# These girls are getting big!



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I was amazed at how big the girls got in just the five days I was away. I am starting to see color in their combs. Sarah has a beautiful muff (will get a good pic later). Salome and Rebekah look like giants to me. I weighed Salome yesterday and she was 550 grams (well over a pound). I also heard something that sounded like a cluck this morning. I will miss their baby chirps when they are gone.

Here they are waiting to be let out last week on their six week old date.









And here are a couple of pics from yesterday (seven weeks old).


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

They are getting big! Looks like they are filling up their cage area. Are you letting these girls be "free range"? My sister in Utah has chickens and they let them out sometimes but says they make a mess in her backyard.


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

You will miss the chick sounds, but the hen clucks are so fascinating. It is like a whole language accented by looks and neck gyrations. You haven't received a real stink eye until you remove an egg from underneath a broody hen. When your feathered ladies do have free time in the yard, be sure to quickly train your dogs to leave the chicken poo alone. Best to prevent any nasty habits from starting. A portable chicken tractor (3x3x8) is an easy way to let the chickens have access to fresh areas of the yard without as much risk from predators...and keeps the hens contained, too.


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## LEUllman (Feb 1, 2010)

In the second picture, it looks like you have an apricot, a blue and a silver! :smile:


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## sweetheartsrodeo (Sep 19, 2012)

They are growing up so fast! Oh my have they gotten prettier as they have grown up. They are really beautiful birds!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

They do end up fairly confined when I am not home. I am not quite ready to trust what happens when I have them out in their extended run yet. BF had them out all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday while I was in the finger lakes. Unfortunately he didn't realize that late in the afternoon/early evening somebody kicked the gate to the coop closed and they couldn't get in to go to sleep. I got home just after dark and after unloading the truck and sending mom and Wolfie along I was pretty sorry for them that they were all huddled together out of the coop. I opened the gate, but they were too confused to go in by themselves, so I had to scoop each one up and drop her in by hand. Sarah tried to run off in the dark. Thankfully I caught her very quickly. She would be very hard to find if she really got away into the yard. 

MiniPoo and Charmed, both of the dogs have very solid leave it commands, so I will be using that a bunch I am sure when I am ready for them to be ranging outside their current spaces. Peeves has constant need to be reminded to leave the Lily poo alone, so it is a task we are familiar with. I haven't made up my mind about how much freedom the birds will ultimately have since I don't want them to wreck my garden spaces. I do have a bird run that is sort of like an extended soft dog crate (but open on the bottom, closed on top) that I got to use when I brought them out the first few times and for when I need them out of the coop to clean. I think I will use that and the run space adjacent to the coop more than true free ranging.

I am enjoying watching their behaviors transition from baby behaviors to more grown up behaviors. Their vocalizations are changing along with the behaviors and I can see that they will have a very rich social life with each other. They are a lot less inclined to cry if they find themselves isolated now, but also clearly look to reconnect as quickly as possible. They used to just stand around and scream like the world had collapsed. They are starting to work out their social order too. Every once in a while one of them just picks her head up and raises all of the feathers on her head neck and shoulders and takes a charge at somebody else. That first go sets off a bunch of other little skirmishes and then everything is as calm as can be in an instant.

Leullman, the red is Salome the buff orpington. The others are all blue ameraucanas. Blue doesn't breed true in chickens so you can get blacks (the darkest bird), blues (the two lighter solid color birds) and splashes (Rebekah, the big mostly white bird with black on her back and wings). It is funny that they do have poodle-esque colorings isn't it?

sweetheartsrodeo they are all really prettier in person. It is hard to see some of the fine details in these pictures since they move so fast.


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

Sounds like you've thought ahead. I remember those days...which to do? fence the garden in? or fence the chickens in? The best part was watching how joyfully the chickens attacked the garden when they were finally allowed to finish off the leftovers.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Charmed I have this vision of them denuding the backyard of all weeds and grasses and then attacking the roses and other flowers. We will figure out a way to make it work!

Here is a nice picture of Rebekah. You can see her comb is starting to get color in it.









I also got a decent picture that shows Sarah's muff. They will all have muffs, but hers has filled in the fastest. They are sparse and scrappy on the others right now, although I can see grown up girl feathers starting to replace the shed chickie feathers on all of their muffs. That is Ruth next to Sarah.


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Wow! Watching them grow up is like watching poodles change color........just faster! LOL!!! I remember my Grandmas chickens in her barnyard and her yelling "Chick chick chick" and they would all come running while she scattered feed...........I usually sat on the back porch steps because she had a very nasty goose who thought he was a guard dog and would knock me down and try to peck me to death!!!! I was only 5 yrs old but I STILL remember that goose! LOL!!!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Molly they are a far cry from those pictures of embryos in eggs that I was posting before they hatched and came to me aren't they?


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## Manxcat (May 6, 2013)

Oh, they're so lovely Catherine!

I really like chickens (and ducks) and always wanted a property suitable for them. *Sigh* I will just have to live vicariously through you guys!


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## Raven's Mom (Mar 18, 2014)

Catherine, I know nothing about chickens so I am just wondering what made you choose these breeds? 

Teri


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

They sure are gorgeous! They grow so fast don't they! And yes they will continue to peep for a while but their peeps will slowly turn to clucks. But the hen's clucks are just as fun as a chick's peeps. Wait until they start laying, they will give you an egg song to boast about all the hard work they did. My silkies have the loudest egg song out of all my hens.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Raven's Mom said:


> Catherine, I know nothing about chickens so I am just wondering what made you choose these breeds?
> 
> Teri


I chose the blue ameraucanas because of their appearance, cold hardiness, good laying ability and non-flighty personality. I really want eggs so I didn't want birds that would be put off from laying because of Lily and Peeves being around. They do have to live outside in cold weather (although I am hoping their first winter isn't too harsh). They are a relatively rare heritage breed.

The buff orpington was a surprise for me. The hatchery will send what they call a meal maker with orders of a certain size. That bird will be a layer if you ordered layers or a meat bird if you ordered meat birds. If you ordered sexed birds it will be the same sex as the other birds. It won't necessarily be the same breed though. They expect you to donate the eggs or the meat of that bird to a food bank or soup kitchen. So it is a pay it forward kind of a thing. Salome, the orpington is a very sweet calm girl as her breed is known to be. They are also cold hardy and good layers.

The ameraucanas will lay blue to green eggs. The orpington will lay brown eggs.

Poodlecrazy#1 their voices are starting to change and it is very interesting, but I had no idea to expect an egg song!


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

Oh yes, they are quite funny but it can be annoying sometimes. it's not actual singing like a song bird, more like squawking very loudly. Exactly like they are saying "look what I just did!! Look!!" I'll have to try and get a recording of mine doing it.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

Hey I saw this on Facebook and thought you might enjoy it. I know I am always wondering what goodies I can give and what I should avoid. 

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens


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## Manxcat (May 6, 2013)

lily cd re said:


> .
> 
> The ameraucanas will lay blue to green eggs. The orpington will lay brown eggs.



Oooh, green eggs and ham!! LOL


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Manxcat said:


> Oooh, green eggs and ham!! LOL


I am glad to see you are keeping your sense of humor alive right now. I know waiting for those liver tests tomorrow must be very stressful.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Poodlecrazy#1 thanks for that link on treats. I have that forum on my bookmarks, but haven't looked at it much since I spend most of my playtime on the computer here. I have been giving them mealworms (insane for them). Yesterday I needed to get them back in the coop run so I could go out. There was resistance until I threw some dried mealworms into the run.

I do give them fruits that are just past prime for human consumption, but I never would have thought to give them yogurt! I always have homemade organic yogurt on hand and I do share that with the dogs, now I guess I will set a bit aside for the little ladies.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

*First time free in yard*

After I got back from getting my truck serviced (new tires, oil change, inspection) I decided I would let the girls loose in the yard. It was late enough that I could stay out to watch over them until they decided to go in to sleep.

They had a really good time wandering around and picking all sorts of bugs and leaves. I only hope they didn't eat anything that could be bad for them. I noticed some odd looking mushrooms after they had been out for a while. I think I will have to dig them up tomorrow when I can see them.


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