Fine tuning

This morning I went out at six o’clock to let the bantys out of the nest box and soon realised the flaw in my plan. I had forgotten that the lid of the nest box is attached to the coop so I couldn’t take the nest box off to let the bantys out in their area. I tried shielding the opening with my body but they are so small and so quick that they flew out.

They are clever little girls though and they went straight to the open gate and into their area. One of the big girls tried to give a quick peck at one them as she ran past and I squirted her with the water spray. The bantys were soon in their area and I closed the gate behind them. They didn’t seem too bothered and didn’t go behind the bush but just pottered about in their run.

I think perhaps I will just let them out like this each morning as I think they are less bothered by running the gauntlet with the other girls than they are by me picking them up and I now know they will very quickly go to their run.

I am really pleased with our separated run now as it means it doesn’t matter how long the integrating takes and also if ever we need to separate a hen for any other reason it will be really useful.

The feather pulling is still going on with the big girls and although all three do it, Pepper is the worse culprit. When the girls are fully integrated I may separate Pepper either alone or with the bantys to see if I can break her of this habit.

I have been fine tuning the feeding station for the bantys. I have put the water on a paving slab to try to stop it getting so many bits in it and I have switched the bantys food dish for smaller ramkin dishes. I have given them three, one with pellets, one with mash topped with some chopped tomato and one with grit. I think smaller dishes are more suitable for them and also I will be able to get a better idea of how much they are eating.

New feeding station

By the time I went back with my camera the bantys had eaten all of the chopped tomato and wandered off.

Another added bonus with the new girls is that it’s been quieter rather than noisier. This is because when Bluebell and Dotty go in to lay their eggs together every morning, Pepper doesn’t like being out on her own and used to shout the whole time they were in there. Now we have the new girls she doesn’t feel alone and no longer shouts. The bantys make a sound like a baby duck and are really quiet, so no problem there.

We have been lucky with this aspect of it as Bluebell only shouted on the first morning but there has been no shouting since so I don’t have to worry about noise disturbing the neighbours.

The other thing I have done is to change the cardboard box for a plastic pet carry box as the bantys nest box. I think that now we have five girls a second nest box will be useful plus if we ever need a trip to the vet the box can be used as a pet carrier again. I have put pine shavings in it and put it under the bush in the shade.

New nest box

It now remains to be seen how long it will take them to discover it and will they actually use it! I can but hope.

I forgot to update on the banty using the cardboard nest box the day before yesterday. She sat in the box for about an hour then gave up without an egg. From this I conclude that she is just about to start laying and not quite sure if she is ready yet. My big girls all went into the nest box for a few days before they actually laid an egg. Yesterday was probably too stressful as we were putting up the divider and gate. Neither has shown any interest today either.

The little mash dish was empty by lunch time so I am pleased to know that they are eating, I just couldn’t tell with a bigger dish. I refilled it for them and I think the pellets had gone down too. I also gave them some spinach leaves and a bit of apple.

So far so good! We will let the bantys out before dusk again tonight but about ten minutes earlier and see how that goes.