Happy Young Hens: Twelve Weeks Old

The teenage chickens are definitely looking and acting more like grown up chickens now.  They don't make the little peeps that chicks make anymore and they don't have any more fluffy little down feathers peeking out from under their big feathers.  They seem quite content in their little run and always get excited when they see me coming out to visit with goodies fresh from the cutting board for them.  I do let them out in the yard occasionally, but keeping them out of the garden when it is still young is nearly impossible.  They will just have to wait until they can't destroy my crops to run free in the yard again.

They are doing a great job destroying the weeds in their little run and I have decided to seed the run every time I move them with things that they would like to eat.  In a way they are helping me to prepare their own pasture, one movement of the run at a time.  They loosen the soil with their scratching and pecking and fertilize the area with their poop.  Every couple of weeks, they turn over a ten by three foot section of my yard and make it good for planting.  Hopefully by the time they have made their way around the yard it will be covered by good, healthy pasture plants that will help feed my own flock.