Hi all, so sorry to read about bear attack, and other members losses and bad news this week..... I kept hoping I'd see a post where the other baby silkies came out of hiding and were found.
Welcome to new member Eclipse 390 - think that means I'm not the newest newbie on here anymore!
We relocated our 'little chicks' from the basement this week, into a small ark, kept in one of the 2 runs off the main coop where our 2 big chickens live. We have a drop down door, so the chick run is sealed off from the main run, the 2 runs are at 90 degrees, so the bigger chickens can see them, but not get to them.
Surprisingly our high strung Leghorn Sylvia is pretty much ignoring them, Pearl our usually placid Plymouth Rock is making all kinds of protest noises and pacing the fenceline. Kept the littlies shut in the ark for a day, and now they are free range in the large run. They are doing lots of clumsy flappy running, but both managed to fly up onto the top of the ark for the first time.
When the big chickens are free ranging while we are outside in the evenings, the little chicks get to move around the garden in this repurposed dog run, with netting for a roof. Lots of stretching, preening and plenty of running at each other, chest bumping (is this about dominance?) and getting to do some scratching and pecking on the lawn.
In this picture I came home from work after a day of massive thunderstorms and heavy rainfall to find standing water in their run, (our ground was already saturated after lots of rain) they were safe inside the enclosed portion of the ark, up on their roost, nice and dry, but it had obviously all been a bit much - when I moved them into the dogpen run for some legstretch pecking time, they both just settled down and took a nap!
Although the Wyandotte, Fern, only hatched a week before the Partridge Rock, Honey, she is much bigger - she's 8 weeks now, and Honey is 7 - seen rapid changes in the amount of baby fluff and little feathers they are both losing as their big feathers grow in. They seem to be doing well, and hopefully by the time we mix the 2 sets together they will all be used to each other.
Anyone have recommendations on this mixing process? Nature Berry Farm where we got the chicks advised to do it at around 3 months of age, so the chicks are big enough to cope with any bullying. The bigger chickens still check them out when they are free ranging in the evenings, Sylvia just glances in passing, Pearl does still pace the fenceline, or the dog run, staring at the chicks and vocalizing. I get the feeling she'd like to inflict some damage!
Welcome to new member Eclipse 390 - think that means I'm not the newest newbie on here anymore!
We relocated our 'little chicks' from the basement this week, into a small ark, kept in one of the 2 runs off the main coop where our 2 big chickens live. We have a drop down door, so the chick run is sealed off from the main run, the 2 runs are at 90 degrees, so the bigger chickens can see them, but not get to them.
Surprisingly our high strung Leghorn Sylvia is pretty much ignoring them, Pearl our usually placid Plymouth Rock is making all kinds of protest noises and pacing the fenceline. Kept the littlies shut in the ark for a day, and now they are free range in the large run. They are doing lots of clumsy flappy running, but both managed to fly up onto the top of the ark for the first time.
When the big chickens are free ranging while we are outside in the evenings, the little chicks get to move around the garden in this repurposed dog run, with netting for a roof. Lots of stretching, preening and plenty of running at each other, chest bumping (is this about dominance?) and getting to do some scratching and pecking on the lawn.
In this picture I came home from work after a day of massive thunderstorms and heavy rainfall to find standing water in their run, (our ground was already saturated after lots of rain) they were safe inside the enclosed portion of the ark, up on their roost, nice and dry, but it had obviously all been a bit much - when I moved them into the dogpen run for some legstretch pecking time, they both just settled down and took a nap!
Although the Wyandotte, Fern, only hatched a week before the Partridge Rock, Honey, she is much bigger - she's 8 weeks now, and Honey is 7 - seen rapid changes in the amount of baby fluff and little feathers they are both losing as their big feathers grow in. They seem to be doing well, and hopefully by the time we mix the 2 sets together they will all be used to each other.
Anyone have recommendations on this mixing process? Nature Berry Farm where we got the chicks advised to do it at around 3 months of age, so the chicks are big enough to cope with any bullying. The bigger chickens still check them out when they are free ranging in the evenings, Sylvia just glances in passing, Pearl does still pace the fenceline, or the dog run, staring at the chicks and vocalizing. I get the feeling she'd like to inflict some damage!
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