Nicole M. Miller

It’s been a while since I’ve done some photos and an update on the flock — and I hardly even recognize them from day to day. They seem to have doubled overnight and tripled in food consumption. I’m pretty sure their 2-foot by 4-foot tank brooder won’t contain them much longer. They already have attempted to escape but are fat enough to where they can’t fit through the wires of the cage lid. Hawkeye (Amauracana) is the most massive of the bunch — with wild feather coloring that goes each and every way. She’ll be a big girl for sure. The molting process has been hilarious. They went from fluffy...

The girls continue to grow, losing their down feathers for their real feathers. They are a bit scruffy looking and I’m hoping the attitudes accompanying this “molting stage” are fleeting too. They are happiest when we’ve tossed in some fresh-picked greens: Little Goldie is one of the sweetest and most docile: We’ve dubbed the little California Grey as “Gandolf.” It fits her, don’t you think? Penguin is now my favorite, since nearly all but her charge me when I reach into the brooder. They’ve grown so much in the past ten days… As a reminder… This was day one: Oh how the days go by… Always, the has-been rodeo queen...

We’ve officially had our brooder and our girls a week now and I have to say — I didn’t realize how much fun these chicks would be. The entertainment is endless. We did “class photos” to show their growth. Their personalities have really come out and it’s fascinating. Blondie is one of the ring leaders and yet one of the sweetest ones to hold. Her wings are coming in well and she’s been test flapping a lot. Foghorn Leghorn lives up to the reputation of her breed – she’s the most dominant and she’s also the best flier so far. MaryKate (and her twin, Ashley) are notorious for chasing the...

Day four of chick raising came with a surprise — after we finessed a cage/lid that was both secure and removable, we figured our brooder was set. Then we came home to find our power out. Thus, the heat lamp was out. The chicks require an environment of 90 degrees or they risk getting sick. We took the temperature and knew we needed to improvise. So we set the tank up on buckets next to the gas range, fired it up…. and well we didn’t cook the chicks but it did raise the temperature enough. The girls are getting their tail feathers and more developed wing feathers. They just grow...

After picking up chicks on our date night, my husband and I have been making them more at home and settling into routines. And then we might have gone and picked up some new chicks… 🙂 The following are Black Astralorp, Wellsummer, California Grey and Black Sex Link: Sadly, our sweet little “Sleepy” suddenly stopped eating and drinking. We noticed her sleeping far too much and started trying to get her to drink and eat by hand. We mixed sugar and water and she drank some and perked up. Figuring there was something at the feed store that might help, we left her and her flock but by the time...