May 19, Day 18

Lordy, it's hot today. And dry. Hilda and I have been out in the garden, melting in the 90 degree heat. The girls are keeping cool in the garage. I had a plan for setting up a little enclosure for them under one of the oak trees if they got too hot, but this turned out not to be necessary.

We started giving them bits of grass and chickweed yesterday, more for their entertainment than nutrition. If they were being raised by a free-ranging mama chicken, they'd be eating all sorts of things by now. We are less experienced, and I hesitate to stray too far from the prepared chick feed.

Sara suspiciously eyes a bit of chickweed

It took awhile for the chicks to eat the grass. One chick would grab a blade and run off for a secluded spot to examine it more closely. Of course, there are no secluded spots in the box, so as soon as she dropped it, another chick would pick it up. I saw Sara and Julia pass a bit of chickweed back and forth several times. Once two chicks had a little tug of war. The run, drop, swipe, run, drop, swipe scenario was far more common, however.

Mine! The chickweed is mine! (Chick on right)

After all the excitement of the vegetation, the chicks had to take a little nap. They sleep flat on their bellies, chin on the ground, with their wings a bit out to the sides. The first morning we thought they were all dead, but we've gotten used to this peculiar posture. No one has slept on the perch yet as far as we know.

Resting Dominique (left) with wings out.

The chicks are very close to being able to fly out of the box. One of the chicks has learned to stand on top of the feeder.

Ingrid surveys her territory

Everyone seems to be doing well. They look more like chickens all the time. 
Here are pictures of Hilda and me to give you an idea of how big the chickens are:

Hard to imagine today that I needed a heavy flannel
 shirt yesterday moring

The Brahma's feet are getting quite feathery

Construction on the chicken coop begins soon. Terry and I went to Menard's for the first time today. We picked up the door, two windows and a bunch of hardware. He'll go back tomorrow for the siding and 2x4s. If we can build a garage without getting a divorce, I expect we can get through a coop.