It was so nice to have no frost this morning and a mild day. There was a bit of sunshine throughout the day and a short shower in the late afternoon.
I wanted to take some photos of the girls enjoying the change in the weather. Seeing the craters in the dry area I could tell the girls had had a dust bath but I missed that.
The girls perched together above the ladder in the sun but I have already taken loads of photos of that recently.
What really strikes me about the flock at the moment is that it is made up of two pairs and two single girls most of the time. Emerald has become a bit of a loner since Toffee went and Speckles has always been a bit on the outside probably because she came in with Butterscotch who was also a loner.
Peaches and Barley have always been a tight pair and Rusty and Speckles have also always been a very close pair.
Peaches and Barley have some apple together
Whatever one of these girls do the other will just have to do too.
Rusty and Freckles peck at shavings together
Likewise these two always do everything together.
Emerald often struts across the patio on her own
Speckles is often on her own too and likes this spot on the wooden table
Speckles comb and wattles are getting quite red.
Fluffy bottoms
I loved this moment when the whole flock came together around the apple slices and the food dish. They all have such adorable fluffy bottoms.
There was a sudden shower and these three headed for the shelter
Whenever it rains these days these three girls will go straight to the shelter. Speckles always seems to get right inside the shelter and Peaches and Barley also like to perch here before bedtime.
Speckles is looking good
Emerald is in the food dish
Emerald has such lovely glossy feathers. She is still dropping the odd feather.
The little girls peck together
It’s difficult to get good photos of Freckles white feathers and just as I clicked this photo Rusty pecked at the ground.
Look up Rusty
Rusty looked up but Freckles white feathers lose detail. You get the gist though. You can see the pattern of how they are among the flock. Two inseparable pairs of girls and two single girls but altogether a happy flock.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
They all look in such good condition.
Not bad for the winter. Their combs will get bigger and redder as they come back into lay, maybe next month but their feathers are all looking really good.
Speckles is looking good – eggs in a few weeks; I remember how big her comb was, when she was in lay last year. We often talk about curiosity with our hens. You’d expect that, to capture that, you;d need a frontal picture; however, I think the rear view of Rusty and Freckles, in the first photo you;ve uploaded of them, shows their curiosity admirably from the rear: their very stance suggests they are really into the shavings. 🙂
Speckles, Peaches and Barley started laying mid February last year so hopefully not much longer to wait. I too love that first photo of Rusty and Freckles. They were just so intent and I have no idea why the shavings from there were more interesting than the ones on the patio but you are right, you can tell a lot about them from behind. I think that photo is so cute. You can see just how cute they are without even seeing their faces.