The girls (?) are growing up fast!

Our little chicks are growing so fast. They will be 3 weeks old on Monday. It is amazing how quickly they are getting feathers and changing. We think that one, Dixie (shown below), may be a rooster. I think it's too early to really tell and we will probably have to wait until we hear crowing. But her comb is growing lots faster than our other 4 and she does some interesting posturing that looks roosterish. What do we know? If we do end up with a rooster (or roosters) we will probably have to find them another home because we live too close to our neighbors..........I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate being awakened by crowing. For that matter, neither would we. So we'll just wait and see what happens. In the meantime, we've been taking them outside each day for "recess" in our dog kennel. They can squeeze right through the holes in the chain-link so they have to be closely supervised. DH and I went to Home Depot for the umpteenth time today to buy all the lumber for the chicken yard. Hopefully that (big and scary) part of our project will be done within the next few weeks. Then we'll move the girls out of the bathroom and into their permanent home. Following are a few photos I snapped on Saturday evening while the girls were outside.









It's hard to get good photos of chickens because the move quickly.






My husband was having a little chicken bonding time on Saturday night. He hasn't had a whole lot of time to spend with them yet. He is holding Abby, our Plymouth Barred Rock, in the photo below. She is by far our sweetest little chicken. She loves to be held and is very calm.







This shows Abby roosting on hubby's arm. You can see how pretty her feathers will be once they're all grown in.







Each chick has their own personality. Sarah is by far the most curious, assertive and brave. When I remove the lid of their brooder box each day to give them fresh food and water she is always the first one to fly up and perch on the edge of the box. Clara is also pretty out-going. She is the one most likely to "pop" through the dog kennel fencing to explore the other side. Dixie, as I said, is kind of roosterish and is the most skitterish of the bunch. Reba and Abby are both sweet and calm. Reba likes to fly more than Abby so far, however.