Field trip to the backyard

We took the girls on a field trip today!  We set up our larger dog crate in the backyard, and we left the tray out of the bottom so the chickens could get some grass and dirt in between their toes.  They were really confused at first and stayed in a tight flock, but they figured out pretty quickly that being outside is way more exciting than being inside.

Here's Oneita, wide-eyed and curious:

Here's Mr. Helen:

Here's Helen and Bernice looking at each other funny:

Here's Mary Lou:

Here's Viola (you can see how she's getting some tiny reddish spots on her feathers near her tail):

The chickens are already pretty used to my dog, so we let her outside first.  She circled and sniffed the crate.  Then she started howling at the chickens, which is Paisley's obnoxious way of saying, "I want to play with you!"

Then we let the big dogs out and they really don't have much experience with the chickens, so they were glued to the crate.  Bailey seemed content to just watch them wander around... until one of the chickens squawked, and then he was really concerned!  Sophie on the other hand was staring them down like she was getting hungry.  We're going to have to keep a close eye on her.

Eventually they settled down, though.

It was a really fun day, but with all the rain expected this week, it will probably be a while before we can take them on another outdoor field trip.