This is a 42 day old chick.                      

The past six weeks have flown with the chicks going from this (see left)... to the handsome boy above.

They spend a lot of time these days foraging and hunting alone.

But when it is time to rest, bathe and preen during the day they flock together.  The only real time any of them spend with Alice is when it's time to roost. The boys from the different age groups hang out together in little groups. 

The girls tend to stay with the sisters they hatched with and were raised with. That's why I rehome the girls as groups of sisters and don't like to break them up.

And it's all about to start again.  With her chicks reared and confidently moving into the world alone Alice has started laying again.  Some hens go broody again quite quickly, others will lay through until next summer before deciding it's time for another clutch of chicks; Or like Miss Lilly they will moult and have a rest from both chicks and laying.

If you saw how many feathers Miss Lilly has dropped over the past 10 days you would think she would have to be bald.

This evening there were some high pitched peeps coming from deep inside Salt and Pepper's barrel. So tomorrow -- the new set of chicks will make their blog debut!



They have managed the relocation well.

I do have to do something about the food situation though, since we moved I think I'm feeding every sparrow, dove and miner that lives within 20km of this place! And it is important to always have food available.  Chooks that are fed only once or twice a day tend to gorge themselves and become prone to sour crop -- which is fatal.