A fish treat and a further tweak to the bedtime perch

The two newest girls hadn’t had fish as a treat before today so I decided to see if they liked it. I divided the fish into four little dishes and put three dishes on the patio for the bigger girls.

I put the fourth dish in the run and guarded it for the little girls. I soon found that they  liked it. It also showed that Pebbles is definitely top girl of these three. She tried to peck Rusty and Freckles away from the fish dish. They were undeterred though and sprang around her to take a peck of fish or they snatched a bit of fish and moved away with it.

The two newest girls have their first fish treat

Rusty likes the fish

The little girls fish dish was soon emptied

I had to constantly fend off the bigger girls but by the time the little girls had finished their dish the three dishes on the patio were also emptied.

The fish didn’t last long and they obviously enjoyed it. It will be easy to use this again next time the girls need worming. I will just have to work out how to keep the big and little girls apart so that they all get an equal share.

This afternoon we added the previous bedtime perch behind the existing bedtime perch to create a double perch like the one at the back of the shed. We hope this will enable Freckles to manage to jump and land on it.

I decided to show it to Freckles and Rusty but by the time I had perched them on it and got my camera ready they were about to jump down. They are not interested in being on the bedtime perch during the day.

Freckles jumping down from the perch

Rusty about to jump down

I hope this solves the problem because I have no idea what else we can do.

We had to go out at six o’clock as we had a hundred and forty plated suppers and desserts to deliver for a folk evening. This meant that I didn’t have time to wait to see if Freckles could manage the perch and it will have to wait until tomorrow night.

Pebbles and Rusty were perched but Freckles was taking too long so I had to put her on the perch. At one point Peaches and Barley pecked Speckles down from the corner and as she went she knocked Rusty from her place on the little perch. Rusty immediately jumped back up so I am confidant that she is fine with it. It’s just a case of waiting until tomorrow to see if Freckles can master it.

Three little girls on the bedtime perch, Rusty has jumped back up and is steadying herself

This was how I left them. I had to know that they were safely in place before we left so we will continue with the bedtime routine tomorrow.