We’ve been waiting to let the chickens out in their yard. Waiting until they were just a little bigger, waiting till the rain stopped, waiting until it was warm enough outside for them. This week the warm weather came. We hadn’t finished all the fencing for their yard yet so we put up a temporary piece of fencing to give them a small yard. We were anxious to get them out eating some good green stuff. All the treats we’ve been bringing them lately have been getting gobbled up so fast, we wanted to get those hungry chicks outside.
On Sunday afternoon we opened the little chicken door Jeff made for them. Bracken crawled up the ramp and peeked inside the coop. (I hope you’re in the mood for a lot of chicken pictures today!)
We waited for them to come out.
Bracken checked on their progress.
They peeked out with curiosity.
And who was the first to emerge? Why, our favorite chicken of course. We have named her Bear. The long version is Bear Big Heart. She is by far the most social of all our chickens and we are all quite fond of her. She is so motherly and sweet towards the smaller chickens and comes right over to us. She is also very gentle with Bracken and lets him pet her all the time. The other chickens don’t let us get as close as she does. (Next time we get more chickens we will probably order more Barred Rocks.)
She ventured out slowly.
And took a look around.
Soon a Buff Orpington followed behind.
Bear started eating while she was still on the ramp.
The first two got brave and went off the ramp. Another Buff Orpington came out.
Then an Americauna. (I just looked up how to spell that, I’ve seen it spelled so many different ways.)
All our chickens are beginning to get names, the more we can tell them apart as they get older. The three Buff Orpingtons (can’t really tell them apart from each other, but certainly from the rest of the flock) are Lemon, Daffodil, and Princess Buttercup. (We are using a few names from the last time we had chickens, Princess Buttercup is just too good of a name to not be in use.)
The next morning we came out and opened up the large door and the small chicken door, to encourage them all to come out more easily.
Bracken likes to open up the little door all by himself.
The gals started getting the hang of it.
This is Caliente. She is an Americauna. Her colors are so rich and make me think of a fiesta.
(This picture doesn’t do those vibrant feathers justice.)
I love the way the Americauna is cocking her head in this one, it’s so funny.
I love the white markings on the underside of the Speckled Sussex. Her name is Sassy and she acts like royalty.
This is a view of the coop and the start of their yard. You can see the temporary piece of green fencing in between the coop and the plum tree. The plum tree gives them some good shade. Plus they will fertilize it and help keep the shoots eaten up around the base.
The one in front is the Golden Sex Link. We named her Sunshine.
And what are those little Wellsummers up to? Once the rest of the flock started going outside so much of the time, we let the four Wellsummers out of that bird cage we had them in. They really wanted to stretch out their wings and run around the coop. They’ve been hanging out in the coop while the bigger girls head outdoors. Integrating them with the rest of the flock has been going pretty well for the most part.
Bracken going to pet Bear.
He loves her so!
We worked on fencing that evening and the next day expanded their yard to the other side of the plum tree.
This is a view looking at the coop from behind the plum tree. See all those green shoots coming up from the base? I trim them again and again and can’t keep up. I’m hoping the chickens will take care of them for me.
The chickens loved having more space.
We put a piece of fencing across the top to give a little more protection from the air. With that and the plum tree, it helps protect them from hawks. We do have hawks circling our place regularly.
It makes us so happy to see those hens out enjoying their new yard!
Turns out that little chicken door makes a good toddler door too!
He called his friend Bear to come out of the coop and back in the yard to play.
He always keeps an eye on her.
And when she returns to the coop, he calls for her to come out again, saying “Bay! Bay!”
Bracken takes good care of his chickens.
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Jeff has been going outside early in the mornings to water the garden. Sometimes we get other outdoor things accomplished early in the day. Then we get our work done indoors during the heat of the day. In the evenings, when it cools off and we’ve gotten lots accomplished for our business, we go outside and work on fencing and other outdoor projects. Tonight we got a little more work done on the fencing for their yard. Bit by bit we’re giving them more room to grow. (Can you believe how much they’ve grown since this post?)
Bit by bit we’re getting our ducks in a row. Make that chickens.
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