Week #2 with the Freedom Rangers! Although, personally I think it feels like we should be at week #4 or something with these birds... You mean I've really only had these chicks for two weeks!?!? Goodness me, how time crawls when you're raising a meat animal.
But time aside, things are still going swimmingly with them. You'll notice in the pictures that they are feathering out pretty quickly now which is amusing to see, but also means that they have begun flying out of the brooder at odd intervals during the day. Great. Milking time rolls around and I glance over my shoulder only to see a pint-sized ball of feathers pecking at the humming vacuum pump that gives power to my beloved milking machine. Darn chicken. I put it back only to find another infiltrator of the feathered race three minutes later. Grrrr, this means war!
Being the tactical warfare expert that I am (NOT), I -- uh -- haven't done anything about this invasion yet. I'm still listening to Beethoven's 5th Symphony in my head as I walk past the brooder. I suppose if I was a smart person I would simply reverse the brooder box so that the high wall was facing out and the short wall (which they're flying over) is facing the barn siding. But I guess I'm not that smart, or I would have done it already.
The birds are also getting some astoundingly voracious appetites! They'll eat anything you put in there and they'll eat it fast. Watch your fingers, folks. STILL no sprouts started!!! But at the rate the Freedom Rangers are growing and eating, I'm fixin' to be forced into starting the sprouts. It's been a tense week of trying to find a new supplier for some high quality alfalfa hay, so the money for the grain and trays for the sprouts is momentarily being held back in case I need it for hay.
And yes, I should have put this little chick in some green grass for these shots to give it a bit more contrast. But my camera batteries wouldn't last long enough to find any green grass. ;) So bear with me this week.
I love the light colored eyes on these birds. Also thanks, due to your advice my sprouts are up and running.
ReplyDeleteI have FR going on 11 weeks old now. I am SO ready to get them all butchered as soon as I can. But they seem to be slow growing birds. They are out all day on grass, then I put them in their little pen at night and feed them. I will start butchering the bigger birds in the next few weeks. They are good chickens. I like them. But not 50 of them! Good luck with yours.
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