100 Days Old! Update

Happy 100th Day of Life! 

Our precious girls are so grown up. We are eagerly checking for eggs each day. They are living in their new chicken tractor that they love and have developed a great routine. Each morning before work I let down the ramp at around 7am they all slide down the ramp and check for any new snack I may have brought them. I check their water and leave them for the day. When I get home for work they are all out sunbathing. The other day Bromley was actually laying on her side with her legs kicked straight out. They have started digging up the dirt and creating little dust bathes to roll around in. 

Bedtime

They've created their own bedtime. At around 7pm every night they all one by one make their way up into the coop. I'd say within a few minutes they are all tucked in for the night. I just have to wait for them to get up in the coop on their roost and then close up the ramp for them. We added a hook on the ramp so that they can't stand on it and open it themselves in the morning. They figured out how to do that really quick!

They Love Their Roost

I've noticed that their roost is very important to them. At first 9 of the 10 girls we had in there would roost and they would kick poor Mara off. She would stand and look at the roost longingly. Eventually they made room for her. It worked out perfectly that then 10 hens fit snug on the roost. They all sleep on the roost, facing the wall. They will not jump off the roost for ANYTHING once they jump up their for the night. I even tried tempting them with worms. I've pushed one off to see how it would react and she was not happy. They really take their roosting seriously. Another thing I have noticed is they roost in the same exact order almost EVERYTIME they all get up there. Weird huh?

Anatomy

Something that has always been interesting to me is seeing how our different breeds grow and develop differently. They each have different features. Our Leghorns have huge combs and the Orpington's are huge. The Easter Eggers have different ears. What I have begin to notice now is differences between chickens of the SAME breed. Some of them have more prominent features than others. For example, our Golden Laced Wyandottes have different combs and different red colors in their feathers. I am a little concerned they might be different genders.  I will be posting side by side photos of some chicken anatomy with my next big update post. My next few posts however, will be about chicken feeding guidelines.

Chicken Feeding

After 100 days of feeding chickens I have learned a lot about what they can and cannot eat. I am still researching all the time though. This is my first time having chickens but I have had many pets and I know all animals have different nutritional needs and tolerances to foods. It might be okay for our bunnies and toxic to our chickens - so I double check everything. My next few posts will be about Chicken Feeding. I hope you enjoy - please feel free to comment on my posts with any of your favorite chicken treats or warnings on foods you know aren't so great for our girls!
My first post of the feeding series is about feeding your hens eggs.

Remember to keep an eye on our Progress Pages to see how our hens are growing:

Progress Pages:

Spider
Meeko
Ayden
Seraphina
Helen
Buff Orpingtons
Brown Leghorns
Silver Laced Wyandottes 
Golden Laced Wyandottes

Rabbits - Flemish Giants
Ducks - Rouen and Cayuga