Daily activities for the Chicks

All is well in the chicken pool. They are 3 weeks old now and have more than half their feathers. We cleaned out the old litter in the pool because they were starting to have an unpleasant fragrance. They were not happy with me when I got in the pool and started removing the old shavings, but they were very excited to have clean shavings to mess around in. I have included some pictures of them eating and drinking. They are really fun to watch.

Learning to perch

You will see in this photo that some of the chicks are starting to perch on the stool legs. How do they know to do that? Just a chicken thing I guess. The one in the front is one of the bolder chicks. She says "you lookin' at me?" I tell you this is a carnival.

Eggs and chicks

Not a lot of new stuff is happening in the chicken pool. Just growing and eating. They get silly and run around chasing each other. I took a picture of some eggs we have gotten from our bigger hens. Aren't they pretty? Also is a picture of the chicks. They are getting to the long legged stage. They have about half their feathers now. They look like awkward teenagers.

Another pic

I just wanted to let you see how big they have gotten.

2 weeks old

The chicks are 2 weeks old today. They have doubled in size and one hopped out of the pool. As you can see in the photo, we have added our mosquito net to keep them in. They are eating and drinking well. We have started adding apple cider vinegar to their water. You simply add 1 tsp. per quart of water. This is to keep them healthy and prevent parasites in their intestines. We also do this in our older chickens. This was another good tip we got out of the magazine Mother Earth News.

No new events are happening in the chicken pool. All is going as it usually does. Eating, drinking, growing, scratching, and making poo are the daily events. Some are more bold than others and will stare up at you when you approach the pen to check things out. Others will run to the far side and try to pile up and hide from you. There really is no place to hide in a round pool. Silly birdies.

Just like babies!

I guess we have just had our first mini crisis. Thanks to an article in the magazine Mother Earth News, I knew this could happen but had never experienced it in previous chicks. One of the Rhode Island Red chicks had a blocked vent. This means there was poo stuck to the feathers around the anus. Hubby had to hold the chick while I cleaned it with warm water and a paper towel. Great news!!! All the poo is gone and the little peep just pooped without a problem. If you don't correct this problem as soon as you notice it, your chick could die. Think of it as a person with a constipation problem.