It’s always been the goal to free range our chickens. We have plenty of space for them to explore and forage, and apparently that’s the best thing to do to get lotsa good healthy stuff in the eggs! I wanted to get them used to this concept earlier, but life got in the way a bit and this week was the first time I could mess with it. They’ve been in their coop and run and have done fine there, but I wanted to let them out. So Stu dragged the dog down to the coop one day to introduce him to the birds. They didn’t seem to like him, and he seemed pretty nervous around them as well. That works! The next day I left their gate open and let them “discover” that they could get out. It took surprisingly long for them to figure it out. Probably because they were distracted by the kitchen scraps I brought down.
Eventually they got it though. The first couple days they stuck really close to the coop, but they are branching out a bit now though they still wander everywhere in a clump. 😉 I imagine they feel more secure as a flock and that’s probably good! We’ve always known that we might have some casualties once the birds were turned loose, but I’m not looking forward to that happening. Maybe they’ll all stay safe and sound, and we’ll be swimming in farm-fresh eggs!
Qade was nervous the first day I let them loose and he locked them back in their run because he was afraid we would “lose them.” I explained that the coop was their home and they know how to get back to it. Myles only question was, “Will they still lay poop?” Ha!
Here’s probably more photos than you’ve ever cared to see of our chickens.
Eye spy a chick
And a few more…
… and more!
They are pretty birds! I never thought of chickens as pretty before, but now that we have some, I do!
Leghorns! These gals are the smallest and seem to be at the bottom of the pecking order. Also the most skittish around us humans. 😉
My favorite Golden.
Another of the Golden girls. This breed is most unique in it’s coloring and I can tell all 3 of them apart. Not so much with the others.
Foraging. I always wonder what they find to eat. Then I’m kinda glad I don’t always know since I saw them eat the cat barf off the porch. Eeeeewwwwwww!!!
Yep, they made it up to the yard! I’m hoping they will make a dent in the bug population. They had a good time chasing all the other birds that were in the yard too!
