Our girls have moved outside to their coop. I carried them out one by one. I imagine it was the first time any of them had been outside in their lives. It was kind of like chicken graduation.

First out was Girlie’s chicken, Brown, because she’s the boldest. I figured the most confident chickens should be first and last, because they’d be less likely to panic when finding themselves alone.

I kind of look like I’m running here. And half crazed. I was neither. Okay…I was pretty excited about the big move to the coop. (My hair isn’t helping with the crazed look, is it? NO idea what was going on with it there. Curls have a life and mind of their own. I merely carry them around and am grateful when they conform to a more reasonable shape. And oh dear–the sunburn isn’t helping, either. Guess who forgot to put on sunblock before spending two hours at the playground that day?)

Girlie named Brown. It’s what she calls chocolate. If you ask her, “What kind of ice cream did you have?” She’ll say, “Brown!” with a big grin. Brown is a Black Sexlink. I didn’t know what kind of coloration she’d develop. She’s way prettier than I expected she’d be.

Here she is checking out her new home:

Next came Kiddo’s chicken, Tiger. Okay…I do look kind of manic in these photos. I may be a little too invested in these chickens. Tiger is a Gold-Laceed Wyandotte.

Two little chickens perching on a roost…:

The kid weren’t quite as excited as I was, but they humored me:

Third was my girl, Cricket. She’s a Barred Plymouth Rock. (My god, look at that crazed grin! Who is this mad chicken lady? There’s something wrong with me.)

And now I’m peering at her intently. Because Cricket and I have a deep bond, you see. (Crazy chicken lady):

Cricket says, “That lady is nuts, but she brings the food and water.”:

Billy’s chicken, Ducky, came out last. She’s a Light Sussex, and she’ll be lovely when she’s fully grown, but she’s the most awkward-looking of our four teenagers:

They seemed relieved when the whole flock was together again. They explored the new adult-size feeder and waterer and bustled around:

That was Friday evening. They’ve now spent the weekend closed inside the coop–with lots of check-ins from me. It’s been weird to not be able to dash down to the basement to check on them all the time. On Tuesday I’ll let them start exploring their run and will let them out into the yard when I can be out there with them. They’re another month away from being big enough to be of no interest to a cat. Once they’re full size I’ll start letting them free range in the backyard whenever I’m home.

There’s still some work to be done to make the run secure, but we needed to get those birds out of the basement. It was starting to smell like a barnyard down there. The coop and run are built almost entirely from wood given to us from our neighbors’ wood piles. The body of the coop is a wooden crate our next-door neighbors had in their basement. They even gave us the roofing material. Another neighbor gave us some of the hinges. (Have I mentioned lately how we feel like we won the lottery when we bought our house? We have the best neighbors in all the land. And not just because they give us stuff.) We did have to buy the hardware cloth and chicken wire and most of the hardware. When the eggs start coming in about four months, they won’t have come cheap.

Expect many pictures of chickens pecking and scratching in the yard this summer. You have been warned!