Yesterday was the first day since the new ladies showed up that it was not pouring rain. I spent 7 hours outside with the chickens and cleaning stalls. Around 1 after everyone had laid I felt it was time to let them out and explore a little bit. The poor girls were terrified when I opened the door. It took them a hour and a half to step outside. Once they were finally out of the cage they were all huddling together just in front of the door. I broke out food as a bribe. I tossed some bread about 10 feet away in the grass. It worked, they worked up the courage to go after the bread then discovered grass. They gorged themselves on grass. The best thing was when they hit the sunlight, all 6 girls dropped in a sun worshipping puddle and preened. While they were out I gutted their area and gave them a entire bag of shavings. I don't like using shavings but out of sawdust until sometime this morning. I let them explore for about 2 hours before I put them back up. They were so easy to herd back into their coop. I did not get any pictures as my camera battery was dead. It shouldn't have been but it is not holding charge like it used to. After 10 years I think my poor camera may be trying to bite the dust.
