This morning I went out at six and let the bantys out of their coop. As usual Amber came straight out but Honey took a few minutes to come out. All was calm as they didn’t have to run the gauntlet of the big girls.
Today we decided that we would leave finishing the dry roofed area until tomorrow to give the bantys a stress free day. I spent a bit of time sitting in the big girls side of the run to get the bantys more used to me being in there. They seemed far less bothered by me today which is progress.
The bantys are a very tight little twosome.
The bantys sit together in a dust hollow
Bluebell and Dotty check on them
Pepper checks on them
The big girls check on them all the time, especially Bluebell. Bluebell did give one of them a peck through the wire but the banty didn’t seem bothered and didn’t move back from the wire. It amazes me that they sit against the wire even though the big girls will peck them given half a chance. Bluebell who was bottom girl is by far the worse one. She doesn’t want to be bottom girl any longer and looks as if she would love to get into the bantys side of the run.
I gave all the girls a treat of live yogurt today. I topped it with a little chopped tomato as this encourages the bantys to try something that is new to them (they love tomato). They ate a little of the yogurt. They don’t devour every last bit of the treats like the big girls do.
later this afternoon Amber wanted to practice laying an egg again. She makes a sort of churring sound and starts looking anxiously for somewhere to go. I was really pleased that she went into the coop. She spent a little time in there, came out then returned for a little while. Later in the afternoon my husband saw both Amber and Honey go into the coop for a while.
This is a really good sign because it means they now know the coop is there. I think last night they had no clue about the coop because they hadn’t yet been in it. I hope that now they have slept in it and investigated it during the day they may go into it tonight. I really do hope so. I am feeling much more positive about everything today.
The two bantys are quite difficult to tell apart. Honey had some white flecks on her collar but they have disappeared now, however Honey does have a white spot on her back near her tail and she is slightly bigger than Amber. Amber is the more feisty one of the two and is the first to come out in the mornings and was the most difficult to get in at night. Amber must be slightly more mature as she has been practising her egg laying. I wonder how long it will be before she actually lays. She practises every other day at the moment so is obviously not quite ready yet.
The bantys seem much more settled today and haven’t looked stressed or gone behind the bush at all today. I think it was definitely a good move getting them their own coop for now.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Hurrah! Softly ,softly . sounds very promising and more to the point you sound calmer .
The coup fits in perfectly .I reckon it was a good idea .
I think it’s a good idea too, I just really really hope they go in tonight! They seemed much calmer today, no stressing even when she wanted to practise laying.
Look at all the comments you are getting! Things are definitely interesting at the moment. It might be difficult for you but all of your readers obviously love a bit of drama :-p
Anyway it looks like things are improving now. Hopefully you can have a couple of disaster-free days…
I know, I’v had the most comments ever recently, which is really nice. Any way this is for tomorrows post but, success! The big girls went up on the coop roof and I popped them in just as the bantys went into their coop. I closed their door and job done with no handling them, hurrah! I am feeling elated tonight. The bantys have had a good day and gone to bed like good girls!
I find my bantams eat far less than I expect sometimes … so I give the seven of them about the same amount of treats as I do the three ex-batts!
I am new to bantams so am learning as I go along and am surprised at how little they eat and also how little they poop. At night there is sometimes none at all, they do a slightly bigger one on leaving the coop. They eat at a much slower rate than my big girls too but they do love to peck at something such as a half corn cob or a piece of apple.