I took the front off of Mama Hen’s brooder box a couple days ago and let her and her chicks have free range of the shed – it was the only way I could put their water where the chicks could reach it and Mama couldn’t bury it in chips! Today the sun was shining (though it’s still cold) so I opened the door and let her bring them out into the sunshine for a bit. (the pictures are blurry because I was taking them from the deck of the house with my longest telephoto lens, and that STILL made Mama nervous and she decided to take them back inside to get away from my prying eyes)
I also removed the front of the brooder for the older chicks, and let them move around the shed. Of course they have led a sheltered life, so it was all very scary for them! (ignore that poopy water, it gets changed twice a day – messy birds!)
I let the hens into the shed as well so they could go through to the backyard. They stopped to steal the chicks food and hang out, giving the chicks their first look at what they would grow up to be someday!
Mama hen decided to move into the main coop area, and took her chicks to dig out a comfy corner.
_
Steff Does Stuff! 
It's so difficult to have chicks around. It's impossible to get any work done when there's that much cuteness to enjoy.
I am eager for next month when we order our batch of chicks. We want to hand raise them like our first chicks because they tend to be so much friendlier, but it's tempting to let Mrs. Cotton mother them instead.
Too bad about Handsome. Why is that roosters have to be so bad?
Mr. Cotton used to do more aggressive with the hens when Sid Vicious was here. They would gang up on a hen an take turns….gah!
Now that he is gone, I haven't even see him take a hen, and he's a quiet crower and gentle with my daughter. Makes me wonder if he's 'come out of the closet'. lol!
~Lisa
LikeLike