I must worry less and just enjoy!

Last night after the girls had put themselves to bed we pushed the dog crate against the coop door again, like we did on their first day with us. I lined the floor with shavings and put their food and water in. This was so that we could go out to them at 5.00am and shut the coop door, meaning they were contained in the crate so that we could pick them up.

First we picked up Pepper so that we could feel her crop to see if it’s hard and impacted. To my relief it was soft, both sides felt the same and felt as they should do. She still looks a little lop sided but I have since looked back at the photos we took on the first day and see that her chest was a bit like that to start with, so maybe it wasn’t the noodles.

Next we picked up Poppy and put the green leg ring on her. At the moment we have no problem telling them apart as they appear quite different to us, but as they become adults, they may become more alike. Pepper has some white feathers on the edge of her wings and Dotty is the smallest. Poppy has the curved tail and is taller.

Now that we have felt Pepper’s crop, I am feeling happier about her. My other worry was that Poppy may be a rooster. Flock Mistress, very kindly e-mailed me some photos of her flock at the same age as mine. Her Cuckoo Maran (coincidentally also named Poppy) turned out to be a roo, but at this stage was twice the size of the rest of the flock. She has told me not panic yet, as they can develop at different stages. She doesn’t think my Poppy looks likes a roo. Poppy is quite different from the other two but maybe she is just a different hen. She said to try to get a photo of them side by side, which I managed today while they were eating their afternoon maggots.

Dotty, Pepper and Poppy

You can see that Dotty on the left is smaller, Pepper in the middle has the white wing feathers and Poppy on the right has a much more arched tail.

I am now going to try to stop worrying and just enjoy them. Thank you Flock Mistress for your advice on this.

After eating the maggots, all three go and preen together followed by a snooze, as close to each other as they can get. The favourite spot seems to be the wooden steps and they are always in a really tight huddle.

Preening, we three are as one