We (Kayla and I) spent time yesterday afternoon doing more work on the coop so that the chicks could possibly spend the night (and hopefully the rest of their lives!) outside. This entailed pulling some HUGE weeds out of the yard and the coop, “sewing” the rows of chicken wire together with wire “thread” along the sides so there would be no gaping holes for predators to use, and stapling the bottom of the chicken wire to the framing for the same reason.Actually, Kayla just entertained chickens and showed them around their new home while I worked. She is now affectionately known at our house as the “Chicken Mama.”

The chicks are about 5-6 weeks old now – not sure exactly how old they were when we got them – maybe 5-6 days.

She put food on their ramp so they would learn how to go in and out of the coop.

This is a view of the inside of the coop – the laying boxes- there are 5 boxes- and the feeder.

“Free Ranging” in our backyard!

The chicks really enjoyed their afternoon in the yard of their coop- eating spiders, worms, and grass. The coop still had no roof, so I nailed a tarp over it in order for them to spend the night. I wasn’t aware that we were expecting some pretty heavy rain, and this morning the tarp was only covering the coop halfway. Last night, in my tossing and turning (my body ached from all the weed pulling and hunching over) I dreamed that there was a bear in our backyard. I feared that the chicks may have been hurt, but when I checked them early this morning, all the girls were fine and staying dry in the covered area.
All in all, they are fairly low maintenance “pets,” but I have lost some sleep over their well-being on a couple of occasions!