Sunday, May 29, 2016

Graduation Days

Well, believe it or not, but the babies are 6 weeks old already.  And this week was a big week of graduations.

They graduated supplemental heat last week.  And last Friday I moved them from their brooder box in the garage out to the small coop in the run.  I do have them separated from the big girls.  And while I'm happy to have them outside, I will readily admit that I miss hearing their peeping chatter from the kitchen.

They learned how to from from the run out around their protective barrier and into the garden when I open the gate.  And the three big hens are very accepting of their new minions.  Which makes it easier for me.

One of the Buff Orpington hens out in the garden.
Five of the six babies.
Penny is watching a bird fly over trying to decide if it's friend or foe.
I finally got a new flower pot for my wire chicken planter.
Peaches has the most intense stare.
Coco hanging out next to my chair on the patio.
The babies make their way up onto the patio to explore.
Penny is the black hen on the right.  Bella is the brown one on the left.  Bella is the smallest one by far.  But she'll likely grow up to be the biggest of the batch.
The big girls most favorite spot is by the sliding glass door.
Coco can't understand why I've only given them half the bag of chopped spinach.  She wants the rest of the bag.
Pearly digging her way through the Wooly Lambs Ears in the garden.  There's good bugging in there.
I still need to teach the babies to come back into the run when I call them.  That's going to take a little more work.  And they also need to learn how to roost at night.  They still sleep in one big pile of birds.  But they had a really big week last week so we'll save roosting for next week.

Can't wait to see them grow into all those feathers.