Raising Baby Chicks: 3 Weeks Old

I didn't get to taking photos of them at 3 weeks (and a day) in good time -- had a lot going on -- so it was dark by the time I got to it, and I just kept them in the basement.  So these won't be the best pictures we've had.  They were taken 3/13/14.  The ones we'd had earlier in the week were far better, I decided I'd make more effort for the 4-week pictures.

Cinnamon Queen and Barred Rock.  I thought I might just have them stand on the insulation sheet and pose in front of the bulletin board.

That didn't go so well.  Not because of what's pictured here, which I've gotten used to cleaning up on such occasions, but because they just wanted to wander so much, and then one of them discovered that the edge of the styrofoam sheeting could break off!  Ooh, excitement!  She acted like she was going to eat it.  I thought that was probably not the best dietary decision, so we relocated to the train table.

Since then I've learned that chickens are notorious for loving to eat styrofoam.  Go figure.

They were about as cooperative as they've always been for group photos.  Which is mostly not at all.

At least you can get an idea of how their feathering is coming along.

Left to right:  Silver-laced Wyandotte, Barred Rock, Cinnamon Queen.

Too much flash, sorry.  Someday I need to learn how to take pictures.

Silver-laced Wyandotte

Cinnamon Queen and Barred Rock.  

Why did the chicken cross the road?

In this case, it was to investigate the box on the other side.

They also liked the edge of the table for perching.

And stretching.

Their heads were starting to look different.  Eyes and ears getting different coloring around them, beaks and combs also gradually changing, along with their feathering.

The Rocks seem to be the boldest explorers so far. 

You can just about see her thinking, "Well, if she can do it, I can, too!"

And in what my grandma would say was "a jiffy," they were all three on the box.

I put them back down b/c I didn't want them making a mess of the cardboard box.  The train table is easy to clean.  They seemed kind of tired of pictures, though.  Or maybe that was me. :)

One last one.  Their feet are so interesting and odd at once, aren't they?


For more about our chicken experience, follow this link, or click on the "CHICKENS" tab at the top of the page.