First Blood

This morning when I'm checking on the chickens, I noticed that the buff/brown Turken had a spot of fresh blood on her neck.  Looks like one of the other birds was being a little rough in determining pecking order. 

I took her out of the pen, cleaned up her wound and put some anti-biotic ointment on it.  When I get home from work tonight, I'll check to see if she's still being picked on.  If so, I'll have to separate her for a few days in one of the old tubs until she heals.  From what I've read, the omnivores can keep pecking at wounds until they kill the bird.  I'd be bummed if that happened.

They Grow Up So Fast (part 3)



Red at 6.5 weeks



Two weeks later, so that means new pics of the chicks.  Nice rhyme.

It is pretty interesting watching them grow up, though.  Hard to believe that just seven weeks ago I still only had eggs.



Red at 6.5 weeks



Red has turned into a good looking boy.  Too bad that means rehoming or sending him off to freezer camp in a couple of month.

Aussie is still the smallest chicken in the coop, so she's easy to pick out.  

I'm still not sure which black ones are Jersey Giants or Australorps...they look the same to me.  A little bit of research will tell me the difference, but I just haven't gotten that far yet. 

Well...that took about 15 seconds.  The difference (besides adult size) is the foot color.  The Australorps have black feet; the Jersey Giants are gray.

You'll also notice in the picture that Aussie has jacked up toes.  I guess I should have been paying attention while she was younger so I could have corrected that.  But she gets around fine, so no worries. 



The turkens are still my favorites right now.  They look cool and seem to have the best temperment.  Not that any of them are mean or agressive (well, the roosters are all agressive, but not in a "I'm gonna cut you" kind of way).



Chickens like using power tools.



Mystery chick is still a mystery.  I'm going to post her picture on backyard chickens to see if someone can identify what she is.  I'll update y'all later with the results.

Random Jersey Giant rooster.  He was the calmest of all the chickens that got their pictures taken today.  I think he was looking for a hand out.  He got treats (meal worms and corn) when he was put back.  Gotta fatten him up for freezer camp in a few months.

And here they all are in their home in the basement.  Even with the cold weather it's been in the mid-30s in the room...and around 45-50 where the heat lamp is.  Once it warms up this week, I think I'm going to test them without the heat lamp at night.