Today Jackie and I had arranged that we would spend the morning together while integrating her girls. Jackie had a bit of loss of confidence without Ian and I had an unusual free (no lunch orders) day so it seemed a good time.
Jackie has changed April’s name to Chelsea in memory of Ian as Chelsea was the team he followed and he watched every match. Ian had actually named Ruby for their ruby wedding anniversary in March and it was the first time Ian had named any of their chickens so it is a bit special.
It was an awful morning, raining and very windy. We were going to let the old girls free range and open up the walk in run for the new girls to explore but soon the rain dictated that this wasn’t going to work. It may well have been a blessing because it moved things on more quickly.
We decided to get all six girls in the run which is under cover (persuaded with a handful of corn) and let them get on with on it. It was much easier than we expected and there wasn’t much fuss at all.
The thing that really surprised us was that head girl, Clover, seemed to be looking after the new girls. Clover stayed close by the new girls pecking at the ground but whenever Bluebell got close, Clover pecked her away, whereas she doesn’t usually take any notice of Bluebell. It was as if she was protecting the new girls.
As expected Blossom had a little peck at them every now and again but nothing too bad. They soon mingled without taking too much notice and as we spent a couple of hours together chatting and observing the girls we felt really pleased that it was going so well.
We chatted about Ian as we kept an eye on the girls and I think it was a good thing, we felt comforted by doing this together and by including him in every thing we talked about.
Chelsea is in the foreground and Ruby is behind her with Bonnie on the right, Blossom in the middle and Clover on the left
Clover is just leaving the scene
Chelsea photo bombs, Bluebell is on the left
Looking for corn together
One flock together
Jackie took away the little temporary coop that the new girls had been using overnight so that the flock would sleep together that night for the first time.
It was rather like two gangs with the old four together and the new two together but we were pleased by the lack of fuss and sure they would all be mixing as one flock very soon.
Jackie called me later to say that at bedtime there was a little bit of fuss but once the old girls went in she then put the new girls in with them and it was “job done”. We both feel pleased at how well it has gone. As Jackie says “tomorrow is another day”. She will keep me posted.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
That is just perfect. Watching them all and sorting them all concentrated the mind .
They are great for that and you can’t help just watching them. They will be fine together.
An up date on yesterday , I put the new girls in the main coup last night and this morning they came out unscathed .. Not a feather out of place , not even a square! They are seperated this morning until late this afternoon when they will be mixed again and put in the big girls coup .. All is well 🙂
That is great news. I was sure they would be fine. It’s so good when the flock are all in one coop at bedtime.
Well done on a well-managed integration process. They are beautiful birds – mind you, so are the others, and they are in excellent condition.
Thank you. We pride ourselves in managing our flocks and having beautiful girls but don’t we all! Good job done and lovely flocks for all of us that care so much for our lovely girls.