Chicks’ new afternoon hangouts

The baby chicks really take control of the coop during the day when the big girls are out foraging. At first they stayed close to their brooder. Then they started branching out a bit. Today when I checked on them they were broken into three clusters, each hunkered down in a different corner for some relaxation and sunshine.

The first group was comfy along the front of the coop, digging in the straw and dust and soaking up the sun.

The next group was strategically located at the foot of two of the big girl roosts, right in front of the open coop doors.

And the rest of the babies were in the corner under the nesting boxes.

As usual, the goats are guarding the perimeter.

As relaxed and bucolic a scene as it was when these photos were taken, when I looked outside about an hour later there were babies running all over the place, way out in the yard with the hens and goats. There’s literally no way to protect or prevent the babies from exploring widely around here. Even if I locked everyone up, they can just hop through the netting and cattle panels.