No pictures this week as the camera is on the fritz and died just as I walked out to the barn. But the chicks have had a BIG week.
On Wednesday they hit four weeks old and now have most of their feathers. So that was the last night that they had a heat lamp on. It’s been a bit of an adjustment for them, learning to sleep in the dark and that there are actual cycles of night and day. But they seem to be adjusting.
Then today Mike and I put up a temporary fence to create a yard for them. It’s 16′x16′, so not huge, but big enough that they can get some sunshine and chase bugs and take a real dustbath, all while safe from the coyotes.
We finished the fence about 3 pm and by 6:30 only about 10 chicks were brave enough to go outside. Of course, some were still thinking about going outside when we ran to get some dinner from the local burger joint so I didn’t herd them back inside. Big mistake.
When we got home I went out to close them back in the barn, figuring the scaredy birds would all be inside. Except they weren’t. Our neighbor has a large outside light, one provided by the electric utility, and they had apparently decided that it was better to sleep outside crammed against the side of the barn where the light was, than inside where it was warm and safe. Stupid chickens.
And of course because they can’t see in the dark, and because broilers are infinitely less excitable and herdable than the laying flock, I couldn’t just shoo them back in. I had to pick up and move them one by one (well two by two). It was of course a good opportunity to finally count them (there are actually 50 broilers) and check their condition.
I was surprised by how solid and heavy they already are at just four weeks. The broilers feel almost like mini roasters. Very different than the five Welsummer chicks who feel bony and light as they should at this age.
Hopefully as the week goes on the chicks will get more used to going outside, and smarter about coming in at night. If they insist on sleeping outside in the light, we’ll have to rig a small light inside to convince them it’s better in the barn…
*****
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Oh, catching the chickens. I got 15 day-old chicks in March of this year. When the weather warmed up, I started taking them outside for part of each day, which involved catching and moving them all. Then when they moved into the chicken coop, they weren’t putting themselves to bed in the henhouse, so I caught them all to put them to bed.
Until after several days, I figured out that if I just waited until it was darker, they really did “come home to roost.” I was putting them to bed before they were ready.
I would like to grow broilers one day, but I fear I don’t have enough “farm girl” in me to do it. It’s quite hypocritical, since I do eat chicken, and I would like to be able to eat chickens that have been fed wholesome food and butchered cleanly. I don’t think I can eat ones I’ve grown myself, though. That’s where farm kids have it all over us city-raised folk. They understand about where food comes from and are able to separate “pets” and “livestock.”