The chicks have been with us a week

It’s only been a week since we bought the chicks home but I am sure they have grown. Their combs seem bigger too. They are always in the feed dishes and are getting more used to me.

The chicks have grown in a week

Peaches is getting quite brave

If I am still Peaches will come quite close to me now but Barley is still quite skittish. It’s not bad for a week though. They are getting quite used to having the bigger space now that I let them have half the run from morning until a couple of hours before bedtime.

Since I started giving the flubenvet in mash every morning the chicks have cottoned on to this “treat”. They run to greet me along side the main flock and run up towards the patio area as I approach the gate. They love the mash and always finish it.

I treated all the girls last night with the red mite powder as well as sprinkling it in all their dust bath areas. I put the main flock to bed in the dog kennel at half past ten last night and the chicks into their little coop.

I let all the girls out at five o’clock this morning and they all looked good. I think they must have been relieved to get a good nights sleep and I am amazed how well they all look apart from Ambers poor swollen face.

Sparkle laid her egg for the fourth day in a row and they all have red combs apart from Amber. Amber is her normal self in every way apart from her swollen face but it is looking a bit better.

I haven’t found any more worms (only two in total) so think that I may have nipped that in the bud just as it began.

Although there seemed an awful lot of red mite in the coop I know that they breed very quickly. I think perhaps the daily dust baths have helped the girls too but I am amazed how well they all look. They all have bright red combs and those that are laying are still laying and they not showing any sign of being off colour which I am thankful for.

The other mini drama today was when I checked on them after lunch and discovered one of the chicks in with the big girls. It later became apparent that she had squeezed under the gate. The girls would run at her and she would run away cheeping. They didn’t peck at her but she was clearly not happy and wanted to get back into her side.

She would run towards the girls, get scared and run towards me holding the gate open for her, get scared again and run back towards the girls. I decided to distract the girls with sunflower hearts and at that moment my husband came to see what was going on. Between us we shooed her back in to her own side.

I then got a spade and banked the soil up against the gate. Another lesson learned, I must keep an eye on the soil levels around the gates.

All in all I think we are moving forward okay. We are overcoming the problems and the flock seem happy.