Sun on the feathers

Today we had an abnormally warm day, and I decided to take the chicks out to the front yard for a bit of sun.

This is not a matter of taking them out and letting them run free -- too many predators & too many chicks to chase.

So I had to rig up a holding pen for them. I have scrap lumber and hardware cloth. Himself prefers that we not use up material that could go toward the desperately needed hen house, so I'm trying not to cut or nail anything. I'd be shy about cutting anyway, since I avoid using his tools or getting into his workspace.

I succeeded in putting together a VERY rough pen with boards (some of them already nailed together), a plastic table on its side, a pitchfork, a weed bag... you get the picture. My wonderful neighbor, Butterfly Woman, helped me rig up the last of it and load in the chickens.

The pen had three sections for the three flocks, although I hoped to bring that down to two flocks by the end of the day. The Specs are three weeks old and fast outgrowing their tub brooder.

Here are some of the Ameraucanas stretching in the sunlight, while Speckled Sussex chicks watch the big girls through the wire. The Amers loved the sun -- they'd lay on their side and spread their feathers out to the sun, exposing as much skin as they could.

After a while, the Specs found a way around the barrier between the pens and started venturing into the section with the Amers. To our relief, they were mostly ignored by the big girls, except for Rachel who would fly at them with talons out. But she made no effort to actually hurt the chicks, even when she had one cornered. She just wanted to make sure they know who's boss. The Specs have always been so full of themselves, it's kind of nice to see them taken down a notch.

Here is a shot of Rachel, showing off her black cape. As chickens go, she looks a lot like an eagle.


We did have eagles out today: a huge bald eagle and a much smaller one, very high up. It looked like a flying lesson.

Another large bird -- eagle or large hawk -- came in closer, definately eyeing the chickens. Butterfly Woman saw it in the treetops of the yard and raised the alarm. As it flew close overhead we could see very distinctive markings on the underside of its wings. No pics of that one -- I was too busy getting a cover over the chicks. It watched as we spread out the linen we'd used an a shade cover and the hardware cloth we'd been using as a divider between the Specs and Amers. Then it waggled its tail at us and flew away.

The Aussie chicks got to get out too. Here they are resting in the sunlight.