Another reason I love chickens

Kitty and I like to watch the chickies. 

Silver laced Wyandottes are supposed to be good foragers.
The way our little babies go after left-over people food, they
are proving this to be true.

.The baby chickies are now feathered enough that they can go loose in the tractor during the day. They still need the extra warmth of their box with the heat lamp at night.
They love to flutter and fly about the coop after bugs and shadows.
The compost bucket in my kitchen has been called the "chicken bucket" for most of my life and now I remember why. I've started giving the chickies the spoiled salad, stale bread and vegi peelings. They gobble them up. I hate  to waste food, so having the chickies to make use of food that is just not quite up to human consumption makes me feel a whole lot better.

The other night before I tucked them into their box, Kitty and I spent about half an hour with our faces pressed against the chicken wire, just quietly watching chickies. I think it's amusing that I can't sit for half an hour to watch television, but I can stand and watch chickens for that long. (note the multiple closures on the chicken tractor to keep out coons, possums, kitties, foxes and...)

Chicken tractor, day two

Chicken wire now all laced over the top and door
framed in.

After a wonderful float with the current Road Scholar group down the White River, we resumed working on the chicken tractor.

The baby chickies arrived happy and healthy and are temporarily ensconced in the bathtub. We put them in a box so we could shower last night.

Robin and Summer  came over to help for the afternoon  and after I finished lacing on the outer chicken wire, the guys got to work on the back wall and the door and frame. Shawn says he now knows why chicken tractors are so expensive!

Now it's off to work and hopefully we'll finish the tractor tonight.

Thanks, Shawn and Robin for all your work and to Summer for a great dinner! My chickie project is a wonderful birthday present. I appreciate all everybody is putting into it.

25 Silver laced Wyandotte Chickies. For at least the last
40 years, chickie feeders and waterers came in galvanized
steel or white plastic with red bottoms. Now, with the
popularity of backyard chickens, you can get colors!
Mine are purple.

Back added door built and ready to cover with chicken wire.