Free Range Chickens

This afternoon we took a brave step. We let the chickens fly the coop. We opened the side door. As usual, Dwight and Angela were the first ones to poke their heads out the open door. Angela was trapped behind the feeder and ended up being the last one out; an unusual position for her. Dwight was the first one out as you can see in the photo above. (The red on the far right is my water canteen). Out they came, eating everything green within their reach including wild grape leaves, dandelions, grass, and weeds. They walked around a little bit, staying on the east side of the house and north of the spruce trees that border the front on the yard. We sat with them. The chickens didn't come toward us when we called. They walked around us as if we were part of the landscape, coming so close we could pet their backs as they walked by. One chicken would fly up. Without a house or a run, they really could fly up for a change. When one chicken flew, usually one or two chickens copied that behavior. You fly! I will fly! She will fly too! When one chicken gets upset, the others tend to mirror that emotion. They scratched at the dirt and pecked at the ground. I don't know whether they ate any bugs but they sure ate a lot of green stuff. I think they enjoyed their freedom. They seemed more content. We let them out about 4 o'clock. I thought I would allow them free range until bedtime. The food was in the house and the water was in the run. I hoped they would go to bed when the sun went down and I would shut the door on them. I left to bring my clothes in off the line. I left again to move the sprinkler. When I came back, a couple hours later, they were in the house. So I shut the door on them. They look content and exhausted. This was a good first experience at letting them range free so I'm sure we'll try it again.