Remember the two chicks that hatched in, oh, September? Here they are. One is named Tubaloth and the other Fang, but only the kids know which is which.

The chicks are growing up. Emma snapped this picture the other day and it’s a little fuzzy, but you can see that they’re quite a bit larger than they used to was—possibly three times as large as when they hatched. Their feathers are growing in, just in time for the cold snap, and they’re changing colors. The black one is more of a dark speckled gray, and the white one is yellowish. They’re gangly now and not very graceful, but we’re getting a sense of what they’ll be. It’s kind of an adolescent stage.

We also believe they’re bantams, which means they’re small. Nothing against banties, but we want big eggs and big roasting chickens when that time comes. So we’ll let them consume our chicken feed this winter, but come spring they’ll go on freecycle or something. Now that we have a big beefcake of a rooster (and the hens aren’t lightweights either), we’ll expect for some bigger chicks in the spring. Meantime it’s fun to watch the little peeping, bouncing chicks grow up, and to watch the mothers take care of them.