Chicks - Grow With Me - 2 to 4 Weeks
At 2 weeks you can see their wing feathers starting to develop. Excuse the bucket, but chicks in the house means lots of little messes! It was easier to keep the bucket out all the time :)
It was also at this stage we introduced some sand into their brooder. The first thing Buffy did? Have a dust bath. At first Penguin just watched, but then both were rolling around in the sand.
Their feeder got changed to a plastic trough, they eat a lot more that you think! We filled the trough with dry crumble and a smaller dish with wet crumble. The heat mat was covered with a small towel so the chicks would not get into direct contact with it. They still slept under the heat mat every night.
Buffy at roughly the same age. See the feathering on the feet, characteristic of Pekins. Buffy's legs were more delicate looking, we were still hoping at least this one would be a girl.
At this age they are incredibly inquisitive and by the third week, they were trying their hardest to jump out of the brooder to be with us and to explore the house. We had to keep a net over the brooder, but we knew, as they grew so quickly, that this would only be temporary.
So we ended up getting this!
A pet cage for about $80 off Ebay. Now the chicks have plenty of room to run around and they get to see what is going on around them. We placed them next to the window so they got to see out into the garden and see the hens. They enjoyed the sunshine, sunbathing where they could. The only problem was that they could still squeeze through the bars if they wanted to. So we just put up some cardboard around the base. That was enough to deter them.
It was also at the 3 week mark that we started taking them outside on warm days, watched over carefully by us of course! Both of them showed great interest in dust bathing. They spent most of their time outside bathing. We had to ensure that the other hens didn't show too much interest in the chicks, they are not known for being all that gentle.
All this bathing is probably because they are starting to lose their baby down and grow feathers. I know because the house has lots of little downy feathers flying around all over the place.
Penguin's wing feathers have grown until they touch the little knob of a tail (their little tails are so cute! Especially when they shake them). You can see new feathers emerging from their backs.
At 4 weeks, even more feathers are starting to emerge. Look at the cute little tail! Buffy's feet look even more feathered, looking like fluffy slippers. I call this the start of their teenage years, since they look gawky and awkward at this age. Still no clue to their gender. Buffy's comb is still small and yellow, a sign that Pekins are boys are a pink tinge to the comb. Araucana's have small combs anyway, so all we have to look for is a pink tinge to it, but Araucana's are notoriously hard to sex when they are young.
So that is the first month of Penguin and Buffy. They grow amazingly fast and be prepared to change brooder size quickly as they grow. They are also very inquisitive and love to interact with us, lots of lap time during the day :)
Watch the next post to see them in their second month, their teenager years! So be prepared for some gawky photos!
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