Chicks - Week 4

I cannot believe that we’ve had the chicks for 4 weeks.  I say this every week, and I’ll say it again: they are growing like crazy!!!   I swear, you can WATCH them get bigger.

They are real pigs, too.  They eat more than my little porker used to eat.  Right now, we are going through 2 cups of food every two days.  Mind you, I have been giving them pieces of bread, stale bran flakes we had in the cupboard for a while, and oatmeal.

We have turned the heat lamp down to 75 right now.  It is still cold outside, so there has been no progress on the chicken coop.  Todd cannot paint when it’s only 35 degrees outside.  Not to mention he freezes in the garage.

The new rabbit water bottle is working out great!  The chicks took to the water bottle within a few hours.  Now, they go there to get their water, and we don’t have to worry about droppings and messy water every day.  Right now, the 32 oz. waterer lasts 2 – 3 days before needing refilled.  We are considering buying another one that is larger (64 oz.)

At this point, the chicks are getting so big and eating so much that they are pooping ALL the time.  Their area starts to smell after 3 days with no new bedding.  I turn their bedding after 2 days and start fresh every 5-7 days.  Luckily, it’s not a lot of work.  It takes about 5 minutes.  I put the chicks in their old small container while I change out their bedding.  Lana likes to smell them.  I try to remind myself of all the fertile soil we will have from all of this bedding!

I’ve decided NOT to include the price of the chicken coop into raising chickens.  We plan on having this chicken coop for the rest of our chicken-rearing years (aka the rest of our lives!) 

Don’t tell the others, but Fluffanutter is still my favorite.  She is the one that is always willing to perch on my hand and then jump on my shoulder.  She is the friendliest of the bunch.  I still try to handle each of them at least once a day.

Runt

Fluff

Butch (she's the biggest and the most dominant)

I still have no clue what breed these chickens are.  I am anxious to see how many eggs they lay.  The only additional cost that we’ve incurred on the chicks is $3.99 for the waterer. 

This brings the cost of raising the chicks up to:  $28.94