Spring chicken - Bresse Gauloise get their first day in the sun.

Ben Tallaidh

Two seasons in one today, snow and ice on Ben Tallaidh but warm and sunny in Kilchoan. It was the ideal day for the latest batch of chicks ( 4 weeks old) to get outside and get scratching. You can tell which ones are cockerels, they have combs, bigger more upright tails and they take the lead in any new activity.

When they are first hatched they need a temperature of 32 - 33 C but now that they have feathers  and a lower ratio of surface area to mass so the heat lamp can be raised and  they can venture outside.

Outside for the first time

The pullets start to lay at about five months old which is probably the best time to buy them if you want eggs for your own use. On the other hand if you hatch them and rear them you won't be bringing any parasites or disease into your chicken run.