And The Heat Just Keeps On Coming

As soon as the sun came up this morning we took the chicks from their coop-et out to the big girl coop coop. We have been trying to increase the time they spend outside a little more each day  - letting them get acclimated to the weather and their surroundings. The heat has really made it difficult to keep them outside longer in the afternoons. This morning was a little cooler so I really had high hopes for a long day outside for them. I loaded them up with lots of water and frozen treats. The coop and run are enclosed, so there's plenty of shade. They love being out there and they're so funny to watch! It's like a kids trip to the fair only instead of rides and games it's bugs and grass. I left them scratching, squawking, chest bumping, practicing air-to-ground maneuvers hoping to leave them a little longer today than yesterday.

Easy D.I.Y. Detergent

Back in the house I finally had a chance to make a double batch of my home made laundry detergent (recipe on 'For The Love Of D.I.Y. Page'). In the summer we go through laundry detergent like crazy! With the heat, building the coop, chicks 24/7 and the amount of time we spend outside anyway we go through twice as many towels, clothes, etc.

We're Hot

After running a couple of errands and grabbing lunch, I went out to check on the chicks...it had gone from a pleasant, not very humid 90 degrees to a sweltering, humid 100 degrees. So much for the extra time outside. They were already panting (panting is one way a chicken tries to stays cool) and showing some heat stress. I cleaned up the coop-et and brought them back in. They burrowed down in their bedding and conked out for the rest of the day.
I guess we will try for a longer day outside again tomorrow.

They do go through an ugly duckling stage. They look like dangerous little raptors for a few weeks...they don't stay that way very long and you love them just the same.

Liz-