Chickens in the Kitchen!

Chickens in the Kitchen

Chickens in the Kitchen

Chickens in the Kitchen

I dare you to try to say that three times fast! 

 We have been letting the chickens out of their pen to free-range in the yard during the day lately.  They have been thoroughly enjoying themselves.  The really like being wherever we are, so they always end up here at the house.  At first it was kind of cute, but now it just seems a bit of a hassel.  They actually want to come into the house.  I've even caught a couple of them going out of the dog room through the dog door.

We also made the mistake of feeding them from the patio table one night when we were eating dinner.  We had some left-over rice on our plates, and so we just threw it on the ground.  They went crazy for it.  Now they've become 'beggar' chickens - just like the dogs.  If they know we're eating out side, they come runnin'.  Tom really hates it when they peck his bare toes under the table!  And they aren't concerned about where they fertilize either. Tom's had to get out that pressure washer again, darn!  

The good thing is we have started getting between three to five eggs a day from them.  Winston has really enjoyed going out every morning and checking their nests.  But tonight when we went out to make sure they were all snug in their coop, we found the wind had blown their pen door shut and they weren't able to get in and it was after dark.  The chickens were nowhere to be seen.  We got out the flashlights and looked in all the trees and tried to find them but they're hidden really well.  Hopefully they are high enough that they will be safe for the night.  And hopefully they'll show up again tomorrow morning. Otherwise, we might be out of the chicken business and won't have to worry about Chickens in the Kitchen anymore!

Chicken News Update:  They survived the night outside the coop... all is well!  : )