First Feathers

Backyard Poultry

Snowflake Sampling Squash

The little chicks grew faster than we could imagine and soon little feathers were beginning to show. Did you spot the black and white feathers peaking out from under the down on this Barred Rock's wings? That's where the baby feathers first come out. This chick is still only a few days old. Perhaps the growth was expedited by the chicks' rich diet, which included everything from chopped dandelion leaves to mashed squash. Yes, that's what the chick above is sampling: cooked, mashed butternut squash! I assure you, it was only from the kitchen scraps, not cooked especially for the chicks. The Barred Rock above, Snowflake, was tamer than the rest of the bunch and often proved to be the guinea pig for new experiments.

Golden Buff Growing Feathers

There were also new feathers showing on the Golden Buff chicks; white on the ends of the wings (they're hard to see) and darker brown around the shoulders and tail. I told you those cutie chipmunk stripes wouldn't last long! You can see now the mixture of two breeds in the Golden Buff now: mahogany brown of the Rhode Island Red and ivory white of the White Rock.