My girls will be three weeks old on Monday, and I wanted to get them outside today because the weather is just gorgeous...and I've been dying to let them see the big world! I set up a little makeshift pen with some plastic netting, put their waterer outside and then popped them all in a puppy crate. It was SO funny watching them do their chicken thang! They scratched, they chased one another around every time one had a "find" of some sort, and ate their first bugs. They had some grit with breakfast this morning to prepare them for their lunch.
Ophelia, my stripey little Gold-laced Wyandotte, needs to be renamed Dipstick. She repeatedly found little twigs, then ran around chirping like crazy; the others would try to steal her goodie, but they soon gave up when they realized she was an idiot and was only carrying around twigs. Dipstick!
On a more sinister note, it didn't take long for the red-tailed hawks and a sharpie to find us. Four or five circled above us for a while, and I sat myself right inside the little pen (no bigger than 4 feet around) and when one flew over the neighbor's house, I got up and clapped and yelled. I don't know if that's what made them go away, but they didn't come back. I love hawks but I don't want them eating my chicks!
Here are some pics of their first outing!
Ophelia, my stripey little Gold-laced Wyandotte, needs to be renamed Dipstick. She repeatedly found little twigs, then ran around chirping like crazy; the others would try to steal her goodie, but they soon gave up when they realized she was an idiot and was only carrying around twigs. Dipstick!
On a more sinister note, it didn't take long for the red-tailed hawks and a sharpie to find us. Four or five circled above us for a while, and I sat myself right inside the little pen (no bigger than 4 feet around) and when one flew over the neighbor's house, I got up and clapped and yelled. I don't know if that's what made them go away, but they didn't come back. I love hawks but I don't want them eating my chicks!
Here are some pics of their first outing!
