New BYC mumma of 5

Hello, :cd

I've been raising 5 hens for a few months now. We got them when they were only a few days old - little, fluff ball cuties - who stayed in a cage, on a perch I made for them, all nice and cozy under a heat lamp.

To be honest, I had no idea what I was doing, but was directed here, to BYC, after googling some questions I had. I'm learning new things every day, such as what breeds my girls are. I think I figured them all out. I believe my "black" girl is a Plymouth (rock) Barred, my 2 (look identical) whites look like: light/white brahma's(?), 1 orange-brown is a Rhode island Red(?), and my 1 brown w/ blackish tail is a Welsummer(?) if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me, like I said, I'm still new to all this. Here's a visual:




:yiipchick So anyway, the girls are pretty spoiled. Out of our 3 acres of property, they explore at least a good, solid acre of land between the surrounding woods and the front / back yards. My girls are completely free range now, everyday until bedtime, which is around 7:30pm nightly, so far. On hot and humid days, they like to lay down and relax in the shaded woods under shrubs and small trees, in a pile of old leaves. Or in their dirt bathing area, where I dug A little for them, so they can feel the nice cool ground.


They enjoy hanging out together, eating bugs, snacking and trimming long grass, being naughty and eating seeds they aren't suppose to, and coming up to mom (me) if they ever get hungry. Their fave treats include a little Kefir and plain yogurt(very spairingly), frozen Corn (frozen, fresh, ect) and Peanut butter on various breads.

Today's a beautiful day, the 4th of July. Yesterday I mowed the lawn after neglecting it for a couple weeks. Afterwards, the girls seemed to be having a field day. They usually stick to the wooded areas surrounding my yard, but after I mowed, they couldn't stay out of the regular grassy yard! We also just got a puppy a week ago, and surpringly even though the puppy is a hunting type breed, the 5 pullets and her seem to get along. Sometimes the puppy thinks she can play with them, but she can't, and only when she's in a play mood I have to keep them separated. No issues really so far.

I love having chickens, wish I would have started years ago!(I'm 26 now) but I'm glad I found this place, BYC, I'm always on the app reading all sorts of chicken things, just trying to be a good chicken mom.

Thanks for reading!
~ Jenn