When we had Topaz and Honey in the flock the bedtime routine was a drawn out affair. The lower ranking girls would roost on the back perch then when Topaz and Honey went in they would peck at them until they jumped down and ran out again.
It was always Speckles, Emerald, Toffee, Peaches and Barley that would in turn coming running out again. Butterscotch used to go in last and was never moved from her position.
They finally settled as it was getting dark and I would go in and clean up the poop from the patio before locking the gate to the run for the night.
I re-homed Topaz and Honey purely because of the feather pulling. I couldn’t bare to see feathers pulled from the girls and couldn’t risk it becoming a habit throughout the entire flock.
What I hadn’t expected was the huge change this has brought to the flock. I have talked recently about the harmony in the flock now. There is no longer a need to spread treat dishes around so that the lower ranking girls get a share. All six girls happily share treats from one dish with no pecking and chasing.
The bedtime routine has also completely changed. After their bedtime corn the girls spend a while scratching together (maybe they think they might just find a bit of hidden extra corn).
Then they all go into the chicken shed and line up on the back perch. There is no squabbling and no running out again. When I go in to lock the gate there is usually one blob of poop only on the patio which shows how quickly they have settled. They don’t even wait for it to get dark.
The bedtime line up
Some things don’t change though. Butterscotch still likes the middle of the perch. Peaches and Barley still like to stick together. Emerald or Toffee are often apart from the rest of the girls. Has Emerald been sent to Coventry? Sometimes, especially when it’s cold, they are all bunched up together only taking up half the perch.
I used to wonder why, when they sit together during the day, they couldn’t just sit together at night without a fuss first. I hadn’t realised at the time how disruptive the two top girls aggressive behaviour was. I am sure that Speckles has a much nicer life now than before.
The routine is now easy and quick and settled which is so nice to see.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
It was the best decision. I could see to day how calm they all were … except for the racket from Butterscotch because Emerald was laying the nest box over her egg. Even sparkle took some dandelion leaves from me which she like not have done a few weeks ago,
A happy , contented little flock.
It is so weird isn’t it! All that racket because Emerald was sitting on Butterscotch’s egg and as soon as I removed both eggs there was calm again. How they do they know? Later I found that Speckles had laid her egg in the chicken shed. She probably decided to stay out of their way while Butterscotch was being noisy.
There was a time when Speckles would never take dandelions from our hands but now she is a different girl. They are a happy flock.