Portage River Farm

As you can see, our chicks have not wasted any time. At less than two weeks of age, they are already feathering out, growing their combs and putting away an impressive amount of feed.

The most impressive thing to watch has been the development of their wings. Less than a week ago their wings were little fuzzy flaps no bigger than a postage stamp each.

With each day we have seen long feathers appearing out of nowhere and now they all sport impressive wings that probably span eight or ten inches. They excitedly try the wings out and are able to fly a foot or so with ease even in the confines of the brood box.

Speaking of confining brood boxes. I realized a few days ago that the crowding was getting to an unhealthy level. The birds have gotten large enough that all twenty-six of them are not able to get their heads in the feed tray at the same time. At feeding time the usual quiet pecking degenerated into a chaotic mosh pit as the three or four chicks that were crowded away from the food used their little wings to launch themselves on top of their broodmates.


I remedied that situation two nights ago by staying up and constructing a second brood box. I divided the flock into two groups of thirteen by the unscientific method of selecting the ones that were easiest to catch.

I would have liked to have separated them in a way to get an even distribution of pullets and cockerels but I haven't had the time to try to figure out how to tell them apart yet. I'm sure it involves a careful inspection under the tail but there have been too many other matters of higher priority.

The second photo shows conditions after they had been separated and given much more room to grow.