That month when not much is going on. If started already you should have 8 to 10 week old chicks (maybe older).

They have feathers in on their bodies and coming in on their heads. These feathers do not count too much right now. They are just the beginning. However they are important. If you have a solid color variety the color should be bold and clean. If you have a patterned variety your pattern may be disfigured or blotchy. For patterns this is normal. If you have been breeding for a while you will know what is right, and what is wrong for your breed and/or variety. Peppering, bleeding of color, inverted color, shafting, it all comes in to play now. Not a big worry, but still something to keep an eye on.
The weather is still sort of crazy, one day hot - the next cold. Be forewarned when putting the brood out doors.
If you are raising your brood with a hen, it is time to be thinking of weaning if the mom hasn’t already.

Weaning time is always hard. Whether it is a chicken, dog, cat, horse - if it doesn’t come naturally it can be difficult. Some times naturally is difficult. Check the brood. Sores and pecks should be taken care of asap. When mom has had enough, remove her. Place mom in a pen of her own, or let her go back out to the flock. Mom will have molted while raising the brood. She should be in good feather by now. (check show schedules - any thing open? she’s in good feather) Check her once again for parasites, and take care of her if necessary. Since the rains (small laugh this year) should be most all but done, the green grass and weeds are starting or already in.

Some mom’s hang in there - you should break the brood loose when they are able to withstand the weather changes on their own (normally when they are fully feathered).

If you have been brooding them in the brooder it is time to think about putting them outside. Whether it is on the ground or in a pen really does not matter.
What matters is that the area is secure. No unwanted visitors. Dogs, cats, mice etc should not be allowed to get in.
Now normally when putting the brood out for the first time I try to have a clean area. One that has not been used before.
If it has been used I try to turn the soil and lye the ground. Once the ground is lyed - I water it in. Let dry then add a light coating of sevin.
For some reason I was told the lye breaks up the organisms and the sevin kills the bugs. Is it right? I don’t know - but for me it works. I let the ground rest for 24 hours - then the brood is introduced to their new home until the squabbles begin - or culling starts. I have known people who start separating the male and female, and brood separate until mature. This has worked well for them and me. If you have the space and time separating the sexes is a big help.

Once the chicks are outside in their pens the fun begins. If you have not read your standard for the breed and variety you are raising, you might find a big disappointment on the show floor come December. Through May and June the chicks are coming in. That is developing - filling out - and maturing. The culling starts, the hopefuls are eyed and the true road begins.

Lessons I have learned -
type > If it does not have it by now - it wont get it.

Balance > Like a ball - whether square or round - center is center both horizontal and vertical. Center should be in the middle. Not on the side.

Head > If it looks like a crow - ????? sorry. Read the book - large - round etc. (nice body - where’s the head?)

Wings > Up, down, short and strong, long and fancy? What’s the book say?

Legs > long, short, somewhere in the middle?

The brood should be checked weekly.
head
wings
body
legs
tail
stool &
parasites.

Chicks should still be getting medicated chick starter for a couple more weeks. I usually change diet to a breeder mash at about 5 (five) months of age. Others will say differently. That is the nice thing about poultry. There are many ways of raising them. Talk to others, ask questions. Most are happy to talk about how they do the rearing of chicks. The chicks are all placed in the pecking order among the brood by now. If a new brood is added the order is changed. Always use caution when adding broods to a community pen.

Id your broods. Whether you use tape, nail polish, electrical wire markers, tie wraps, or seamless leg bands, each chick should be identifiable. Id should with a glance let you know this young came from this parent stock. Keep your records. Watch them mature. Keep your eyes open as they feather out and mature. Look at the main points stated above. Look at the feathers. Are they wider, thinner, longer, shorter. Hard feathered, medium feathered or soft. Does the feather type fit the breed?

Q. What is meant by the above statement?
A. Open your Standard of Perfection (hopefully 2001 edition or newer). Turn to page 23. Look at the feathers, turn the pages. When you hit figures 64 and 65 note; Wing feathers are hard, Breast feathers are medium soft, as are the hackle’s pictured in 64. In figure 65 number 9 is a soft feather (my opinion). The other pictures will show you some of the defects in color.

Do not start culling for color right now. It is too soon. Watch them grow, fill out. Note how they look together - the little differences. Eye color? Size of head, wing, leg etc. When you see the one that looks above the rest - that is your hopeful. If they all look the same - give it time, read the standard, learn the breed and variety - you will be the first judge to judge the brood.