Monday
Jun022008
Chicken Life - Day 5
Monday, June 2, 2008 at 8:49PM
Some of the more mathematically inclined readers might wonder exactly how it's day 5 when the chicks arrived Friday and today is Monday...
Well - the chicks are 5 days old today... from when they hatched.
We thought it would be good to chronicle their rapid development for those readers who have never raised a broiler and can't believe they grow from the fuzzy little yellow balls of Friday to a full grown meat bird in only 8 weeks.
If you look closely in this picture you will see these guys and gals have already developed some significant white plumage on their wings... and their little tails are starting to look like tails. Their appetites are hearty and they drink and eat almost twice the amount in a day they did on Friday.
They also seem to like to stretch in every way - likely because they are growing so fast - they feel "growing pains"... here's a shot of one really getting that leg out there.
It's quite funny to watch them do this - and then stay in this position but flop over onto their side to rest... and sometimes that accompanied by a good wing stretch too.
Also the good folks at Welp Hatchery sent us some extras... we were counting them tonight and we both came up with 34 - that's awesome. We will be using them again next year and for all future foul needs - they are top notch and responded to all my email questions without so much as a shadow of an attitude - which is impressive given the number of questions I asked!
On the non-living portion of the farm... something was eating off the leaves on my new blueberry plants. The stems were fine - just leaves kept disappearing... I had tried a hot pepper spray thinking a 4 legged culprit - then I tried a mesh thinking a winged culprit... then I just got around to mulching around them (which had been the plan all along) and magically the leaves stayed on the bushes - and they are growing all happy now. Must have been a bug-like critter.
As for the balance of the garden - I'm out of room... and I'm behind with corn... so - that's tomorrow night... likely I won't be "knee high by the Fourth of July" - but such is life. In general just about everything other than the corn and Lima beans has been planted... and several things are laid out to accommodate multiple plantings over the summer.
Well - the chicks are 5 days old today... from when they hatched.
We thought it would be good to chronicle their rapid development for those readers who have never raised a broiler and can't believe they grow from the fuzzy little yellow balls of Friday to a full grown meat bird in only 8 weeks.
If you look closely in this picture you will see these guys and gals have already developed some significant white plumage on their wings... and their little tails are starting to look like tails. Their appetites are hearty and they drink and eat almost twice the amount in a day they did on Friday.
They also seem to like to stretch in every way - likely because they are growing so fast - they feel "growing pains"... here's a shot of one really getting that leg out there.
It's quite funny to watch them do this - and then stay in this position but flop over onto their side to rest... and sometimes that accompanied by a good wing stretch too.
Also the good folks at Welp Hatchery sent us some extras... we were counting them tonight and we both came up with 34 - that's awesome. We will be using them again next year and for all future foul needs - they are top notch and responded to all my email questions without so much as a shadow of an attitude - which is impressive given the number of questions I asked!
On the non-living portion of the farm... something was eating off the leaves on my new blueberry plants. The stems were fine - just leaves kept disappearing... I had tried a hot pepper spray thinking a 4 legged culprit - then I tried a mesh thinking a winged culprit... then I just got around to mulching around them (which had been the plan all along) and magically the leaves stayed on the bushes - and they are growing all happy now. Must have been a bug-like critter.
As for the balance of the garden - I'm out of room... and I'm behind with corn... so - that's tomorrow night... likely I won't be "knee high by the Fourth of July" - but such is life. In general just about everything other than the corn and Lima beans has been planted... and several things are laid out to accommodate multiple plantings over the summer.
Reader Comments (2)
Cute - and I remember chicks hitting this ugly stage when friends in high school had to have a baby chick as part of a parenting project. Sooooo glad I was never in that class!
Thanks to our weather issues and scheduling issues, I still don't have EVERYTHING in the veggie garden. Need to plant squash, pumpkins, okra and more beans. Not sure I'll have room for all the potatoes I wanted to get in - which is a real bummer!
The ugly stage is about a week away... I think there's why pasture raising them is so popular... the cuteness is gone - so out of the barn and to the field with yee!