How they've grown!

First morning in their new coop!

I have been busy this week putting together a new chicken coop for my little chickens. The once tiny chicks are now feathered and ready to be outside, if still only half-grown.  I was more than ready to get them out of the cabin.  By the time they are this size they are already masters at kicking bedding out of their pen and creating a mess.

The Rhode Island Red girls look pretty much the same, though one has been the "bossy hen" since she was 2 days old.  The black sex-links are different enough to tell apart.  They are a cross between a Rhode Island Red and a barred rock hen. You can see that one has a reddish "bib." Another has a reddish "cape," and the third has almost no red.at all.  The Rhode Island reds are a lot bigger than the black ones, and I'm sure that's not because the reds are a week older than the black chicks.  The black chickens are going to be medium-sized hens and the reds will be large.

So far, the young ones haven't figured out how to go up their ramp to reach the nice chicken house that is complete with nesting boxes and a roosting perch. They seem to love their extra space, and one has already found a worm this morning.  Worms are like treasures to chickens.  Whenever one finds a worm, the others all try to steal the precious worm from her.  This results in chicken mayhem, with five chicks racing after the chicken with the worm while that one is desperately trying to keep the worm for herself.  This morning the winner put herself into a corner to keep the others away while she gobbled the worm.