Yesterday, it was week one of fall clean-up around here. I mowed the lawn, raked up the leaves and saved the best for last, cleaning out the chicken coop! The girls always look forward to this because they love to free-range as I clean their house and run. I let them out. Tilly is always first. Cautiously she pokes her head out from the run door. Once the coast is deemed clear, she and the rest of the girls come out to explore. The first stop is the wood chips. They love to make a mess, digging and scratching. It looks to me like they are revving their motorcycles, especially the little Silkies! Over time, they meander down into the grass and the woods announcing every tiny bug, grub and other tasty morsels that meet their beaks.
Finally when the free ranging is done, all it takes is a shake of the Chicken Crack bag and me to yell out, “Giiirrrrrrrllllllsssss.” They come running, giddy with excitement. Their crops are full but they always find room for more. I toss some Chicken Crack into the run and like popcorn, the girls one by one can’t wait to go back into the run! Today, Dolly was the last one, stuck on the other side of the run, frantic to get in with her sisters. I scooped her up, took off her hen saddle for a washing and plopped her in with her feathered family. All is well in their world. Well almost, poor Oyster Cracker is currently tailless due to molting.
Photo Credit: Tilly’s Nest
22 thoughts on “Free-ranging Fun”
Added Talking Chicken Scratch, I hope I did it correctly! Your blog is so great! Thank you!
Thanks Jessica! Thank you for linking up to the party today. I love having you.
Hi Melissa! Back for another down home blog hop! Those recipes look so yummy up there! Thanks for hosting!
Glad you are here and thank you for sharing each week. It is such a pleasure!
I love Ms. Oyster Cracker — makes me miss my buff orpington!
She is one sweet hen! 🙁 Can you have another Buff Orpington in the future maybe?
I love how all you have to do is shake some treats and the chickens come running! Sometimes all I have to do is say "chickies!" and clap my hands and they all come to me expecting treats 🙂
I shared another post with the blog hop today. Thanks for hosting; it is so much fun and great to link up with like minded bloggers 🙂
Yay! So glad you linked up again. Thank you! I could not agree with you more.
Just found your blog and became a new follower (: Can't wait to come back for more posts…Hope you have a lovely week!!
In Gratitude,
Michele
The Homesteading Cottage
Welcome Michele! I am so glad you are here. It is always fun to meet new friends.
I've added my site to your blog hop…. I think 🙂 I'm just figuring all of this out and it looks like fun! I don't have much on my site yet but I'm sure it will get there. Thanks!
Everyone starts somewhere. Thank you for joining us today. I hope we can help people find your wonderful site.
great blog hop… will join in next week 🙂
Sounds great! Looking forward to it!
I bet the girls loved a good scratch in the garden. I am planning on a thorough scrubbing of the coop in a week or two but we don't get snow so they can come out all year which they love. I just moved some pots and they scrambled over to catch all the bugs underneath. Thanks for hosting.
Thanks for joining us again Elaine. I miss the Southern California weather. Your girls are very lucky to have a mild winter. I think my girls if they could would like to visit you there!
Thank you for hosting the party, Melissa! Sorry I goofed up the photo on the Tiramisu link. 🙁
See you next week!
No worries. Glad you made it! Thank you for linking up each week.
Thank you for the invite, you have a beautiful site!!
Thank you so much for coming to the hop! I am so glad that you shared your wonderful post today.
HA! I yell the same thing to get my girls to come!
I guess great minds think alike 🙂 Thank you for joining in on the hop!