Sleeping the girls together

Yesterday I mixed the girls all afternoon and once again they spent the entire time at the top of the ladder.

The really annoying thing was, that Rusty actually perched next to them at the top of the ladder without any fuss at all, but every time they came down and attempted to get to the food dish she chased them back up the ladder again.

Rusty snoozes in the sun on the same perch as Cinnamon and Apricot

Look how close Rusty is to Cinnamon

At one point I went to pick Rusty up and she squatted for me so she is getting ready to lay any time now. Maybe that will help her calm down a bit.

I separated the girls before bedtime to give the new girls a bit of respite and decided to try sleeping them together to see if this would help things along. We put up another low, broom handle, perch in the opposite corner to the one Rusty and Freckles sleep in.

I waited until the main flock were all in their bedtime positions then I picked up the new girls and placed them in the shed. They came straight back out again.

I put them back in again and this time unhooked and closed the pop hole door. I checked on them after a few minutes and all three were huddled in the corner directly below the bigger girls. This was no good as they would get pooped on.

I picked them up one at a time and put them on the new perch. I checked back in a few minutes and they were still where I had put them.

The new girls on their new perch

The rest of the girls

The new girls perch is just showing on the right of the photo. I went out a bit later and they were settled on the perch so I hooked the automatic door back up. It was already in the closed position by now.

Yesterday the automatic door opened at quarter past seven so I planned to go out at seven o’clock and make sure the new girls got out okay. I looked out of the window at five to seven and the girls were already out so I missed the door opening.

They all seemed okay though. I scattered the morning sunflower hearts and the entire flock took them together. I was kicking myself that I had forgotten my camera and by the time I went back with it the flock had dispersed and I had missed the shot.

By the time I had done the morning clean up in the shed the new girls were back up the ladder. I put a few extra dishes of mash around the run and decided to leave to them until it’s time to go out for my lunch deliveries. I will then separate them again so that can have a scratch, possibly a dust bath, and feed in peace while I am out.

It will be interesting to see if they remember where to go at bedtime tonight. If they don’t go in on their own I will put them in again. As their perch is right by the door I feel it’s easy for them to get out first in the mornings. We have achieved the new girls first night on a perch so that is a step forward.