They grow up so fast

I’ve lost track of all the sets of chicks. There are around five that are almost indistinguishable from grownup chickens, the “big chicks”.

Overnight, they are all legs and big bodies. If I don’t look twice, they look full grown. These have all graduated to living in the “big coop”, although I’m still plucking at least one out of the tree every night. No, not the coop! They aren’t nice to me in there!

Hello, I’m a Cheeks junior!

The “middle chicks” are still distinct – they are the five that Ghost and Velvet are raising. They are perching pros, but still attached to their mamas, who have a nice bond with each other. Once they ditch their moms, they’re easier to lose track of.

Then there are the “little chicks”. They had a good week living in the greenhouse undisturbed, but naturally, they grew discontented with the daily manual transfer to and from in a box, and one morning, there was an escape.

You can’t put the chickens back in the box, so at that point, they were out in the crowd. What is adorable, is that she led them through the fence into Silkie land, where she stays with them in the taller brush. She remembers where she lived.

Although the Silkies and big chickens generally don’t mix, the fence is permeable. When the “big chicks” were tiny, they learned how to go under it in one spot there’s a three inch gap. They remembered, even as they got bigger, and still go to the spot, poke their heads under, and slither through. So they come and go, very nosy, have to see everything for themselves. I think this Silkie mom is using the same spot. Sometimes she seems to get stuck inside.

These little ones just started perching practice too!