The chicks had their first sleepover in the Cube last night.
The older chicks are already 6 weeks old and, in the normal run of things, would have been overnighting for a week or two already. The 5 week old Maran is already bigger than everyone else. The Just-over-4-week old Wyandotte is big enough and well feathered. The 3 youngest chicks are now 4 weeks old, and are still small. After some thought I decided that they would be fine in the Cube, they could snuggle with the big ones if necessary.
In the end I put the Electric Hen (EH) at one side of the Cube, just in case.... I didnt't sleep well, and woke up wondering if they were too hot. In the end, the image in my mind of chicks dead through overheating wouldn't go, so I got up and went outside to check. They were all fine. It wasn't like a sauna in there, so I left it.
This morning the weather isn't great, so I put the EH back on the ground under the Cube. The chicks aren't using it at all, but at least it's there. I also swept out the shed brooder. I haven't dismantled it - the flooring is still down, the sides are up, just in case we need to use it. If we don't need it in a couple of days, I'll take it all apart, hose and disinfect it, and put it away until next year.
Still no idea on sexing the chickens - although I still think I have "one of each" of the araucanas.
Have to be patient with the rest.
