to tell apart, plus ya’ll gave me so many ideas that I’m still trying to pick a theme 
The normal sized silver laced wyandotte chick.
The light colored banty chick. Between their prehistoric looks and fuzzy feet, I’m wondering if the banty chicks are in fact Seramas. Of course we’ve got weeks to go before we’ll know for sure.
Awww, they’re beautiful. What fun. My chicks just celebrated their 2-week birthday yesterday with an exciting field trip out of their brooder box and into the ‘kiddy pool’. Aren’t they fun? I don’t have any mini chicks like you, though…but my favorite just happens to be a Silver-Laced Wyandotte – she is so friendly and so smart – she just recently started flying (egad!) to the lip of her brooder box to see me when I come into the room! (I’ve got a video of it at my blog if you want to see it). We’re sending healthy, happy, GROWING energy to your little wee SL Wyandotte!!
I’m sad that I missed you on the radio on Wednesday – how’d it go?
-danni
http://www.critterfarmgirl.blogspot.net
Can’t tell you how excited I am to watch their progression into hen-hood! Thanks for letting me live vicariously through you from my crappy urban New Jersey apartment!