The Third Week of Freedom

This is the start of the third week of freedom from the battery cage. Last week for two of them there was three vists to the vet because the sneeze that had come with them got worse, Luckily it did not affect any of the others. Three doses of Baytril seems to have solved the problem. Our local vet Pip Pocock is really good with all animals and spends time getting to know them. It only cost us around £12 so we where pleased.
They are not entirely freeranging at the moment but they come out in groups through the afternoon and evening. Gradually they are aquiring names but recognising them by any unique feature one may have is challenging as they change each day. They are growing feathers and the little black quills are starting to fill in the bald patches.
Their confidence is growing they now no longer want to stay on the plot of ground they are put and have developed the technique of all going in different directions to ensure that they can't be rounded up easily. Now no worm is safe and dannylion leaves are a favourite food.
We are pleased that we did not get any chicken with serious problems. One Kate, did show some intial signs of blindness but has recovered. We are not sure whether this was caused by bullying or she was just unable to adapt to the strong sunlight. Her eyes changed colour and when very red and appeared opaque but then they just got better. From the outset their legs appeared to be strong even on the first day perching on top of the feeder was no problem.
We are continuing to feed as recommended the special Ex -Batt crumbs but they seem to be on a see-food diet already. Small amounts of homemade wholemeal bread are favourite especially, Derriaire, who will have your hand off if she thinks your not breaking it up fast enough. You must be careful feeding bread; wholemeal is not too different to the 'crumbs' they are used to but we keep an eye on their cropp to ensure there is no hardness, as can happen with white bread. They are also getting vegtable mash mix with their crumb as wet mash and they are already eating pellets adlib.
Despite the prolific growing of feathers egg production is very good and we have had more than 6 dozen eggs in the last two weeks. The shells are getting thicker and the yokes deeper yellow.
It is really nice to be able to make cakes and do other cooking without thought of how many eggs are in the cupboard. I want to start making homemade pasta; the Jamie Oliver recipe I use needs 6 eggs. That is very expensive pasta if you have to buy them at organic supermarket prices. Ours of course are not quite 'organic' yet but at least we know what the chicken have been fed and they are eggs from 'happy chooks'!