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The chicks from the incubator are approx.10 days and are settling well, now they are in the broody pen in the shed. Twice a day I give them a small handful of dandelion leaves and goose grass. They have gone from being terrified of it to almost grabbing it from my hand. Their back feathers are just beginning to develop. Once their breast feathers come through I should be able to identify the cockerels.
The broody hen's chicks are just a week old, they have their wing feathers and a few tail feathers. I waste so much time watching them, they run to her call, hide between her feathers and peep out and rest or ride on her back. Utterly delightful !
it is a joy to watch a hen with her brood :)
ReplyDeletehow will you identify the cockerels?... I'm still at the 'waiting until they crow' stage of identification :)
Great time wasteres :) Although by watching her I am trying to relate her behaviour to how I care for the ones in the brooder.eg I am amazed how little time the chicks spend under her to keep warm and how tough they are, so from first light until when the broody takes her's off to bed I keep the shed door open so the other chicks have plenty of air. A couple of times over the weekend I even turned their lamp off for the odd hour or so when the sun was shining directly into the shed.They are also getting a couple of handful of greens twice a day and love the occassional mealworm....that does create chaos mind :)
ReplyDeleteRe: Cockerels as soon as the breast feathers are through the cockerels will have a varying number of black feathers. This is for Partridge Welsummer, I'm not sure how it relates to Silver Duckwing.
As far as the Indian Game crosses go, as they are for meat I'll keep them all and most likely seperate the sexes at a later date if necessary.