Growing Up

Last Saturday, I paused during a very busy weekend to take a few pictures of the girls. At two and a half weeks old, they have already changed drastically from the fuzzy puffballs of their first week and are well on their way to gangly adolescence. Their growth rate is really impressive--I can usually see changes day to day. Today I noticed Belle's comb reddening--a sign that she may be a he. I have no other Dominiques to compare with so we'll see.

Goldi's feathers are coming in and she's changing from blonde to buff.

Steve put a beginner perch in their tank and they vie with each other for the chance to use it. The chicken on the perch usually gets its feet pecked by the others! This is Zen, who as a Jersy Giant, is slow to mature and is a bit behind the others in getting her feathers.

Rachel (the speckled Sussex) is getting her speckles coming in on her shoulders and wings.

As soon as they mastered the perch, they started thinking about getting out of the tank which is only a foot tall. There's a lot of hopping and flying around when I take the lid off to feed them. They've yet to reach freedom, but Belle especially, makes it her mission to reach the edge of the tank at every opportunity.

Now, a week after these pictures were taken, they've been moved from the kitchen to my unheated sunporch because of the dust level (which blossomed in their third week) and their increasing discomfort in the heat. They seem fairly comfortable out there with two heat lamps despite the now-freezing outdoor temperatures.

We decided to insulate the coop and should have that completed this weekend. There's no electricity out there so I'm not sure yet when the chicks will move out, but they're growing fast!