Birdies turn one! (month, that is)
As an early birthday present, they were finally released into the full space of the chicken house. Up until this point, they were living in a cardboard enclosure to help keep them sheltered and warm. In their first week, they had to be kept between 90-100 degrees. Like newborn babies, they just couldn't regulate their own body temperatures at first. We drop the temperature a little each week. They still have a sheltered area with heat lamps to hide in, but they will need it less and less as they grow more feathers and gain weight. If we ever have chicks in the future we might not need the heat lamp at all because the mother hen will take care of them!
You can see the old cardboard enclosure beyond Roy.
| In the picture above: Roy removed the cardboard one piece at a time. As you can see, thebirds were a little reluctant to give up their old home. They arehuddled in the corner of the last piece of cardboard while the freedomof the chicken house is just on the other side! Here the chicks are exploring their new space! They still need to stay in the chicken house for protection frompredators . . . like my giant house-cat seen below . . . Fortunately, when they're full-grown they will be very capable of protecting themselves from our cats. In fact, it might be the cats who will fear the birds! |  |
Posted by Susan at August 5, 2009 
Categories: Poultry
Tags: keets chicken house roosts chickens chicks guineas
Categories: Poultry
Tags: keets chicken house roosts chickens chicks guineas
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