Vanilla

Out of the five amigos Vanilla has changed the most. The other four have stayed the same colour but Vanilla has completely changed.

When I named her Vanilla it was because she was the colour of vanilla ice cream with a few little spots of gold which reminded me of honeycomb. Honeycomb would now be a more suitable name for her as she is now mostly gold/honeycomb colour.

Vanilla had a dark patch of feathers on her head which have disappeared. She had a white tail which gradually dropped out and grew back in a gold colour.

Vanilla when we first got the amigos in August

Vanilla has a patch of dark feathers on her head

Vanilla at bedtime in September

Vanilla is starting to lose her tail

Vanilla had no tail by the end of September

Vanilla in November

Vanilla facing forward

Vanilla now looks quite different. Marmite was the only other of the amigos to lose her tail but it came back the same colour.

Vanilla is also the only serama that pecks me. I can easily pick up all the little girls except Vanilla who pecks my hand if I get anywhere near her.

Ebony and Flame will peck me if they are in the nest box and I want to check for eggs but that is the only time which, I think, is fair enough. Cinnamon will peck me if she is broody and I try to move her but that is the only time which again is fair enough. Vanilla on the other hand won’t let me near her without pecking me which is not very endearing.

I have discovered this when trying to help them at bedtime. Sometimes amongst the squabbles to get into position one of the amigos will get pushed down and I will replace them on the perch but Vanilla goes for me.

Yesterday they got caught out as it went dark really suddenly. I always check on them at dusk so they are used to me going out to them when they are perched or getting perched. I could hear a lot of shouting, especially from the bigger girls. I went to investigate and found that the pop hole had closed with most of the girls outside.

Only Cinnamon, Dandelion and Jasmine were inside. These three girls are always the first in. I thought it was interesting that the girls outside were shouting as if they knew I would come and help them in. I hooked the main door open and put a torch on the floor. This usually works when Speckles doesn’t make it in in time and earlier in the year when the three bigger girls weren’t going in before the pop hole closed.

Sienna and the three bigger girls went through the open door and jumped up to the back perch. This is a demonstration of the little girls’ pea brains. The amigos hadn’t entered the shed through the door before, unlike all the other girls. They just didn’t understand the concept of going in through the door.

I tried to shepherd them through the open door but they flew round me and waited at the pop hole each time. In the end I had to give in and lift the pop hole and they all filed through it! While trying to direct them to the open door Vanilla was pecking my hands.

Once in I lifted some of them to the perch but again Vanilla would peck my hand every time I got near her. I ended up pointing the torch to a space on the perch and letting her jump up herself.

It shows how different their characters are but I don’t know why Vanilla is so apposed to me when I am the giver of treats and have never done anything other than be kind to them. There again Topaz was the same. It’s just more surprising because seramas in general seem such friendly little girls. I hope that in time Vanilla may mellow towards me.

Tonight all the girls made it in in time. Hopefully they have learned not to leave it too late in future.