Happy Birthday!

The chicks are a week old--well technically 8 days old today. It's amazing how fast they've grown and changed! All of the chicks have feathers on their wings, with Annie being the most developed, and Santa (the lighter colored black barred rock) being the least. Charlie even has the first tail feathers--three of them! Annie has taken to the roost very nicely--she just pops right up and she can scoot back and forth all the way across perfectly balanced. Charlie also likes roosting and I watched him hop up, hunker down and fall asleep right on the perch.

Some of these gals can really fly! This morning Annie was sitting on the roost and she streeetched her neck up as high as it could go to peer over the edge of the box. She wants to know what's out there and she's just about ready to make that leap. The cat, Isis, hasn't been too interested, although sometimes she lays down next to the box and lazily bats at the side. We'll have to keep a watchful eye when the lid is off though once these birds start flying up out of the box.

Moontha might have a case of OCD--she's been pecking the sides of the box constantly at....nothing. I haven't noticed her bothering the other chicks too much, so it's still a toss up about the "pecking order". I wonder when and how that gets established?

These girls love the pine shavings on the floor!! They peck and scratch and scoot and jump--I think it's good enrichment for them. I also noticed one bird poop, another bird attempt to eat it and then change her mind at the last minute. I think they've figured out that poop is not food, so that's useful to know. No more pasty butts, so they must have outgrown that stage-phew! The pine shavings are a much nicer for keeping the brooder and chicks clean, and I've been changing the shavings daily and composting them. The water was getting filthy from shavings almost immediately, so I placed it up on a wood block and that greatly improved the situation. The food is also up on a block for the same reason.

They no longer all sleep in a heap under the light, so I guess it's time to raise it up. These chicks are growing!