It’s easy to get distracted when gathering eggs. There are iris blooming, a hen exploring a stream bed, stewartia and dogwood in bloom. A tucked up pullover works just as well as a basket for collecting eggs.

Gathering eggs is an opportunity to see how the growing chicks are doing. The chicks below are figuring out where to roost for the night. Slowly, they’ll make their way up onto the main roosts where the adult chicks sleep.

These little chicks at four weeks are now on their own. This is their second night without their mother. She’s gone back to roosting with the rest of the chickens. The chicks have found a comfortable spot near where they used to sleep with their mother. They should be roosting soon.