Chicks enjoying the outdoors,

my March 2010 batch of 5 chicks is now 5 and 6 weeks old, the California Whites are the older ones. We are having typical weather for this time of the year, the temps still drop to 34 to 38 degrees at night and then during the day with have 80s, not sure if it hit 90 today, the chickens sure act like they are hot. I have been doing test runs this weekend with the misters and filling up the wading pools which my older hens took advantage of to cool down. I have put fans in the chicken houses for better ventilation when the hens are in the nesting boxes.
This week I ordered some "Chillows" those are cooling mats, the same kind they sell for dogs, only the ones I ordered are actually for people, but I figured they will fit in the nest boxes and hopefully will prevent another tragedy like last summer when I lost my beloved Lucy who I had last seen in a nestbox, then I found her collapsed in the wading pool. The heat is really hard on the chickens.



The California White chicks are in the foreground, the mystery chick Barbie in the back.

One of my little Buckeye pullets, they have such pretty orange legs.

Both of my little Buckeye pullets

Being outside is a big adventure, they are in a pen that is secured with chicken wire so the older hens cannot hurt the little ones, but the older hens can walk around the chick pen, so by the time the chicks are a few months old they are all used to each other and it is fairly easy to integrate the new ones with the old ones.

This is Barbie, the mystery chick, I still think she looks like a Delaware, but she has green legs, so not sure about it. Unfortunately she is not a very gentle chickie, when I come near her with my hands she pecks at me and at times she will not only peck but hold on to my skin and pinch pretty hard.

showing off her wing

One of my Barred Rock hens checking out a little pullet

Still waiting for the California White pullets to get some black marks

The Buckeyes have a much different body shape than the California Whites

Barbie showing off her wing

Barbie on the right, her legs are green, but not slate green, hers is more a yellowish green

Barbie on the right

When I open the gate for the chickens to come out and roam the property they all come running as fast as they can

Running fast, two of my Barred Rock hens

2 of my Black Jersey Giants in the weeds

Buffy enjoying her outing, she is the hen who had hurt a leg and for a long time she couldn't run well, she would do a flying hop, but now she can run again and isn't limping

One of my Ameraucanas

My Ameraucanas are 2 years old now and went through their first molt this winter, they all have beautiful feathers and I get several green eggs every day.

And here is Miss Daisy, she didn't molt yet and she still has some rooster damage, I have rehomed Sir Oliver as his constant attacks really took away from enjoying my chickens, he also started to cause damage to the hen's feathers, like here on Daisy she has lost a lot of feathers on her neck and head and most of the feathers on her back are broken off. Otherwise she is a very pretty little hen laying a small green egg almost every day. My guess is that she is mixed with a game chicken, I really like her, she is very smart and agile.