The new run

This morning I was itching to continue working on the run. I decided to get the little girls part of the run as ready for them as I could.

I closed off the gap at the patio end to start getting them used to it being closed. I moved buckets of soil from the centre of the run to the wire divider to make sure there is no gap underneath.

I put one of the little coops in the little girls side to be used as a nest box but this time I faced it towards the bush to make it darker inside and more secluded.

I set up a food dish and water. The girls soon explored the new feeding station but I wonder how long it will take to start using the nest box. I suppose if it is the only one they will soon get used to it.

The right hand side is the part that the little girls will have with an opening going out into the right hand side of the new run.

Nest box coop and feeding station

My reason for separating the big and little girls is to stop the little girls getting plucked. Honey and Amber now both have bare necks but poor little Amber looks the worst she has ever looked. She now has bare patches on her head and looks a sorry state. The new girls are also both getting bare patches on their bottoms.

Honey’s bare neck

Amber’s bare neck and bare patches on her head

I can’t wait to get them separated and stop this. I only hope their feathers grow back in before the next moult.

When I got back from my deliveries at lunch time the guys were back on the job. I shut the girls in the small separated part of the run so that the guys could make the opening between the two runs and get started on getting the roof on.

They used weld mesh until it run out then finished with a roll of very fine holed galvanised chicken wire.

Getting the roof on

The run is finished

I went over the run picking up any debris then I let the girls out of the small area. Honey and Amber soon found their way into the new part of the run.

Honey and Amber are the only ones brave enough to explore the new space

They look so lost in this big space. I let them have it to themselves for a few minutes and they soon found a few worms without competition.

The big girls haven’t yet stepped over the threshold

I’m not sure the big girls can work it out yet

Finally I scattered some corn to get them all in the new area

The weld mesh was sunk into the ground but as an extra precaution I dug a trench round the three new sides and laid some roof tiles in horizontally. They were left over from our loft extension. I then refilled the trench and while I did this the girls stayed close to get any worms I dug up.

The soil had got compacted by the guys working on it all afternoon so I then dug the whole area over to loosen the soil for the girls to scratch in. This turned up loads of worms and all the girls had quite a feast.

My husband dug over the strip that will have the runner beans in and laid some bricks to edge it. The bricks were the ones I took out from the border of the run and the veg plot originally.

Tomorrow I will replant the beans and chard in here but by now it was dinner time and I was shattered.

Over the next few days we will get the divider in place and my husband has started making the gate for it.

In the morning when the girls come out of the coop they will have the huge new area to scratch in. Once it’s divided we can start to put things of interest in. It is progressing really well and already the girls have a much better space.