Fledgling Fluffs

 It is now day 10 of our great chicken experiment, and the girls are doing wonderfully. They all have tail feathers, and are beginning to feather out on their backs. As the baby fluff comes flying off them, they've been looking more scruffy.
 

We're getting closer and closer to that awkward dinosaur stage of chicken development.

 Ada Lovelace, Silver-Laced Wyandotte:

 At 10 days, she's lost the adorable chipmunk stripes she had when she arrived.

 Ada started out as the shyest of our girls, and that shyness made her pretty docile as a newly-hatched chick. She's fairly docile now, but definitely voices her displeasure at being handled.

Marie Curie, Easter Egger bantam:

 Marie has the softest feathers of all the girls, which makes her slippery.

Originally the bossiest of our chicks, Marie quickly realized that she is becoming the smallest chicken in the flock, and her aggression and bossiness has scaled back accordingly. She has become more docile, and will nearly doze in your hand when held.

 

 Rosalind Franklin, Rhode Island Red:

 Rosie's plumage is coming in gorgeously, and fast!

 Rosie is still the largest and quickest-maturing of our girls, and has become the most docile. Rosie will snuggle down and nap in my lap while I stroke her back. She doesn't appear to be bullying any of the other chicks, which I appreciate. She's becoming a very sweet bird.

Ruth Benedict, Silver Cuckoo Marans:

 

 Ruth's feet are no longer adorable baby chick feet. They are clawed.

Ruth's wings are starting to display the black-and-white striped pattern of the Silver Cuckoo Marans. She is the most ornery of the girls, hates to be held or handled, flaps furiously and complains loudly. I'm still hoping to win her over, but she may just be that kind of girl.

While the girls all vary in the degree to which they tolerate being held or sitting in my lap, all of the girls enjoy climbing up my arms and checking things out from my shoulders. We have chick grit for them and I introduced freeze-dried mealworms to them today. They haven't quite figured out what the mealworms are for just yet, but I believe in them. They've also been making a mess, tossing their bedding about, so I think it's about time to make them a little dustbath with sand and diotomaceous earth(which is a fantastic natural insecticide!) to ward off mites.

It's amazing how much they've grown in just a week and a half.