Chicks in the Henhouse

The "babies" are MONTH OLD already! I can't believe it... and are getting cranky about being (ahem!) cooped up in such a small cage so I made the decision to begin accustoming them to the other chickens and vice versa. Step one:

For several days, perhaps longer, I will leave them in the cage in the coop overnight and allow them to play freely inside loose with the doors closed to all the others. Two hours in the early morning and two again in the late afternoon. These times happily coincide with the laying routine, for the most part. The hens rarely lay first thing in the morning.

After that time I will leave the cage inside but start letting the little ones roam around outdoors. They are almost full feathered, A small area around the necks are still bare but the feathers are replacing the down quickly now.

And I finished a sample for an up-coming class in October. This is a curved log cabin