My 7 week old darlings have real estate now. I took some dirt from the coop, and put it in a container for them to dust bathe in. Usually when I introduce something new, they are leery, but they hopped right in, and have really been enjoying it.
I moved my 5 week old's into a large cage on the back porch too. I turn their light on during the nigh, if it's cool enough to warrant it. They are right next to the older group (2 1/2 weeks older). When I first put them out, there was dead silence. I got a few mealworms, and treated them. The older group began fussing at me. How dare I treat the little ones before they got theirs! By then, the younger ones were doing their happy noises. Yes, I went and treated the older ones too. Now I know to treat the older ones first, then the younger ones, and everyone is happy.
They younger ones were introduced to a roost when I put them in the larger cage on the porch. The older ones jumped up on theirs a few times, and the little ones copied what the older ones were doing, and so they all roost now. Um, little rooster is big man on campus now. The other morning, when the rooster up the road began to crow, my little guy made this funny noise. I thought he was hurt, until he did it again, and I realized he was trying to crow. I never said anything, so the morning after that, dh heard it, and went to check thinking somebody was in distress. He too realized that our little guy was trying to crow. We have already made up our plans on building the grow pen/rooster row section in our coop.
It seems that after the 6th. week, they have entered a development spurt. It's not just a growth spurt. They are filling out, getting more of their adult features, but they are developing mentally too. I have not read a lot about mental development on the threads, except a couple that mention that some roosters never seem to fully develop mentally. I have two cats. They don't like the black and white one. Little rooster makes a noise when she goes out. When he makes that noise, the little hens better get into the corner behind him, or he will harass them, and herd them to "safety". Then he stands between them, and that cat. They seem to like the orange cat, and continue with business as usual when she goes out there. When the orange cat goes out, he looks at her, and calms right down. If one of the little hens sees movement, but has not seen which cat it is, and panics, he does a little cluck near the food, and calms her right down. He does not do that when the black and white cat goes out there. He is assessing the situation, and thinking. The larger of the two little hens can sometimes be a bully, and the slightly smaller little hen will stand her ground. If they get too rambunctious, he will get onto both of them, herd one away from the other, and separate them. Yes, I know these are characteristics that a good rooster should have, but from what I've read, many don't, and my little guy is very young, not a rooster yet. It's nice to see his mental development too. Yes, I know the term for male chickens under a year old is cockerel, and for female chickens under a year old is pullet. I said "little rooster" and "little hen" instead of the proper terms.
