The Chicken Diaries - Week 4

I look forward to Mondays, because it means I can pop the chickens on the scales again!

Bubbles has put on a healthy 46g! However, I am having suspicions that Bubbles is a boy rather than a girl - more on that later.

Cacciatore has put on 47g - very similar to Bubbles. However, unlike Bubbles, I think Cacciatore is a hen.

Mary II has done well and put on a whopping 55g. I wonder if her weight gain will slow from now. She has been eating like a trooper, but she still refuses to eat from my hand. She's so funny - she is such a dobber. If one of the chicks is sitting on the edge of the box or on top of the cover, she will stand there chirping loudly. She also chirps loudly when she's got no food. I could have my hand in the box, with feed in my hand and everyone except her is eating out of my hand and she will stand at the feed box and chirp loudly and indignantly and won't stop until I put food into her feed box.

Spot is still the biggest and put on 46g - which seems to be a decent number. I also suspect that Spot is a boy.

They are quickly outgrowing their box, and I am looking forward to moving them outside where they will have more room to grow and forage. They are still spilling their feed EVERYWHERE and I tried to make this contraption out of a takeaway container partially sticking into the box to try to reduce the loss of feed, but it's not working that well. However it does hold a decent amount of food, so at least there is more for them to eat, compared to the small bowl they were eating out of before.

Over the past week, I have noticed a few things that make me think that Bubbles and Spot are boys.

1. Tail development and feathering.

Apparently girls feather faster than boys and you can see that in the pictures. Mary is very well feathered despite being the youngest. Also, Cacciatore has a longer tail and had feathers between her wings on her back before her siblings, Spot and Bubbles. I took some pictures here to show you the difference in their tail lengths.

You could argue that Mary has a short tufty tail like the "boys" but when you compare those from the same hatch, you can see they are clearly different.

2. Size

Bubbles has a big head, and so does Spot. However, it could be just their down because now that Spot's switching over to feathers now, his head looks a little smaller in proportion than before. Spot and Bubbles are also the two largest chicks. Also the "boys" had thicker legs than the "girls" though that may have been because they were also larger.

Last night was the first time I took their light away and left them without their heat lamp. They seemed to do very well without it, though it was a warm evening. My chicks are growing up!