The girls have been coming and going outside just over a week. At twilight on the first day of their world explorations, Erik and I caught them one by one and deposited them into the coop through the nest box hatch. I wasn’t sure if the girls would naturally go into their coop at dusk or if they would huddle under the coop. The coop is elevated and boarded up on two sides making a nice, dark cubby hole and they love it under there. Though the coop is fenced within their yard, but I felt compelled to capture them to make sure they were securely locked up for their own safety and my sound sleep. The chicken yard is safe enough by day, but I don’t know if it would withstand a determined predator at night. The second night we repeated the process of catching each one but were prepared with a butterfly net that I bought at the Dollar Store. Even though the girls are used to us, their small size makes them difficult to catch and the butterfly net can capture without harming. I guess all chickens suspect they might be dinner at any moment and they spook easily.
The third night around 9 o’clock, I was surprised to find them in the coop and all of them piled into one nest box. I thought perhaps they had figured it out and instinctively put themselves to bed in the shelter of their coop. I was thrilled that they had gone into the coop on their own, I hated to capture them and frighten them each night. However, on the fourth night the only chick left in the yard was Biscuit. Biscuit was still marching about the yard snapping at mosquitos at 9:30PM so I decided I had better lock the rest in and catch her. After locking the coop, catching Biscuit and depositing her through the nest box, I checked under the coop just to make sure no one was left out. To my consternation, everyone minus Biscuit was under the coop in the corner, obviously snuggling in for the night. Oh shoot! I called for Erik to come help and I tried to flush them out with the plastic rake but they just weren’t going to budge. I had no recourse, I had to crawl under after them. Laying awkwardly on my belly with my feet sticking out from the coop, I handed the chicks one at a time to Erik. It was funny actually, I laughed the entire time at the comic scene we were making.
The Upstart Garden 