We have had the chicks two weeks now, although they will be three weeks on Sunday, August 16 and Monday, August 17. The Cornish Cross are almost ready to go outside, but we are going to have a heat wave this weekend and into next week, so we have to wait until that passes before they go outside. They have no true way to regulate their body temps and they are prone to heat stroke on those hot days. By next Friday, they will be outside until they are old enough to process.
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The other chicks look so tiny in comparison. But they are only a day or two younger. We lost one of the Blue Plymouth. She didn't eat or drink very well. It happens. We have had more problems with that this year I think due to the overload on the hatcheries trying to ensure that they are getting enough chicks out. It is not uncommon for them to sell those chicks that are not as healthy as they could/should be. Unfortunately, that's what happens when people start panic purchasing livestock. The remaining 14 seem to be doing okay.
We did do a bit of nursing on one of the Blue Plymouth yesterday after it got tangled in one of the threads on the flooring. We attempt to keep a close watch on them, but things happen from time to time. Thankfully, we seem to have caught it soon enough and after some extra attention, it perked back up and appears to be eating and doing fine now. I put an ankle bracelet on it so that I can keep an extra eye on how it is doing. I'll cut off the band in a day or two to let it blend back into the group. She is the gray chick in the first column, third down and bottom, of photos below
Two weeks in, and today was transition into shavings day. New process is always a big transition for little chicks, but they have all settled into the new environment after a few moments of distress, back to EPS (eating, pooping and sleeping).
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