Chicken update

I know, I know, I said the next blog would be about a swan and a goose (at least I think I did) but I have to do an update about the chicks before time gets away from me and their all grown up!

We took them outside for the first time this past Friday. What a hoot. They had no idea. Didn't know what to do, where to go--the only thing they seemed able to do was poop, which they did a lot.

These are Lisa's feet, for scale. From left is Ethel, Lucy, Marianne and Ginger. Look at the gams on Ginger! She and Lucy are going to be big chickens, as they're already nearly twice the size of Ethel and have huge feet and legs.

The sun was pretty hot and they were nervous, beaks open and panting.

Here Marianne has ventured from the pack. Perhaps the others sent her on a recon mission. "Go tell us what's out there!!"

That's Ethel in the middle. We were worried about her for a day or two. While the others seemed to grow exponentially, she stayed quite small, although her feathers were growing. But she also seemed lethargic compared to the others, who after only a few days were running around the cage, jumping and flapping. We babied her for a while and now she seems to be just fine. She has turned out to be the sweetest of the bunch and will readily jump in my hand when I go visit with them.

I moved them back closer to the cage and into the shade, which seemed to settle them down, and I was able to get some nice close ups.

Marianne,

Lucy,

and Ginger. Ethel was too busy chasing bugs to bother with having her picture taken.

Here's a good one for comparison with the last photos I took of them. It's amazing how fast they grow, how long their feathers are already. Most likely they will not look much like they do now when they've grown up. Ginger here is getting some really dark red coloring.

You're right, Kittie, this one's gonna be trouble!