The girls will be five weeks old tomorrow. They are growing and changing every day. We have let them have a treat or two along the way, and it was a success. They love the cantaloupe, I am not sure if it is more the fun of chasing each other or the fruit itself. On occasion we have put some grass in the pen for them to play with also. When they get bored they start picking on each other so the treats are more to keep them busy and happy. We have made sure not to give them enough that it would keep them from eating their normal chick starter. We are back to using newspaper until we can get them in the big girl house and they love to scratch and tear it to shreds. Sometimes a little piece of paper is enough to start a game of tag.
We noticed that they were having trouble getting their heads into the feeder to eat. Like I said they are growing every day. So until we could get somewhere to purchase adult feeders we decided to try taking the top off of the chick feeders. That was a mistake. They immediately started scratching it and throwing it everywhere. One girl decided this would be a great place to take a bath. I kept taking her out of the feeder but she would climb right back in to dust bathe again. OK, so maybe they need a tub of sand to bathe in. As soon as I put the sand tub in the pen they all immediately started eating it, no bath, just eat. Looney birds, bathe in the food and eat the sand.
There are a couple of girls that are behind on growth and feathering but are really starting to catch up. Zelda is a beautiful bird and was one of the first to mature. Some of the girls are just comical and will always be the first to try new things. It has been fun learning the different sounds they make and what they mean. It is kind of like a baby's cry, there is a different sound for different things.
Here are some pictures. (The paper towel roll was placed in the pen to show how big they are getting.)
