A very close flock

I think that the flock is the tightest it has ever been at the moment. It has been a really close flock since Peaches and Barley left the flock but the girls have pulled even closer since we lost Rusty.

Speckles is still playing the role of mother hen to the little girls which she has been doing since Peaches and Barley left the flock in May. Five months of being a mother hen to the little girls when real mother hens only do this for about six to eight weeks. We wonder how long she will do this. My theory is she will probably change when she starts laying again in the spring but we shall see. It may also change if more girls come into the flock.

She calls the little girls to treats and picks up bits to drop in front of them even though they are perfectly capable of finding their own bit’s. She is totally unselfish with the little girls which is not like chickens at all. On their part they accept her as a mother figure and gather around her all the time.

If there is a sudden loud noise or a loud bird noise they all close in around her. It seems that they are happy to have her as a mother figure. It’s the most odd but also endearing thing I have come across since keeping chickens.

Emerald appears to be really feeling her age and spends a lot of her time perched while the rest of the flock potter around together. At the end of the day they all perch together. I took all these photos in one day.

Emerald spends a lot of her day perched like this

Speckles has her girls gathered around her, Freckles just moved out of shot as I took this

Speckles watches over her girls as they dust bath and peck at the soil

A communal preening session

They gather again on the other side of the run

Now Emerald perches on the other ladder

All of the rest of the girls preen below Emerald’s spot

It’s a communal preening “headless chicken” session

All the girls perch on the ladder

Freckles moves up the ladder

This was my favourite picture of the day. It is heart warming to see how together the flock are.