Jewels in the grass

Come along as the chickens go for a walk through the green grass. I wish they could spend all of their outdoor time in the grass, but when I am at work they are restricted to the area inside the wire fence. It keeps them close enough to the barn to make an escape from a stray dog or other predator.

So I try to open the gate to the yard for them to get some good scratching and running time in.

It doesn't take long for them to spread out like jewels in the grass, sharing willingly when they come upon some tasty morsel. All of a sudden I hear the deep, happy cluck that says "over here -- this is a really great spot!" and the hens all wobble over to see what's to eat.

Egglebert took some of the hens (and the new "chicks", near the gold hen on the left) to visit what's left in the vegetable garden. Mmm, how about that cabbage?

When the chickens are restricted to their fenced area, I try to toss them good healthy treats. This particular day I pulled up a leftover purple kale plant and threw it in. Everyone races in and tears off what they can grab, then races away to try to hide and eat. But of course there are always disputes, chickens drop what they've grabbed in their beaks and other hens swoop in to take it away. Here's a quick video of one of these encounters. Watch the two young'uns -- about ten seconds into the video one gives the other a swift peck as if to say "why'd you let that other hen get our kale?!" (I also love the sound of the Ameraucana hen coming down the ramp near the end!)