Update: Silkie Chicks

Since their auspicious arrival at the farm, our silkie baby chicks, who are being raised as therapy chickens, have hit quite a few milestones! Please hold your applause until the end 🙂

First, at just a week old, these little darlings discovered their first worm – a moment no hen forgets as long as she lives. Since the chill of March was still in the air, this was not a free range worm that they caught. Rather, it was in a hunk of turf that Joy dug up and put in their cage. With great pride and astonishment, Taffy paraded the worm about, clucking and showing off for quite some time. 

At two and a half weeks old, these chicks braved the backseat. They bore this stressful outing well, chirping curiously as they looked about, heads on a swivel. In fact, they are quite the backseat drivers, peeping out all sorts of orders as we drive down the winding mountain roads to Pennsylvania. Along with this great achievement came the monumental ‘first night away from home’ milestone. As we are trying acclimate them to different environments, with all the smells, sights and sounds that go along with that, they came home with me for the weekend. We read books, learned a little Spanish, but mostly slept. 

Just this week, after turning one month old, they found out the pleasures of sunshine and grass. With the warm spring weather of this week, the babies came outside to scratch in the dirt and find all the little ants they could. When anyone would find a worm, they would announce it with such instinctual pride that all of their friends would chase after them, making it near impossible to get that satisfying gulp. The outside world was a bit daunting, however, as the ‘ceiling’ out there was far higher than the one in the tack room. So, they stayed together under the bench, where they felt a bit more safe. 

Here, protected from any perceived dangers, they clucked and peeped their satisfaction at this new-found world loudly.

Also in this week’s news, the baby chicks performed their first acts of therapy, bringing smiles to both The Samaritan Women and So What Else, two groups that did EAL with us this week. After each group’s time with the horses, we brought them in to see our little loves. All the chicks were passed around to perch on shoulders and be cuddled. 

We are oh-so proud of our babies for all of this and more! Of course, will be posting more updates about them soon! 

Learning to sit quietly in laps!

Reading during their weekend away!