Yep. We smuggled chickens out of the house in the middle of the night…

Then went to bed and hoped for the best. (You can actually catch Doris peck one of them on the head in that video.)

Then, at dawn, we went out to open their door earlier than we might otherwise. All in an effort to avoid a chicken coop cage match.

I will say there was some trepidation as we opened the door…

Thankfully, they all survived their first cohabitation night just fine. At which point we set about the task of encouraging them to actually come out of the coop and have breakfast.

And lastly, little Daisy…

Yes, they all made it out. And while they’re not eating from the treadle feeder just yet…they’re at least aware of its existence.

I wish I could say that the other girls were happy about this development…

We suffered through hours of similar dramatic squawks from the older girls.

I say “we,” but Jen is the one who stayed outside most of the day today to chaperone the two factions (and fortunately we had another beautiful day for it). They’re all going to have to come together at some point, though. Going to need a workshop on chicky cohesion, or flock-building exercises, or something.

But for now we’re content that the new girls seem to be happy out there. Or, at the very least, surviving.

See you tomorrow.

j.s.