On to week 3! Click here to read about Week 1 and Week 2 of our meat chicken raising experience.
They are still growing fast and their feathers are filling in a bit more. We have moved them outdoors and changed their feed from chick starter to a flock raiser. They are still fun to watch jump and run around, and every once in a while they make a “big chicken” noise. 🙂
Not so cute anymore.
For this picture on day 18 I tried to pick out the biggest one and the littlest one. The one standing in the back weighed 11.4 oz. and the bigger one sitting down weighed 18.4 oz. What a huge difference considering they hatched the same day and arrived at our house all looking identical. From everything I’ve read the small one is a female and the big one a male. That explains why the roosters are more expensive from the hatchery. The male kept plopping down and trying to sleep, the little female was more active and alert.
We built them a bigger pen so they can be moved around on the lawn and always have grass to eat. The girls painted it and I thought it turned out cute!
They love having more room!
Well, so far so good! We still have 10 healthy growing chickens. I’m glad they are outside now and not in the shop, (they were getting a little crowded and allot STINKY!).
Here is the link to Week 4
You were right, not so cute. LOL
I love their pen 🙂
Your chickens look so good! We raised some earlier this year and I totally agree with the smell, hahaha! We had ours downstairs in the basement until we could move ours outside. I love the outside pen you guys built! It’s perfect for them! Good luck with them and thanks for sharing at the Homeacre Hop!
Mary
http://www.homegrownonthehill.blogspot.com
Thanks Mary! They are super stinky little buggers!!
Wonderful blog, Grace. The pictures are great, your ideas are great and it is beautifully done. Don’t let school life keep you from keeping it!!!
Oh Gaga! You are so kind…:) Glad you came by for a visit!
I would love to learn more about this outdoor pen you guys made. Very intriguing! We have tossed around the idea of chickens for years and after reading your blog we are WAY closer to just doing it! Thanks for all the great info.
Nice pen! Good to see you use hardware cloth and not chicken wire. And painting it should help it last. I designed and built a PVC pen with a secure metal enclosed house to put the chickens in at night – See http://www.raisingbackyardchickens101.com/chicken-tractor-plans.html I have chicken wire but am considering hardware cloth on the sides – my concern is a neighbor dog that might stop by in the day time. We usually are around during the day however.