 | We already knew she was a superstar, but now it's actually true! Our elder chicken, Spicy Mildred, recently had an article written about her in Still Alive! magazine. You should check it out, it's a fun read. What's Spicy Mildred been up to these days? At nine years old, she's living her best life lounging around, eating good food, and still being bossy. |
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The votes are in and our new chickens have names! We'd like to introduce you to the Kiddie Science Lab flock! We had an amazing week becoming chicken experts! We began our exploration by learning more about what chickens eat, and preparing food for them. Chickens are omnivores. This means they eat fruits, vegetables, and meat. A lot of the food growing in our gardens goes right to our chickens. For meat, chickens love insects and freeze-dried mealworms are their favorites. Chickens are birds, and one of their characteristics is feathers. We took a closer look at feathers using a microscope and magnifying lenses and learned about feather anatomy and function. Young scientists spent quality time with our chickens this week, including inside the aviary! We donned our shoe covers and gloves, and went inside. We received a tour of where and how the chickens live their lives. We saw where they lay their eggs and sleep at night. We also got to do some of the chicken care responsibilities. This was everyone's most favorite activity of the week! The new chicks are now twelve weeks old and are officially mingling with the hens. They've grown significantly in the last few weeks, and still have more growing to do! The chicks are still eating grower feed, which provides them with a bit more protein than what the adult chickens need. Their transition to adult feed will begin in the next five to six weeks and they should start laying eggs a few weeks after that. At their current age, the new chicks are still considered juveniles. Soon, they'll transition to being "teenage" chickens which are known as pullets. In the final adult stage, at roughly 5 to 6 months, is when they're officially referred to as hens (if a male chicken, then its a rooster). Our new chicks recently enjoyed their first day freely exploring the main aviary. The bigger hens were out foraging in the backyard during this time. At eight weeks old, they are almost half the size of the adult hens and still eating medicated chick feed, which is much higher in protein and contains medication to protect against parasites. It took them a bit to leave the enclosed run area, but once they did it seemed like they enjoyed the exploration time! Our bigger hens watched through the fencing and I eventually let them in one by one to meet the chicks under my direct supervision. |
