We decided to reinstate the extra perch across the right hand corner of the shed. Speckles often used to perch here when she was pushed off the main perch and I struggled to remember why we had taken it out. My husband reminded me that I thought it was causing the little girls to have to run the gauntlet of passing underneath it to get in at night, while often Speckles was perched there intimidating them.
We have now decided this is the lesser of two evils and will see if this improves the bedtime situation.
This perch is just above the pop hole which is why we removed it. Putting it back has got to be worth a try.
I gave the girls some yogurt this afternoon. It’s the first time the two newer girls have tried yogurt. You might wonder from the photos where the bigger girls are. For some reason completely unknown to me, they were all five of them, scratching in the shavings in the chicken shed. I have no idea what the attraction is in there but it was a good opportunity for the little girls to have four dished to themselves.
At first Rusty and Freckles were reluctant to take the yogurt from the dishes. Instead they pecked at the splashes of yogurt on the patio.
They decided that they do like yogurt.
And now, back to bedtime. The extra perch did help a bit to give Speckles somewhere to go during the usual jostling for position.
After I had taken these photos there was a lot more jostling for position with the bigger girls jumping up and down from the perches and the little girls all back out again during the disturbance.
Sometimes the little girls took their place again and sometimes they came back out again, with me ending up putting them back on their perch once the bigger girls were in place.
It is still a work in progress with me having to help things along. Pebbles sticks it out most of the time so I hope that eventually the other two little girls will stick it out too. With so much jostling for position it’s not surprising that it makes the little girls run back out again.
I need to end up with all the girls sleeping in the chicken shed together so we will have to keep working at it. I am hopeful that we get there eventually.
I am sure you will, People who have hens and do not watch them like you do, proberly dont realise all the goings on at night.I know i never knew so much about keeping hens, as i do learning from you.They are lucky little girls, with all their treats.
I think you are right. Farmers certainly don’t watch over them at bedtime, of course, so they have to just get on with it. It is different when they are beloved pets. For treats, I want to give them the best and happiest life possible but I do make sure their treats are healthy too. I read on forums of people giving their chickens all sorts of things that I wouldn’t as I don’t think it’s healthy, such as pasta, rice, spaghetti, bread etc. Of course a little bit of these things is okay but I prefer to stick to healthier treats. Greens are good for them and they absolutely love them. The little girls wait until the bigger girls have moved away from the patio area and then move in for the greens etc.