Little girls dust bathing

Yesterday afternoon the little girls were really going for it in a dust bath. I think perhaps it was too hot for the big girls. Once again I have good and bad news on the feather pulling. The bad news is that whilst I thought Honey had been untouched, I could see when she was writhing in the dust bath and throwing her head back, that she too has a bare patch on the front of her neck.

Dust bathing bantys

Honey is on the left and is showing a bare patch on her neck.

Writhing around in the dust bath

The good news is that since the start of the hot weather a week ago, I have found no feathers in the run and not caught any of the girls feather pulling. Yesterday afternoon when they usually all sit in a huddle and pull feathers, they were all sat in a group, but spaced out at about two feet apart. I think it’s too hot to sit close together and while spaced out, they can’t reach to pull feathers. It may be a faint hope, but I am hoping that the hot spell may last long enough to break them from the habit. That would be a real bonus because I know they don’t actually like the hot weather.

Since the start of the hot weather Bluebell has switched from laying in the little coop back to laying every day in the main nest box. I think this is because the little coop gets hotter. They are both under the roofed area which is shaded by large trees at the back of the garden but mid morning a shaft of sunlight gets through to the little coop. Pepper who is a very stubborn girl, still lays in the little coop. The other effect of the hot weather is that the bantys have stopped laying altogether. They had been laying every other day and now haven’t laid for six and seven days. They seem happy in every other way so I am not worried.

At bedtime when I lift the girls down to put them in the coop the little girls now don’t mind at all. They only perched on the big perch with the big girls one evening then reverted back to sitting on my little chair that hangs under the roof. I think the big perch is too fat for their little feet. What is sweet is that as I lift them down they now curl their little toes round my fingers. It’s an incredibly sweet feeling.

The other sweet thing is that Pepper and Dotty always jump on my back whenever they can. Since the hot weather, I have been wearing sun tops with my back and shoulders bare so have been trying not to face my back to them because I was worried they would scratch me. A few times they have been too quick for me and have jumped on my bare back but it’s as if they sense that they need to be careful. They very gently and slowly drop down my back and jump off and have never left a mark or a scratch on me. It amazes me how gentle they are with me.

Finally, I been trying not to keep deviating from chickens to the garden but couldn’t resist including the delphiniums.

Delphiniums

The dark blue ones are so tall they reach up into the rambling rose next to the garden bird feeders, but the pale blue ones in the foreground are my favourite.  They are such a delicate colour.