diff --git a/src/registrar/management/commands/populate_first_ready.py b/src/registrar/management/commands/populate_first_ready.py
index 68b17a82a..e85dd01bc 100644
--- a/src/registrar/management/commands/populate_first_ready.py
+++ b/src/registrar/management/commands/populate_first_ready.py
@@ -46,19 +46,13 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
             except Exception as err:
                 self.failed_to_update.append(domain)
                 logger.error(err)
-                logger.error(
-                    f"{TerminalColors.FAIL}"
-                    f"Failed to update {domain}"
-                    f"{TerminalColors.ENDC}"
-                )
-        
+                logger.error(f"{TerminalColors.FAIL}" f"Failed to update {domain}" f"{TerminalColors.ENDC}")
+
         # Do a bulk update on all fields
         ScriptDataHelper.bulk_update_fields(Domain, self.to_update, ["first_ready"])
 
         # Log what happened
-        TerminalHelper.log_script_run_summary(
-            self.to_update, self.failed_to_update, self.skipped, debug
-        )
+        TerminalHelper.log_script_run_summary(self.to_update, self.failed_to_update, self.skipped, debug)
 
     def update_first_ready_for_domain(self, domain: Domain, debug: bool):
         """Grabs the created_at field and associates it with the first_ready column.
@@ -72,4 +66,4 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
         else:
             self.skipped.append(domain)
             if debug:
-                logger.warning(f"Skipped updating {domain}")
\ No newline at end of file
+                logger.warning(f"Skipped updating {domain}")
diff --git a/src/registrar/management/commands/utility/terminal_helper.py b/src/registrar/management/commands/utility/terminal_helper.py
index 2aacec424..88eb2d602 100644
--- a/src/registrar/management/commands/utility/terminal_helper.py
+++ b/src/registrar/management/commands/utility/terminal_helper.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class ScriptDataHelper:
     """Helper method with utilities to speed up development of scripts that do DB operations"""
 
     @staticmethod
-    def bulk_update_fields(model_class, update_list, batch_size=1000):
+    def bulk_update_fields(model_class, update_list, fields_to_update, batch_size=1000):
         """
         This function performs a bulk update operation on a specified Django model class in batches.
         It uses Django's Paginator to handle large datasets in a memory-efficient manner.
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ class ScriptDataHelper:
                     Defaults to 1000. If you're dealing with models that have a large number of fields,
                     or large field values, you may need to decrease this value to prevent out-of-memory errors.
 
+        fields_to_update:
+
         Usage:
             bulk_update_fields(Domain, page.object_list, ["first_ready"])
         """
@@ -72,10 +74,10 @@ class ScriptDataHelper:
         paginator = Paginator(update_list, batch_size)
         for page_num in paginator.page_range:
             page = paginator.page(page_num)
-            model_class.objects.bulk_update(page.object_list, update_list)
+            model_class.objects.bulk_update(page.object_list, fields_to_update)
+
 
 class TerminalHelper:
-
     @staticmethod
     def log_script_run_summary(to_update, failed_to_update, skipped, debug: bool):
         """Prints success, failed, and skipped counts, as well as
diff --git a/src/registrar/tests/test_transition_domain_migrations.py b/src/registrar/tests/test_transition_domain_migrations.py
index 33cfc074a..25526926f 100644
--- a/src/registrar/tests/test_transition_domain_migrations.py
+++ b/src/registrar/tests/test_transition_domain_migrations.py
@@ -29,9 +29,7 @@ class TestPopulateFirstReady(TestCase):
         """Creates a fake domain object"""
         super().setUp()
 
-        Domain.objects.get_or_create(
-            name="fake.gov", state=Domain.State.READY, created_at=datetime.date(2024, 12, 31)
-        )
+        Domain.objects.get_or_create(name="fake.gov", state=Domain.State.READY)
 
     def tearDown(self):
         """Deletes all DB objects related to migrations"""
@@ -39,7 +37,7 @@ class TestPopulateFirstReady(TestCase):
 
         # Delete domains
         Domain.objects.all().delete()
-    
+
     def run_populate_first_ready(self):
         """
         This method executes the populate_first_ready command.
@@ -53,6 +51,29 @@ class TestPopulateFirstReady(TestCase):
         ):
             call_command("populate_first_ready")
 
+    def test_populate_first_ready(self):
+        """
+        Tests that the populate_first_ready works as expected
+        """
+        desired_domain = Domain.objects.filter(name="fake.gov").get()
+
+        # Set the created at date
+        desired_domain.created_at = datetime.date(2024, 12, 31)
+        desired_domain.save()
+
+        desired_domain.first_ready = datetime.date(2024, 12, 31)
+
+        # Run the expiration date script
+        self.run_populate_first_ready()
+
+        current_domain = Domain.objects.filter(name="fake.gov").get()
+
+        self.assertEqual(desired_domain, current_domain)
+
+        # Explicitly test the first_ready date
+        self.assertEqual(current_domain.first_ready, datetime.date(2024, 12, 31))
+
+
 class TestExtendExpirationDates(MockEppLib):
     def setUp(self):
         """Defines the file name of migration_json and the folder its contained in"""