Babys grow up

The last 3 days have been interesting to watch. The mommy hen has been getting on the roost and running everyone else off and then strutting back and forth, she calls the baby's to get up on the roost. If this hen had on boots and a campaign hat you would think she was a drill instructor. So, tonight the 2 biggest chicklets made it up to the roost. The third is in the nest with the helper mom trying to get the courage to fly up on the roost.

The sad and the funny

First the sad news. The little guy, the chicklet that was smaller then the rest was lost last week. I heard the mommy hen scream and by the time I got out there, no sign of em. I figure a hawk came in and snatched him before anyone knew what was up.

Here's to the little guy
Pass a pint around
If not for the little folks
Giants would abound

Ok, on to the funny, as you can see in the picture, the hens are acting goofy tonight. A giant set up house keeping, she doesn't know shes moving tomorrow, gona need a truck to move all her stuff. Then the babies settled in for the night with the first warm body they found, gona be chilly tonight. Then the mommy hen and helper mommy climbed in because the babies were in there. Can someone tell me why one of them couldn't just move over, hmmm. These chickens are funny creatures, no doubt.

The baby chicks, chicklets, are grow quickly and its no small wonder either. When food arrives, they are like pigs running to the feed trough. They jostle each other out of the way and pig out. Then the greedy older hens come to see what the commotion is and decide they are hungry also, and join in pushing the chicklets out of the way. Sharks would be proud of the feeding frenzy that ensues.

As you can see from the picture, the dark chicklets are growing very fast. They look like a cross of Jersy Giant and Astrolorp. They Jiants are a large framed bird and the astrolorps grow fast, so we get a large fast growing chicklet. The lit ones are Buckeyes, a slow growing chicken with utility background. They littlest one gamely struggles to hold his own and pushes his way in to eat.