Chicks_01022006  The chicks are growing by leaps and bounds. The Cornish Roasters have doubled in size and already weigh a pound. The laying hens and specialty breeds have also doubled in size but are still around 5 ounces.

This weeks cold weather, however, took its toll and we lost another Buff Orpington chick. All the chicks are growing wing feathers and they love to stretch their wings. Unfortunately this chick flew up and over the draft shield surrounding the chicks and their food and water and spent the night out in the cold of the brooder house. We found it in the morning, but could not revive it enough to help it last.

In order to prevent this from happening again–all the chicks seem to love to fly up and perch on top of the draft shield once I removed the boards I place there to keep the warmth in– we decided to remove the draft shields altogether and let the chicks have a much larger area of the brooder house floor.

Chicks_04022006 This is weeks earlier than we usually do such a thing, but I didn’t want to think of another chick being separated in such a way. The remaining chicks passed the night in the new situation just fine however, and everyone seemed bright and alert this morning. But I am keeping a closer watch on them due to the temperatures outside. Fortunately we should be getting a spell of warmer, rainy weather and our early spring should restart soon.

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