Cheeky Pullets

The brown chicks that I bought by mail order in April are now technically called pullets (since they are all female). My first hatch of black chicks which are the same age are now either pullets or cockerels. I think I have at least one male, maybe two. This is the age when the gender is not obvious or important and the size when they are typically harvested for meat.

Here are the definitions from my trusty chicken book:

pullet: a female chicken up to one year old
cockerel: a male chicken up to one year old
hen: an adult female chicken
cock: an adult male chicken

This batch of pullets are very adventurous. I'm not sure if it is the breed of the brown ones  (Ameraucana/Araucana), because there are more chicks than last time, or if we've mixed the breeds together. Whatever the reason, some of them will not stay inside the electronet fencing. The first few times they ventured out, I worked hard to get them back inside. But after constantly finding them out, foraging around and resting in the shade of the trees, I gave up. They just walk right through the fencing seemingly unaffected by the charge, or fly over the fencing. Thankfully they still come back to the coop at night when I can lock them up for safety. We are preparing ourselves for the day when they get caught in the netting and get too much charge.

We have seventeen pullets (or cockerels) now. Sometime while I was gone to Florida, one brown one went missing.

Most of the pullets stay happily together around the small coop.

They are usually huddled together where the food and water are kept.

This pullet is the most adventurous one, constantly roaming around outside the fencing

She thinks the grass is greener outside the fencing.

Two more pullets roaming outside the fencing.

They venture farther and farther outside the fencing.

This pullet decided to see what the hens were doing.

They are often hiding in the tall grass.

Their other favorite spot is under the trees.

Thankfully they come back to the coop at night when I lock them up tight.