Teenagers......they're nothing but trouble!

Tonight we've decided that the kids are big enough now to let them have free range to the larger coop so we removed the cage portion of their little home and have let them roam free for the evening.......This will be their first night in the big open coop and in typical teenage fashion, they're staying up late! The older ladies have already settled into their comfy roosting spots but the kids are still pecking around at the ants and other creepy crawlers that were hiding under a layer of straw (which got removed from the pen tonight after the small rainfall this afternoon made it smell damp and gross)......Never mind that I'll be up all night worrying like true mother Hen how my babies are doing and if they're safe. More than likely I'll be hunting amongst the sunflowers for baby chicks that stayed up way too late and couldn't find their way back to their little hutch.


The ladies are watching from the roost and I can imagine "rolling their eyes" at the sight of these 4 little crazy birds with a new sense of freedom and curiosity of their newer surroundings.

At least now that the hutch is free maybe it will encourage the older gals to start laying eggs again!?! One can hope. 

For being in the "ugly" teenage stage of their lives, I think our birds are especially cute. It's funny watching them fly about the coop or even run through the sunflowers (which probably feel like a forrest to a little bird) Goldie was getting a little more curious about the open door to the backyard. I kept trying to catch her but they're so fast now! I love these little sweeties and it's so fun that they each have their own little character! Even our big girls are showing more of their personalities now. 

It makes my heart so glad to see my little brood growing up healthy and happy! It was so heartbreaking losing our first 3 but time is healing that wound. I sat out in the backyard this evening and watched all of them enjoying their time out, watching them interact with each other and even seeing a few late evening worker bees buzz busily amongst my sunflowers while my two kids played together in the yard.....my backyard is starting to feel peaceful again. I can't wait to start getting my winter garden put in and enjoy more evenings on my back porch. For the first time in awhile I had to make my kids come in and take their baths! LOL I love when my kids want to be outside and are truly enjoying barefoot adventures in the grass, pretending to be pirates or playing in their playhouse. 

Now if I could get my teenagers to go inside their hutch and go to sleep!