Week Old Peeps and a Few Newbies...

Our peeps are now a week plus a few days old.  Looking at them throughout the week, you would think that they haven't grown or changed much.  However, I brought home some day old Australorps to add to the flock, and the difference between the week olds and newbies is remarkable.  The week old chicks are starting to feather, they are considerably larger and a lot more active.  The newbies spend more time under the light and sleep quite a bit more.  It is amazing how fast they grow!

A week old Ameraucana next to a day old Australorp...
these girls get big fast!

A little bit about Australorps: they are the Australian take on the Orpington (get it...Austral + Orps), and they are HUGE!!!  These have long been one of my favorite heritage breeds, but I have never been able to get any where I live without ordering them direct.  A new farm store opened by us and they brought some Australorps in, and I immediately took twelve.  These lay brown eggs, hens can be up to 8 pounds (which is very large), they are very cold hardy - which is really important in Utah, and they are very docile - so they should be great around the kids.  My farmhands want to keep one of the Australorps here at the house and have they decided she will be named Barbie (short for Barbosa - what is it with these boys and pirate names for chickens?  Arrrggghhh!).  I thought it was fitting to name the fullest figured breed of chicken Barbie...just to shake up the stereotype, so name approved!

Australorps...they already have personalities.

With twenty-four chicks peeping, the nursery is a bit noisy and a lot more messy.  We have to stay a bit more on top of the water and food (water refills about 3 times a day, food twice a day), and change the litter more often (2-3 times a week).  Rotating about 24-30 chickens into and out of our flock every year will give us chickens that produce a lot of eggs and enough meat for the year.  This fall, the oldest group (2-3 year-olds) will be rotated to meat birds.  It's the cycle and nature of the chicken's life.  I am still a little apprehensive, but it is the best method for keeping the flock healthy, keeping the cost effective, and making sure that nothing goes to waste.  It is a terrible thing to have to kill an entire flock because disease wasn't kept in check by rotating through the birds.  I dread having this happen, so this is the reality I am facing.  I feel as long as I rotate them with gratitude and respect for the life of the chickens, this will be okay.  Still, I dread rotation day, and as I look at these little balls of fluff, the thought is in the back of my mind that they will one day face the stock pot.  If you are raising a small flock, rotation isn't so much of an issue if things are kept pristinely clean, the birds are completely free range, and the flock is smaller than about six birds.  Any flock larger than six or if your birds aren't able to range all day, rotation needs to be considered.

Gold Sex Link

For right now, they are perfect little peeps, hopping, running, chirping, and entertaining.  The cycle of life is something that we all face and deal with in some way.  The beginning is so fun, and teaches my little farmhands to be gentle, loving, caring, and that animals are dependent on us for everything.  My boys are learning respect for life, how to raise and handle something so fragile, and so many other lessons that they wouldn't learn anywhere else.

This is my favorite Australorp, her markings are a bit different...
she may just be our "Barbie"!!!