MJ's little flock

[RoyalChick]

Did you try to make the crumble wet?
And if the pellets have better ingredients you can give those too if you soak them.
My broodies and chicks ate those abundantly.

I haven't wetted the crumble because everyone is fine with it as it is. I think the pellets and the crumble are the same ingredient - same feed, just different format. I thought that the chicks would not be able to handle the pellets, but I had reckoned without Tassels teaching them. So basically they will all eat both kinds. I will probably go back to pellets once the crumble bag is finished.
The chicks are still way too small to be able to actually open the treadle feeder so I have a hanging feeder as well - but what they do is wait for Tassels to stand on the treadle and then they all line up and eat out of the feeder.
Clever chicks!

 

[LozzyR]

They are doing great. I am a bit maudlin about the whole experience and with my post surgery instructions to take things easy I am just sitting and napping in their yard all day.
As I expected she would be, Tassels is a great mother. I have learned to understand some of what she says to the kids - she talks to them constantly. I can definitely tell when she is calling them for food versus telling them not to stray too far from her. And the other day she spotted a hawk and was very unambiguous about the call to hide. They all obeyed.
She seems to be so happy and she is positively gleaming!
I have abandoned chick feed - well Pooh ate most of it - because Tassels doesn’t approve of it. I had bought crumbles for the big ladies thinking that pellets might be dangerous for the Littles. But I needn’t have bothered. Tassels has taught them how to go to the rat proof feeder (which I have clipped open for now so the door doesn’t crush a chick) and remove a pellet and peck it into smaller pieces.
She definitely prefers that the Littles forage outside than eat any kind of feed, so the minute I open the door for them they are outside catching bugs or eating fallen fruit from the peach tree.
I have tried not to get too attached because we haven’t entered the Marek’s age yet and only time will tell whether my strategy of delayed and reduced exposure (including dusting and blow drying Tassels herself) while the vaccine took, will actually work. But of course I am a lost cause and already besotted.

A few pics and a little video because you did ask!

Post in thread 'Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock'
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...es-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/post-28786678

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And this last video is why I can spend all day sitting in the yard with them. I am sure my surgeon would approve of my inactivity!

Baby dirt bath!

 

[RoyalChick]

Baby dirt bath!

She takes it very seriously!

 

[MaryJanet]

They are doing great. I am a bit maudlin about the whole experience and with my post surgery instructions to take things easy I am just sitting and napping in their yard all day.
As I expected she would be, Tassels is a great mother. I have learned to understand some of what she says to the kids - she talks to them constantly. I can definitely tell when she is calling them for food versus telling them not to stray too far from her. And the other day she spotted a hawk and was very unambiguous about the call to hide. They all obeyed.
She seems to be so happy and she is positively gleaming!
I have abandoned chick feed - well Pooh ate most of it - because Tassels doesn’t approve of it. I had bought crumbles for the big ladies thinking that pellets might be dangerous for the Littles. But I needn’t have bothered. Tassels has taught them how to go to the rat proof feeder (which I have clipped open for now so the door doesn’t crush a chick) and remove a pellet and peck it into smaller pieces.
She definitely prefers that the Littles forage outside than eat any kind of feed, so the minute I open the door for them they are outside catching bugs or eating fallen fruit from the peach tree.
I have tried not to get too attached because we haven’t entered the Marek’s age yet and only time will tell whether my strategy of delayed and reduced exposure (including dusting and blow drying Tassels herself) while the vaccine took, will actually work. But of course I am a lost cause and already besotted.

A few pics and a little video because you did ask!

Post in thread 'Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock'
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...es-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/post-28786678

View attachment 4208548
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View attachment 4208550
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And this last video is why I can spend all day sitting in the yard with them. I am sure my surgeon would approve of my inactivity!

Who wouldn't sit all day with that little family! I can't recall if the chicks are sexed yet RC. Do you know if there are cockerels in the mix?

 

[MaryJanet]

but what they do is wait for Tassels to stand on the treadle and then they all line up and eat out of the feeder.

Awwww so sweet!

 

[RoyalChick]

Who wouldn't sit all day with that little family! I can't recall if the chicks are sexed yet RC. Do you know if there are cockerels in the mix?

Theoretically all female. 90% probability. We will see.
We are just entering the age at which Marek’s first presents typically, so I am holding my breath for that too.

 

[MaryJanet]

Theoretically all female. 90% probability. We will see.
We are just entering the age at which Marek’s first presents typically, so I am holding my breath for that too.

 

[MaryJanet]

Monday morning has been uplifted by Katie! I was taking a break from the desk and glanced at the run to see Katie deep in a dust hole it's been raining a lot recently, so she's very clever to find and occupy one of the very few dry spots.