We had a setback today. I went out of town to say goodbye to my Grandma, whose health is declining. I got a message on my way home that the neighbor/co-owner of our meat birds moved the Cornish X from the brooder to the grow out pen, and all 25 of them were killed. Probably by my own dog, but she hadn't secured it very well, she thought chicken wire was enough to keep him out, and it was pretty loose at that. I'm glad it wasn't my Aussie girls, but I'm still disappointed. Now that he's had a taste for chickens, I worry that the larger birds may be at risk as well. We are going to build a fenced yard area around the back door for him, but also secure the grow out pen in case it wasn't him, or if he gets out of the fencing we put up.
My girls are a week old now, and I could really tell a difference when I got home. They have little tails now, and more feathering on their wings than I noticed yesterday.