I finally broke down and bought a scale so I could weigh the girls. But that might have been a mistake. As you can probably guess, they are scared of it.
It doesn't have a huge platform but I thought it would be big enough. Unfortunately, when they step up the scale, they step on the edge, which causes it to tip. So very quickly, they were scared of thing. I was so frustrated. I desperately tried to entice them with meal worms. But they are so big, they just jump and take it from my fingers.
I finally got Ginger to stand up on it for just a split second and while she didn't stand still, I'm going to log her at 4 lbs 6 ounces. I'm thinking she has some growing to go yet. Orpington are a heavy breed and can get up to 7-8 lbs. But the way she was wiggling around on the scale, it was going down to 2 lbs. and up to 6 lbs.
Coco was next. It took me a while to get her to calm down in my arms enough where I could set her onto the scale. She was reaching up to get to the worms in my fingers, so she wasn't standing still either. But she's still in the 6 lb. 6 ounce range. Which is what she weighed about a month ago when I took her to the vet. She's getting close to being full grown. Jersey Giants when fully grown will tip the scales at over 8 lbs. with rooster weighing 10-11 lbs.
And finally, there was Pumpkin. Just catching her was a challenge. I had to try and hypnotize her to get her to stand still. That involves tucking her head under her wing and gently swinging her from side to side to get her to calm down. I didn't get her to totally go to sleep, but she calmed down enough to stand on the scale long enough to log her in at 4 lbs. and 3 ounces. Easter Eggers average in the 6 to 7 lbs. range when fully grown.
So now I've got a baseline for each girl. I wish I had bought the scale nine months ago so I could have tracked their growth progress. And so they would be use to being weighed. But oh well. At least now I have a basis now.
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