Chick herd

Chickens enjoy summer watermelon, too!

We ARE still thoroughly outnumbered by chickens around here. The young'uns are doing well; they are about month old now. All 8 are still with us, after a small scare that we'd lost one. This momma hen is doing a good job, and isn't ready to bolt just yet. I gave her a tasty watermelon rind yesterday, and even though she ate MOST of it herself, she did still think to drop some sample bits to the chicks. They had not yet figured out the rind was safe to peck.

WF's afraid that 5 of the 8 might be roosters, but I think it's too early to tell. They do seem to be growing up awfully fast, but that's good. They've mixed with the whole flock for a bit and things have been OK so far.


Older chickens are doing well, with some over-roosterage symptoms beginning. We probably need to get tough pretty soon and, ah, process one or both of the roosters, but there's a bit of emotional resistance to that. It's hard when they're so much more "individual" than the hens. We've got saddles on some of the "favorite" hens, but one still got a big gash in her side last week, likely from elder rooster's spurs. Yikes. She is recovering OK. I still do trust him around people.

A hen DID peck my toes the other day, but that's just because I got a little crazy and painted my toenails for the wedding (first time in YEARS). Gotta be careful with this primping: it apparently makes me look more edible!