There is one thing (probably more to come) that I failed to remember about chicks and chickens - dust. Chicken dust is something uniquely generated by them and because the quantity is so much more now, 61 not 8, the garage they were placed in now has a thick layer of the stuff.
This is no big deal as I own a shop vac and there is nothing really of value in there (except the Wrangler, thankfully with windows up). Still, it is annoying and I will modify the arrangement for the next batch. Most farmers have a barn and not a garage so it is not an issue. What I do have is a decent coop and since they are 4 weeks, and they were starting to get a little crowded in the brooder, they have moved to larger quarters.
Now, I do have one full grown Americana from the 'prototype' batch. Chippy is from the good old days when we named our chickens and acted more like people from Brooklyn & Long Island (where we are from) rather than Vermonters. Bears, Bald Eagles, Foxes, Bobcats, Raccoons, Hawks, books, and interaction with 'real' farmers have changed most of our naive idealizations of chickens and livestock in general. Notice I say most.
Chippy must be left in the run outside the coop during the day and be supervised out and in during the dawn / dusk periods. She has a quite natural tendency to dominate the chicks, especially their expensive organic starter and their water. If left alone with them there is the very real possibility she will peck very hard at them. If she draws blood there could very well be a little mass of feathers in the morning.
At dusk she has been flying right up to her perch high in the coop, her favorite spot, and staying there until the morning. Cannibalism is a real possibility as chickens are a textbook example of pecking order in an animal society, pun intended.
Add keeping her in line until the chicks are bigger to my daily to-do list ...
