Freedom

As of Monday, our little flock of chickens has been free-ranging in the yard and pastures around the barn. I was a little very nervous letting them out into the open expanses in which hawks' cries are heard every day, possums patrol, and the occasional fox trots past.

But, when I pulled up in the driveway on Wednesday and saw them enthusiastically pecking and scratching through the grass looking for food, I knew they were going to be fine. There are lots of bushes and tall grass for them to hide in if a predator threatens, and letting them find their own food will save on feed costs.

My biggest fear was they would not find their way back to their coop at dusk. That fear has proven to be ungrounded as all 10 have been present for bed check every night this week.

This is Kobe's first close encounter with the chickens. He has seen them every day, but always with a fence in between. He was well behaved and very curious about these new critters roaming about his yard.