Growing some more

I am in San Francisco this week, but reports from the home front describe all four chicks as still growing - even the runty one. The runty one has become something of a scrapper. I am thinking of how Lucy, at about 4 inches shorter and definitely of a smaller build than Noor, can still bully her sister just about any day of the week. The smaller is not always the weaker.

The kids shared pictures of the chicks at school today and talked about them, Nena reports.

Growing up

The chicks are growing.

One of the Australorps was looking decidedly inactive, confused, and runty this morning. She kept pecking the side of the brooder. She didn't seem as active as the others.

Nena tried taking some of the chick starter feed and making some mash in a shallow dish. The runty one jumped up into it and started gobbling away, and was so aggressive as to actually drive away the others when they'd try to get to close. I called it her "Queen of the Mash" stance. This is particularly impressive to watch because the two Ameraucanas especially have about 50% more size on her and they're not afraid to use their size to their advantage.

Pickin' up chicks

Nena and I went to Linnton Feed & Seed today and picked up two Ameraucana chicks and two black Australorps... or at least we THINK that's what we got. They're about two or three days old, and they are just getting used to this idea of eating food, drinking water, sleeping, and walking around.

I made a quick and easy brooder out of a 30 gallon storage bin. The reddish light in many of the photos is from the heat lamp we got at the feed store.

I highly recommend Dan and the other folks at Linnton Feed & Seed to anyone thinking about backyard livestock endeavors. Not only do they have most of what you need there on their shelves, but they dispense advice freely.

I think we'll have more on this topic soon.