First an update on Bluebell after her broody afternoon in the nest box the day before yesterday. Yesterday Pepper and Dotty laid an egg but Bluebell missed a day and behaved as normal. It’s unusual for Bluebell to miss a day after only three days in a row as she usually averages about twenty in a row, so the missed day may have had something to do with her broodiness. Today she laid her egg early this morning and her behaviour is still back to normal so I think the missed day broke her short broody spell.
Today we decided to take the cover off the garden part of the run. I have been thinking about this for a while as I want the girls to have direct sunlight but worry that if we have a wet summer like last year we will back to mud and the girls constantly having muddy feet. We are trying to come up with ideas of some sort of cover that could be pulled across during wet spells and opened up when dry. We have decided to leave the triangular corner bit covered for now.
The run with the cover on
Inside the run with the cover on
Pepper and Bluebell obscuring my view
Inside the run without the cover
Umbrella down
The girls reaction to the closed umbrella
We then decided to close the umbrella to allow more sun into the run but the girls don’t like the umbrella closed. They retreated to the safety of the coop roof. I left the umbrella down for a while to see if they would get used it but when I went back to check on them they were all hiding behind the big bush. I relented and put the umbrella back up and normality was immediately restored! I am not sure if they will ever get used to the umbrella being closed.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
On a site somewhere I saw a tip that you might like to use .They used and old roller blind base and rolled water proof on to it .Fixed it to the roof and had a long cord that went over the edge to make it easier to pull across the top when needed. We have saved a roller for this purpose one day and I think it would work .
I had that idea but Richard said he didn’t think the plastic sheeting would roll very well and wasn’t sure if the water would run off properly. We have to fit what ever from the inside as we can’t get to the outside because it borders the neighbours fence and we can’t reach. He is thinking of plastic percpect strips that would snap into place between the wooden beams. I’m not really sure what he means either, I am leaving it with him!
Of course they would get used to the umbrella being closed – it just might take them a few days. They got used to it being up when you first put it in didn’t they?
You should just leave it down until they get used to it.
I know, but it took them three days before they would use the garden when we first put it in and I didn’t want to remove the roof then stop them using the garden while it’s actually sunny for a change.
What I might do is have the umbrella up for part of the day then down for part of the day, every day, for a while and see if they get used to that. It probably won’t work but it’s worth a try.