The girls first venture outside

Sat, 3/20/2010

The chicks are about 2-1/2 weeks old now, and growing fast! Gone are those cute little down covered fuzz-balls; these girls are serious adolescents! As you can see from the photos, they are feathering out nicely, even growing their tail feathers. And they have discovered - like Orville & Wilbur - the joy of short term flight.

Today was a gorgeous first day of Spring, with temps in the high 70's. No better time to introduce the brood to the great outdoors! I bundled them into a cardboard box and took them out to one of the fallow raised beds. The girls were in shock! "Hey, what happened to our nice little spa?" "Where's the heat lamp?" Where's the Room Service?"  They stood motionless for several minutes. Maybe it was the bright sunlight... Eventually Dixie wandered to the edge and hopped down onto the gravel walkway [a shady spot] and the others followed. A movement in the rocks grabbed their attention,,, and that's when they discovered.... BUGS! The lightbulb went on, and suddenly they were pecking like crazy, nabbing tasty little insects, rolly pollys, anything small that moved. The great fun for me happened when I dug up a small earthworm. I dropped it into the middle of them. Janie grabbed it, and it was a furious game of keep-away! She was running all over, with the others trying to steal her prize. Eventually Geneva got a hold, and the worm became the center of a serious tug of war. I can only assume the worm got the worst of it!