My 6 chicks are getting pretty big. They have been hopping up and perching on the edge of their giant box. I am starting to plan out how to move them outside.
They are still too young to go with the adults, but they have their feathers in mostly, and it’s getting warmer now. I have an extra room in the chicken house that I’ve been using for storage – that is now getting cleaned out and we’ll be expanding that this summer to make room for all the newbies. I think we are going to put the babies in there early, possibly next weekend if we can get it ready in time. We’ll have to time the letting-out of everyone to keep the big chickens away from the little chickens, but it’s do-able. I need to also make some kind of small fenced-in area for the babies for awhile, so they have somewhere to go during the day. I need to get them outside soon because they are getting large and trying to escape the box, and they are making the room they are in very dusty, and also we have new baby chicks coming next week – AND, because this guy has started crowing:
It’s a very strange sound, because he’s not fully grown. The first time I heard it, last week (when he was only 5 weeks old), I was afraid one of them was hurt – I ran into the room and they were all fine. I sat for a minute to see if they would make the noise again, and he made the noise – it’s not a full on “cock-a-doodle-doo” crow, but more like a hoarse “eee-awww” noise. It’s pretty cute. I’d like to get him outside because we are starting to be able to hear his crow across the house. I hope at least a few of these babies are hens.
Eee-awww? Sure it’s not part donkey?
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ok, maybe more of an “Aww-Aww!” noise. 😀 It’s definitely not part donkey.
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How old are they now?
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They are 6 weeks old now.
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Mine are a little over a week old. Or, I’ve had them for a week anyway. How old do you consider old enough to mix with the adults?
I ask because we bought the ones we have last weekend at the farm supply store but we have more coming in another 3 weeks. I am wondering how soon will be safe to mix the two batches? There will be a 4 week age difference.
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I’m definitely not an expert, so I’m not sure what the best age is – I have my 6 week olds and then some more coming next week which will be a day or two old when I get them. For mine I’m going to keep them apart for awhile because I think the big babies will be large enough to kill the little babies – not sure if they would, but they would be capable. Mine are going to be 7 weeks old compared to the 2-day old chicks I’m getting. You may be able to mix your two batches when you get the new ones – you could put them together and watch carefully, and if they get along they’ll probably be ok, and if not be ready to move one batch to a different spot. Like I said, I’m definitely not an expert – if you haven’t checked it out yet, this website has a lot of people who have a lot more information and may be really helpful to you – http://www.backyardchickens.com/ That’s where I’ve learned a whole lot – it’s full of forums of people who have had chickens for awhile, and some who are newbies. I still consider myself a newbie.
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