First Outing

I have to point out the red sweet in the second photo. Do see her feathers?! Their feathers puff out like that when they shake. And I just love it.

Sunday afternoon was the first time that we let them out of their coop. I did research a few weeks ago and read that an important part of the transition is to keep them in the coop for a week and then let them out for one hour right before dark. So that's what we did. And they had no clue what do make of it.

For the most part they stayed in that little area in front of the chicken door. They pecked at the plants, the ground and each other. A few of them flapped their wings around, but no one attempted flight.

Getting them to go back in the coop proved to be just as difficult as I thought. Shooing them close to the door wasn't a problem, but getting them to actually go in was nearly impossible. There were a few girls that we had to pick up and put in. I'm so glad that we handled them as much as we did when they were baby chicks, because picking them up and petting them is easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Monday it rained and I was gone for the majority of the day, so I didn't let them out. Last night though when I came home from teaching, there was an ounce of sunlight and NO RAIN so I decided to let them out for an hour and or so. I went back inside to eat some dinner and checked on them through our kitchen window what seemed like every 30 seconds. When I noticed rain drops on our deck I looked and didn't see any of the girls so I just figured they had gone in. Being the paranoid, overprotective chicken mama that I am, I went out to check on them. All but three had gone into their coop (I think they really like it in there). So I shrugged and started back towards the house. And the three girls followed! I knew they were going to be the type to follow us around the yard. They didn't come all the way back to the house with me, but I did get them to come out farther than they had before. And when it was time, I got them all back in the coop by myself!

Today I made a trip to the store to pick up some dried meal worms (still as disgusting as live ones I might add) because apparently they are great chicken treats. The girls are out now and my hope is that when I have to leave to teach later, I can bribe them with some delicious meal worms. Yum.