The chickens are learning everyday that being ‘out of the box’ is wonderful!  There are bugs to eat, grasshoppers to catch, and green things to peck on.

That taking a bath can be very rewarding. (This rooster just finished fluffing around in the loose dirt, and was resting when I took his photo). He was a little startled by the flash.

Even if most of the girls “hens” look alike their personalities are very different.  These two are part of ‘group’ that likes to follow me around, just in-case.  Just in-case I stir up a grasshopper, or pull a tasty weed, or happen to be working in the yummy tomato bed….

The flash on the camera is always a bit of a shock.

As you can tell, Polk-Dot Boss has molted all his feathers (and dots), a rather sad thing for me.  I can still tell him apart as he is the one I can pick-up, the other one tries to peck me, and the third one squawks and runs away.

The Chickens are learning how to ‘free range’.   This is their first time to leave the house, and oh, my how BIG the world is! 

I teach them to go back into the house, by only letting them free range a short time before bedtime.  Once they understand that they can go back inside to sleep  I will let them out for longer and longer periods until they are totally free.

Of course I will always lock them up at night for many predators stalk sleeping birds. (see a previous post of mine).