Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

These three scruffy but cute looking chicks are from our Orpington broods (hatched 28th-30th May). From the left we have a Buff, a Gold-Laced and a Blue. At just under four weeks old these youngsters are in that in-between stage where they still have quite a lot of downy feathering but with a lot of 'true' feathers really starting to grow. The wing feathers always grow first in poultry and most other birds: possibly in order that they are able to start flying as young as possible - and so escape predators perhaps?? Tail feathers are not far behind which help them to balance. Their colours are starting to really come through in all three: showing us why they are named as they are - these will simply get better and better as they get older.
You may remember we have 12 Orpington chicks in total being raised by a Light Sussex and a bantam. They are together as a group a lot (see 20th June) but in the last few days the Light Sussex has been taking a bit of 'time out' and leaving the bantam with all 12 chicks - even though nine of them are actually hers!! Once more, we have been asking lots of questions here: is the Light Sussex doing this because she knows her chicks are safe with another 'mum'; does she feel they are no longer hers; is she leaving them to look for somewhere to start laying eggs again?? They are all together each night still, so this is not a case of total abandonment thank goodness. Four weeks is very early for a broody hen to leave her chicks. But having said that, our golden bantam with four of our cross-breed chicks is laying again and her chicks are not yet four weeks old. And didn't they protest this morning when 'mum' went AWOL to find somewhere to lay.
Onion's bloat is totally gone thank goodness but her lump remains a worry - the vet has sent the sample away to be checked so we have a few days wait before we may know more...