The girls are separated

I went out at half past six this morning to separate the girls. My plan was to lure them all into the little girls side with some corn then steer the two big girls back out into their side. What a stupid plan. It was like a comedy farce.

Firstly I put the open corn tub down on my side of the gate forgetting that there was a gap under the old gate (since turning it round) that I had meant to fill with soil.

Sparkle and Amber squeezed under the gate and had their heads in the corn tub in seconds. I grabbed the corn tub and put the lid on then unlocked the garden shed and got the fork and spade.

I heaped soil against the gate and lured the two little girls back to their side with a little more corn.

Then the fun and games began. As soon as the big girls realized I wanted them out of that area they determined that it wasn’t going to happen. They evaded me and would go through the small gap where I couldn’t reach them. When I told my husband later he asked why I didn’t close off the gap to keep them out of there. In my efforts to persuade them out of that area I just hadn’t thought of that!

I tried digging for worms which always attracts the big girls but when I dug on my side of the gate they wouldn’t cross as if there was an invisible barrier.

In the end I had to scatter some corn on my side and let them all back out, then I lured the big girls further from the gate with corn and lured the little girls back in with a little more corn. Finally I had them in the correct areas but it had taken half an hour and more corn than I like them to have.

This is clearly not going to work so tomorrow morning I have another plan. I will open the store cabinet to get the corn which always makes the big girls jump on to the coop roof. I will then lift them down and pop them into the coop closing the door.

I will then get the little girls into their side with a sprinkle of corn then close the gate. Then I can let the big girls out of the coop and give them a little corn. I am sure this is a better plan.

The girls are now separated

They have chard from my friend Jackie’s allotment

The new gate is now closed

Later in the afternoon Dotty and Pepper were enjoying a lovely dust bath.

Dust bath

Topaz has found one of the new perches and discovered that she can reach the leaves on the tree from there.

Topaz

A little later still Sparkle was on the perch and Topaz was in the middle of the tree. She jumped down before I could take a photo.

Sparkle

The little girls gradually discovered all the perches and the big girls re-discovered the ladder and the perch next to it.

An hour before bedtime I let the girls mix in the whole space. Topaz usually puts herself to bed in the nest box an hour before the other girls and Sparkle settles on the top of store cabinet half an hour before the other girls get ready for bed. They are busy with their routine of topping up with food and water before bedtime and I don’t think they will be doing any plucking during this ritual bedtime routine.

I hope my plan for the morning works a bit easier than this morning but overall I am really pleased with how it is working out.