My little helpers

My girls have their own funny ways of interacting with me. As soon as I walk through the gate Dotty likes to jump onto my shoulder. As I walk near the coop she likes to jump from my shoulder to the coop roof. This seems to be her way of saying hello to me and she does this like clockwork, every time I go through the gate, if she is nearby.

Bluebell and Pepper like to jump on my back while I am poop picking. They are not so keen to jump down again and sometimes I traverse the entire run, crablike, with either one or the other or both these girls on my back. I can tell you this “help” really speeds up the cleaning up!

The little girls like to get on eye level with me and if I am near the coop or the big perch they are straight up there and looking me in the eye. They seem to like me to chat to them. Sometimes they look like they want to jump on me too but can’t quite work up the courage and my husband often says he thinks they will one day.

My husband bought me some disposable overshoes for my boots as he was fed up with me walking mud onto the path and patio after I had been in the run. It became a pain to keep changing my boots and my chicken run boots had become caked in mud and were falling apart. This idea works really well. I slip them over my boots and use one pair every time I go in for one day then throw them away. My boots stay protected and our paths stay clean and a big box is inexpensive and will last me ages.

The funny thing is that the little girls are fascinated by these blue plastic overshoes. The big girls take no notice of them at all but the little girls follow these shoes around and peck at them. Having said that the little girls seem to like my feet in general. In the summer they will walk over my flip flops and when I am on the patio area in my boots they peck at them but these shoes seem to attract them even more and I have no idea why.

Today I asked my husband to take the camera and try to capture some of this behaviour. I said I would poop pick as normal if he could take some photos. I have to warn you it’s not too flattering for me as I have the blue disposable gloves to poop pick, my chicken fleece which can only be worn in the run as it will have muddy feet stood on it and the even less flattering blue overshoes. The fun though is seeing how my little helpers behave.

Bluebell and Pepper are on my back while I am cleaning up

It’s difficult to see because of the apple tree but Bluebell is on my right shoulder and Pepper is on my left shoulder. Dotty and Honey are watching from the perch and Amber has one eye on my shoes.

Bluebell and Pepper on my back

You can’t see Peppers head as Bluebell is blocking her. Dotty is still watching them while Honey is looking nonchalant.

Pepper jumps to the perch but Bluebell is determined to stay put

Pepper has jumped back on the perch but even when I try to gently tip Bluebell off she counter balances herself. The little girls look on with interest.

The little girls like to follow my blue shoes

The little girls will follow my blue shoes all around the run pecking at them when they can. By the end of the day they often have little holes in them.

The little girls like to get on eye level for a chat

The little girls like me to chat to them at eye level. I had thought that I would like to get another photo of them all together on the big perch but if I come into the run they will jump down to greet me or one of them, usually Bluebell, will be off in another part of the run. However if I crouch down at eye level and chat to them, they will all come and jump onto the perch.

All five girls on the big perch

I took lots of photos of them on the perch but Dotty was preening in most of them and her head was hidden. This was the best one although there is another which is quite funny.

Bluebell stands like a penguin

I nearly rejected this photo but then thought Bluebell looks so funny and she often looks like this. I think it’s partly her upright stance but also partly that she has her legs spaced apart.

Anyway, this is how my little helpers “help” me everyday and I wouldn’t have it any other way as I just love their interaction with me. It makes poop picking a fun thing to do and keeps us bonded.