I promise I won’t write about chickens every week. But, it is fascinating how much chicks develop in just their first week of life. They progress from helpless fluffy lumps to miniature chickens with much of their adult behavior.
By one week old, they’ve grown in their flight feathers and their little tail feathers are growing in. They can’t fly yet, though not for lack of trying. They will run back and forth, flapping their wings and jumping. They will be able to fly fairly soon. And, as light-weight birds, they will actually be able to fly out of the brooder box. A mesh cover is important. If they get out, the heat lamp will be unavailable to them.
Last Year: Scaredy-Birds
With last year’s brood, I was too busy with outdoor chores to do more than check their food and water periodically. They grew up in isolation. When I put my hand into the brooder box, they all ran away screaming something about a monster hand. They hid in the corner. The hilarious part was that there IS no hiding in brooder box. They settled for standing in the corner, facing the wall, as if the monster hand could not see them if they did not make eye contact.
When I tried to introduce meal worm (which the adult birds think is chocolate, or something), last year’s chicks would run screaming something about killer worms from space, and go hide in the corner. They reacted much the same at the introduction of scratch. Killer seeds from space! It took last year’s birds a few weeks to get variety in their diet. When we took them outside to introduce them grass and dirt, they just stood there, as if waiting for the next killer-something from space to snuff them out. Such a batch of ‘fraidy-birds. But then, you know how chickens are about things falling from the sky.
This Year: Bonding
For this year’s brood, I decided to try a more hands-on approach — literally. I had read that baby chicks bond with their mother and hatch mates during the first several days of life. It makes sense, since that’s what they’d see. So, this year, I decided to make The Hand part of their little flock. Fortunately, they hatched on a Friday evening and Saturday morning, so I had all of a rainy, cold, three-day weekend to play with bonding.
As soon as I took them out of the incubator, and put them in the brooder box, I kept my hand down in the box as if it were sleeping among them. The hand moved around with them, but didn’t grab or move quickly. It was just there, among them — sometimes.
The Hand Provides
In their 2nd day, they began to peck at any speck. I put some small bits of their crumble in my open hand and just laid it among them. Since The Hand was one of them, they did not run for the Invisibility Corner. Instead, their curiosity was piqued. They pecked at the bits of crumble. They would simply mouth it, at first, but after a few tries, (and increased appetite) they would eat crumble from The Hand. I repeated this feeding routine several times. They learned that when The Hand came down, it brought food. Now, they could (and did) eat from their tray feeder whenever they wanted, but there was something more intriguing about what The Hand brought them.
At 3 days old, I introduced meal worm via The Hand, crumbled fine so they could easily eat it. At first, they gathered around The Hand, but simply looked on — skeptical about this strange new stuff. The brave one (there’s usually one) decided to try it and liked it. Envy got to the others. They tried meal worm too. Now, they can’t get enough.
Today, Day 7, The Hand introduced scratch. I sorted out some small millet and finely cracked corn. They were a little stand-offish at first, but since it came from The Hand, the brave one dove in. Now, they love scratch too.
Greed, Grit and Gumption
When The Hand introduced whole meal worm, they quickly displayed chicken greed (and envy). One of them would grab up a whole meal worm and run away with it so she could have it all to herself. Others would chase after her, trying to steal it away. It did not matter that there were more meal worms in The Hand. Whatever her sister had was better.
One benefit from The Hand, is that the chicks don’t resist much about being picked up. That’s made it much easier to put them in a box and take them outside for fifteen minute field-trips. (It’s still too cool outside for baby chicks) This year’s brood did not fear monsters from space. They got right to work eating little rocks as if it were candy. Already, their instincts told them they needed little stones in their crops to help digest their food. This year’s bunch had a lot more fun exploring in the dirt and dry leaves.
A couple of them even tried to dust bathe today. They did not do it in the actual dust of the garden. They tried it in the clean pine shavings of the brooder box. Still, their instinct for dust baths is already online.
Also, at one week old, they’re starting to sort out their pecking order. They stand in front of each other as tall as they can, engaged in a sort of low-impact chest bump. They add little hops, perhaps in an effort to appear taller. “You wanna piece of me? Do ya?”
So much complex behavior and they’re only a week old. Fascinating.