The girls are growing up, they are really settling in with unique personalities and are so much fun. They are 14 1/2 weeks old now. It seems like just yesterday they were these cute little balls of down and now they are almost full grown Hens! It is a full time job trying to be the dominant chicken when there is no rooster to take on the position.
While you do not need a rooster to get eggs, you do need a rooster to rule the roost. I am sure that in time we will get a rooster so that we can hatch more chickens. Flocks really do have a whole different way of life when there is a male around and the girls will be in for a rude awakening when that happens. Roosters often get a bad reputation and people seem to always just think of them as mean. Not always the case. If you are social with him and let him know you are the dominant male (yes, even if you are a female) he will learn respect. The wonderful thing about roosters is that they take care of the girls. You will often notice him letting them eat first, keeping peace between argumentative females, being the protector and man of the coop. Until the day comes that we decide to add a rooster to our flock, we will just continue to fill the position ourselves, the girls seem to respect the fact for now.
The nesting boxes are built and installed into the coop. The girls have been taking turns getting on the landing bars and being the tallest chicken of the land. We have not put any litter into the nests yet, we may do that tomorrow when we clean the coop. I don't want them to think it is a place to sleep and for now they have no idea what will be happening in those boxes in about six weeks or so.
The fan and the frozen bottles of water have been well received lately as the temps have climbed. The girls learned pretty quickly that nestling in next to the bottles brought lovely relief from the heat. Making sure that they are more comfortable also cuts down on the pecking of each other and general fighting and arguing that goes on when one is irritable. The kids also make it a daily routine to give the girls treats of some sort. Since they are not free ranged the kids try to bring clover and other greenery to the run. Sometimes they get fruit like grapes or watermelon. On occasion they get a stray worm or butterfly and that makes them happy too. We planted sunflowers in a row next to the run. We hope that it will bring some shade as they grow. The girls just see the pretty green stalks growing and want to eat them as is.
We ordered food grade Diatomaceous Earth and picked it up yesterday. We are excited to get started using this stuff. Tomorrow when we clean the coop we will sprinkle it down before putting in the new litter. We will add some in to the dirt and sand where the girls take a dust bath. We will sprinkle it around the run and add some to their food. It is a great dewormer, it will help keep the girls free from parasites like mites and lice, and it will cut down on the smell which helps eliminate flies. The fact that it is organic and works in a physical manner instead of chemical, it is safe for the chickens and for the kids. We will also be using it with the dogs. I may use it sparingly in the garden as well. It is an organic pesticide but the thing is that it is harmful to the good things like bees too so I will have to be very careful. Our hopes are to do as little chemical anything as possible, this is just safer for all the animals, kids and we would rather not ingest chemicals with our vegetables.
Here are a few pics of the girls of Daniel's Flock....
