Backyard Chicken Raising

There are a couple of orphaned chicks on the farm.  I really think they belong to Peepers, but hatched out after she had already left the nest.  I made them into pet chickens and kept them in a birdcage on the back porch until a week or so ago.

By then they were getting a little big for the cage, and I figured they could fend for themselves.  I decided it was time to turn them loose, but first I wanted to introduce them to the other critters.

So The Farmer carried the cage out into the backyard for me.  It wasn’t long until our two most curious creatures were checking the new chicks out.

Hey Lady, WHAT are these little critters???

The sheep were a little more wary, and just looked on from what they considered a safe distance.

Whatever they are, we’re not going near them!

However, with Cinnamon the goat and Keira the llama, curiosity wins out over caution.

Let’s get a closer look at these pet chickens that crazy lady put out here.

I guess since nothing jumped out at them, they decided to move even closer.

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Even the guineas decided they needed to check out this strange contraption and it’s inhabitants.

We don’t care if they ARE your pet chickens, we don’t share our food!

One guinea decided to get up close and personal to check out these newcomers.

You don’t look so tough!

Neffie gave me the evil eye, no doubt figuring I was just making more work for her.

Thanks a lot… that’s two more critters I have to watch over!

I finally opened the door so they could come out.

They were a little tentative at first, but it didn’t take them long to want to get out and explore.

That was when some of the old Buff Orpington hens decided it was time to check out these new additions to the backyard flock.

Hey look! There’s some new youngsters!

Now they’re right out there with the rest of the chickens every morning, looking to see what I’ll throw out for them to eat.

They seem to have blended in okay with the rest of the chickens, and are growing fast.

I love my little chickens.