I can't believe it's been over a week since I posted last!  I kept meaning to bring you all up to date, but have been busy trying to help hubby get the extension finished.  Thing is, we've not been doing it all the time, what with weather and other things.

BUT, the chooks are FINALLY in their new extension, so have much more room.  And Thursday afternoon the outside was ready for them.  They haven't all ventured out, but a few more come out every day.  the problem is, getting them to go in at night!  They just stand around looking lost!

It has been quite an eventful week again.  The first thing to happen was that I took too much feed down to them and had a bag left over.  I left it outside the house thinking it would be okay, but as usualy that was wrong, so hubby went down and put it inside the house in case it rained.   BIG MISTAKE!!

When I went down there the next morning, the top of the bag was open.  I was sure it had been still tied up when I left it outside, but thought that hubby had undone it in case the chicks ate anything like the string or paper ingredients lable!  But when I went down the other end to make sure their water was running okay, I saw a chick under a feeder.  I went to make sure she was okay, and when I picked her up, she had a long strand of string coming out of her mouth!!!  The little so and so's had undone the stitching and been eating the string, which is very long.  I gently pulled out as much as I could, but a lot of it had obviously gone past her crop and I couldn't pull anymore out, so I cut the string as close to her mouth as I could, and put her in the smallest shed which is now the 'hospital'  (Hubby has his workshop back, no chooks in there!!).  I went back, but couldn't see the other bit of string, and they always crowd together, so it was difficult to look for.

However, that night, I went down to make sure all was well, and all the chicks were up one endof the house, with one laying down the other endall on its own.  It looked like it had blood round its mouth and I thought it had been bullied, but when I picked her up, she also had string coming out of her mouth, but where she'd been trying to get rid of it, she had wrapped it round her tongue, AND about 4 times round her foot!  She was trussed up ready for the oven I think!

I had my torch in my other hand, so I couldn't do much then.  Took her up to the house and hubby cut away the string and her face was bloody and swollen from where she'd been rubbing it trying to get free, so I put a litttle purple spray on the graze, and in the hospital she goes!  I never did see any more of the string!  I thought it'd come out the back, but haven't seen any yet!

Then 2 days later, I went down to fill up their feeders, and the bottom of the galvanised tube feeder was on the floor, while the tube was still hanging from the ceiling!  When I looked, they'd only managed somehow to get the nut off the bottom that was holding it on, and do you think I could find it????   I found it the next day, I think it was inside the dead chick I found on the floor.  Certainly felt like it.  It must have swallowed the nut and choked. Poor little thing. 

But the other 2 are doing well, and are now back in with their mates in the big house.  I've got 7 chicks in the hospital now though as they still keep pecking each other's feathers and bodies.  One hubby found today had quite a hole bit at the base of her tail.  I can't understand why, they have plenty of room, they can go outside now, they have plenty of food and plenty of water!  And the POL amberlinks we have got don't do it, just the chicks!

Anywayz, let's see if I can get a photo on here tonight!

And here is the finished house!

Weighed some of the chicks today too, and they weigh in between 850gms and 1Kg!!!   Not bad eh?  They've eaten a lot more than I'd worked out, but the hatchery said to give it to them adlib!!!

Anyway, I'm off to my gallery to see if I can get some pics on there too to show you their progress all on one page!