Remember these chicks?

On day 18 they have entered the mini-pterodactyl stage. Here is a pile-up of dinosaurs.

Each breed is maturing at a different rate. This is a Black Star. She is as curious and bold as she’ll be when full-grown.

Leghorns mature quickly. The white Leghorns are already growing combs. They’ll have bright red floppy ones when mature. I believe that this is a Brown Leghorn. She’s already lost most of her baby down.

i already have favorites. This Ameracauna has been calm, gentle and friendly from the first day. Such a sweet face!

I’m not naming the chicks yet, as most will not stay here. Five of the chicks are going to the nursing home, where they’re already talking with the residents about what the names will be. Perhaps they’ll use old-fashioned ones, the names of the residents’ mothers. I’ll be keeping only four (or five…) and the rest will be sold. When I settle on the chickens staying here, we’ll have the fun of thinking up names. Stay tuned!

Massachusetts has a state holiday, Patriot’s Day. It’s a Monday in the middle of April, a spring day that always feels like it’s at the beginning of things. It’s like the whole state plays hooky. We have the only major league morning game at Fenway Park, which ends in time for the fans to join the crowds cheering on the marathoners. This year I stayed home to work in the garden.

Those close to me are all safe. I think about the dead and injured. And I know that something intangibly special and wonderful has been destroyed.

UPDATE: This contest is closed. Geneva (from Australia!) is the winner.

Christine Heinrich is writer, a hen keeper, and my friend. She is committed to promoting old-fashioned breeds of chickens, and brings her science writer’s clear-eyed view to such matters, as well as to flock health and maintenance. Her book, How to Raise Chickens, has been reprinted in a revised and expanded edition.

I have one of her books to giveaway! Simply let me know your favorite breed in the comments below, and you’ll be entered in a drawing for her book. The contest closes on Friday, April 19 at 10 pm EDT. The winner will be selected via a random number generator. Only one entry per person, please.

The chicks are just over two weeks old. I told you that they wouldn’t look like like quintessential Easter chicks for long, and I was right. Their necks and legs are longer. Their down is coming off and feathers are coming in, but in spurts and in patches. It’s a gawky stage.

The new feathers are most noticeable on the wings and rumps. There’s a marked difference between how quickly the breeds are maturing. The Delaware, developed as a meat bird (but which happens to be a good egg producer and have a docile temperament), is ahead of the rest (but grows nowhere as fast as a modern meat bird, thank goodness.)

This black star is a tad slower to grow her tail feathers, but they’re there!

This little chick arrived with almost no down on her back. Her skin was dry and rough. Perhaps she had difficulty hatching? But she’s thriving and bold in nature. Even she has a wiggle of a tail.

The chicks are quite aware of their transformation. They’ve been flapping their wings. A few have achieved lift-off! I’ll be raising the sides of the brooder soon.

The Gems are not thrilled to have Siouxsie in their midst. She’s an annoying, clueless bird who gets in the way, and who doesn’t get fast enough out of the way when given a beady stare. But, the Gems aren’t a bullying bunch, and so, although they don’t want this crazy-pouffed hen to hang out with them, they’re not beating up on her either. There’s a judicious use of feather ruffling and pecking, which quickly subsides when Siouxsie turns tail. For a hen who is used to pummeling others, Siouxsie is feeling rather out of sorts. No place seems safe. Just when she starts to enjoy her corner of the outside run, another hen comes along and tells her to move on.

Siouxsie has come up with a strategy of how to be left alone.

This is Topaz. Topaz is a classic broody hen.

Topaz is fluffed up in righteous mamma-hen anger (even though there are no eggs under her). She churrs threats to anyone who comes near her nesting box. The Gems avoid her. Siouxsie has planted herself outside of Topaz’s box. Siouxsie ignores the broody hen growling. Siouxsie doesn’t care, because the hens that do count, those Gems that chase her about, don’t come near Topaz, and so they don’t come near her. Yesterday, Siouxsie even crowded herself into that nesting box with Topaz and laid an egg.

Perhaps Siouxsie isn’t as clueless as I thought.