We are in a routine now, in which overnight they stay in the secure top part of the tractor with the heat lamp on them, and then around noon every day we put a ramp leading down to the bottom part, which is directly on the grass and is only protected by chicken wire. They stay down there until evening, before it gets dark, then we put them back up top.
At first, they didn't understand that the ramp would take them down to their grassy playground (which they LOVE!), and we would have to *gently* usher them down, or physically pick them up and put them down there, but the past 3 days, they have gone down all by themselves. They are still very ungraceful about it, and don't always use the ramp to get down the entire way. Sometimes a few will go all the way down the ramp, but mostly they walk down a few steps, then tumble the rest of the way down in a flurry of feathers and peeps. One day I opened it up, and walked away to see what they would do. I was inspecting my garden, when all of a sudden I glanced over and what looked like 5 or 6 of them all flew out at once! Needless to say, it was very cute.
Once they get down there they are very much like children who have been cooped up inside for a while. They flutter around, pecking and running laps. They often look like they are bouncing around.
They are indeed getting very fat. The Buff Orpingtons and Austrolorps (which I read, are actually an Australian breed of Orpington, initially called "Austral Orpington" but it was eventually abbreviated to Austrolorp) are the largest, and you can tell they would be good meat birds. The Buff Orpingtons have a particularly pronounced comb on their heads, and two small reddish streaks on the undersides of their beaks. Every day it seems they become more and more brown. The Austrolorps are still primarily black, with a bit of whitish yellow on their bellies. One is still larger than the other, but the difference is starting to even out. My little "Simon" (as I nicknamed her after Simon Birch since she was the runt) is getting larger and putting on more weight :) The smallest are still the Silver Laced Wyandottes, but every day the size difference between them and the other girls becomes less and less distinguishable. Their feathers are developing into what will in their adulthood become a beautiful black and white lacy appearance. They are still the most elusive to me, and are usually the last ones I catch to put them up at night. My favorites are the Ameraucanas. Their feathers are brown and fancy and they are the easiest to catch and hold.
As I write it is becoming darker and I should go put them in their cozy sleeping area!
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