Letting Them Out

For a while now I've had a gut feeling- every time I read about free-range chickens, every time I saw photos of fluffy butts in fields and lawns, every time I looked into their barren run or their longing eyes from the confines of their tractor- my chickies need to roam.

Then I read that the problems a few of them are having with thin egg shells could be solved by letting them forage for what they need on their own.

Today I finally committed and let them out.

For our first day we only did about four hours of free-ranging. They stayed pretty close to their coop, venturing to the edge of the woods behind the garden and over to Leeloo's pool for drinks and that was about it. They really took a shining to good ol' Leeloo, and flocked around her every time she was sitting still. She didn't seem to mind as long as they weren't trying to peck at her flopping pink tongue!

When evening arrived and it was time for them to go back into their coop, all I had to do was call them with a tin of bird seed and they all went back home happily- all of them! So that's settled now. They'll roam to their hearts' content (or until they start doing some damage to landscaping, etc.), and the tractor will be reserved for when their energies need to be focused somewhere, and maybe for bad weather days.

It's kinda starting to look like a farm around here... ha!