Week 3

I must say, this week the chicks REALLY shot up--right before my eyes! The girls definitely experienced a growth spurt, and their wings, legs, heads--everything is bigger! I'm excited to say that the cuckoo maran chicks' combs are growing in, and the araucaunas' neck feathers (beards) are becoming more prevalent, too. All six chicks are standing 6-inches-tall and love coming out of their cage to play (they especially enjoy flying up and sitting atop their feeder, too). The chicks have moved onto eating crumble, since they have finished all of their ground starter feed. The girls go through food very fast the bigger and bigger they get; today I plan to buy a 50 lb organic crumble so that I am ready when their current crumble is devoured. I plan to mix my own feed for the chicks once they are a little bit older and I'm a little less worried about them getting all of their vitamins and minerals...I just need to find reasonably priced grains sold in bulk. After doing some reading and research, I plan to make the feed by combining whole corn, barley, split peas, and wheat or oats. Excitingly, my dad ordered me a chicken coop for my chicks as a graduation present which will be delivered any day now. The coop has 6 nesting boxes and a 15-square foot run. Again, once the chicks are larger, I plan to build a larger run later in the summer. I think I will take the chicks outside this week to play since they are almost 4 weeks old...I know they will LOVE the grass and bugs. Stay tuned as my six hot chicks keep growing!