For the last three days I have been letting the girls mix together each afternoon for an hour or two when I am able to watch them.
Speckles has been the only one to have a go at the little girls which is typical behaviour for the bottom girl. The good news is that none of the other girls have bothered with the little girls so at least they have only one girl to run from. Speckles mostly goes after Caramel, the smallest of the two little girls.
The little girls have taken to using the ladder to perch on.
Caramel and Pebbles perching on the ladder this morning
Caramel and Pebbles perching on the ladder this afternoon
In the afternoon I opened both gates and lifted the wire at both ends of the run and all the girls piled into the smallest section of the run. Yesterday I put the original flock on this side for the morning so that the little girls could have more time to get used to the other side of the run and the original girls wanted to get back to the other side. Today they were on the other side and yet when I opened it up they all piled into this bit. As they say – the grass is always greener on the other side.
With the entire run opened up all the girls piled into the smallest part of the run with the little girls
Time for a snooze
The little girls stay on the little coop roof while Peaches inspects their feeding station
When I open up the original girls always eat food from the little girl’s dish and go and take a look in the little coop. It’s as if they think the little girls may have something better than they do when in fact, of course, it’s exactly the same. They remind me of children at times.
All seven girls stayed in the smallest part of the run
All the original girls piled in to the table corner
The little girls stayed on the little coop roof out of the way of the other girls until Speckles jumped on to the little coop roof and chased them off. They ran out in to the other part of the run and up the ladder onto the high branch perch.
The little girls escaped to the high branch perch
It is good that they are learning all the escape routes and where all the perches are but I worry about them getting stuck too high up.
I decided that this was enough for today and closed the gates and the wire and got the original girls back on their side once more. I then decided to lift the little girls down. My husband said that they would be able to fly down but I worry about them getting down safely.
While watching them I am able to assess anything that needs tweaking. I think I will get some more branch perches and put them in lower down so that there are more places for the little girls to perch.
I also noticed that Caramel could get cornered and trapped in the corner at the back of the gate when it’s open. I have decided to lift the wire by this corner so that she can pop through to the other side. As these girls are so little I think it’s best to have as many escape holes as possible.
I think it is going really well but I just don’t want to risk any harm coming to the little girls. I will start mixing them for longer Friday afternoon and at the weekend when I don’t need to go out and I can keep a close watch on them.
It would be good if I could get them together over the weekend but I will play it by ear as I would rather take longer than take any risks. If these girls were not so tiny I would probably go for it at the weekend but I am being more cautious because of their small size.
Overall I am really pleased with the progress and I am sure they will all be together soon.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
It certainly look as though all is going well. When they are all together I can see how tiney these little these girls are.They really are so cute. I also think what a nice picture of all the girls on the table.
The little girls are really tiny. The other girls have always really liked the table. It’s one of the best things we put in for them. When we put it in the run we never thought they would like it so much. Jackie used to say, when she visited, how much the girls liked the table. It is fun to see them all together on the table.
Seems like really good progress; you are watching over them like a mother hen!
It is going really well. They have been together all afternoon today. Post coming soon, I took photos but haven’t had time to write it up yet. Mother hen, you make me laugh! I am planning to progress to the next stage tomorrow. Watch this space.