Chickens at 3.5 Weeks

Romunov, Emily, and Bev recently asked about the chicks. They are in the chicken house now and have become pretty well acquainted with their new digs. Their combs are becoming more pronounced, they are pretty well feathered on their bodies, though their tails are still stubby. They are just getting pin feathers on their heads. If you catch them at the right angle they look like little punk teenagers sporting a rebellious 'do. They have huge clown feet.

They're learning to use the roost. I don't think they sleep up there at night yet, they just use it for cat naps and a place to hang out when it gets too crazy on the floor. They're growing so fast, I really need to get their outdoor run redone. The old one has rotten posts and welded wire rusted to the point of breaking in some places. I figure I'll let them explore the run for a couple of weeks, and then when they're about six weeks old I'll let them out into the big world to free range during the days, and see how they do. I'm anxious about predators and I fear some may wander off and get lost, but that's the price you pay for free ranging your chickens. I'm eagerly anticipating a reduction in the tick population around here!
They still have naked little backs from all the pecking they did to one another before I moved them out of the brooder and into the chicken house, but pin feathers are coming in and there aren't any scabs. Cannibalism and feather plucking can result from a variety of things, and I was experiencing several of them.
- Bright lighting. I switched from incandescent lamps in the cardboard brooder to red heat lamps in the chicken house.
- Shortage of food and/or water (usually food). I had been feeding them in the bottom half of an egg carton. Worked great for a while but when they got bigger they'd flip it over and spill out all their food. Now they have commercial feeders that seem to be working well.
- Not enough protein in the diet. I don't know if this is a contributing factor in my case, but I occasionally scramble an egg for them. Can't hurt.
- Boredom. They have been really busy inspecting their new quarters. When they get bored with that, I'll hang a small cabbage or an apple at chicken height for them to peck at and play tetherball with. I hung half a small cabbage when I moved them to the chicken house but they were too busy exploring to bother with the cabbage much.
- Overcrowding. They definitely got overcrowded in the cardboard box brooder. They're getting a little crowded and agressive now in the chicken house. They grow fast! So improving their fenced run is high on my list of things to get done.

I also sprayed their little back with Blue-Kote. It helps the skin to heal and makes the pecked places less desirable to the other chicks.