Shadow and Sugar

The chicks are growing up. They are around five months old now. They are transitioning from their chick cheeping to a more grown up sound.

They are beautiful girls and very friendly.

One of the things that is happening at the moment is that the little girls are not always getting in the chicken shed before the automatic door closes. The three bigger girls are always in in time. The little girls leave it until the last minute and sometimes get shut out.

I go in at dusk each evening to put in any that are shut out. If Shadow and Sugar are shut out they both fly to my back as soon as I go through the gate.

Sometimes Shadow is in and Sugar is out and then Sugar flies to my back. I think that Sugar is out most often because she is the more bold of the two and leaves it until later. Salmon and Spangle are often out too as they also leave it late and occasionally all of the little girls are shut out. It is fortunate that they have me to put them in.

Last night my lovely husband took a photo of Sugar on my back. It is blurred because the flash on my camera has stopped working and without the flash the photos come out blurred at low light but it gives the gist.

It is endearing but it isn’t very easy to move her from here. I have to reach my fingers under her feet and then bring her down to the perch. Sometimes she flies back again and I think she would be happy to perch on me all night!

Sometimes Sugar flies on to my head which is actually easier for me to lift her down from. It’s a good job these girls are so small. I think she thinks I am her mum and her safe place. Sometimes if I am collecting the other girls and putting them on the perch Sugar will jump on my arms several times. I try to get her feet to the perch while she is trying to get back up my arms.

This has become our bedtime ritual at the moment. It’s hard not find it quite endearing though. They are funny little girls.