Sleeping arangements

Last night I checked the girls before bedtime and was surprised to find that both chicks were with the big girls.

The main flock were all in their usual positions.  Barley was on the new, narrower, more favoured perch. Peaches was on the high, thicker perch. Peaches looked stressed as she doesn’t like the thicker perch but she couldn’t work out to get off it (we will change this to a narrower perch when we find something more suitable).

Bedtime positions

Peaches was looking stressed

I felt she would be much happier next to Barley. I gently lifted her from her position and put her on the perch next to Barley and she settled and looked happier.

Peaches was much happier next to Barley

We have been experiencing unusually high temperatures at the moment. I had decided that last night I would let the girls roost on the perches as I worried that they would be too hot in the coop.

The run is predator proof and although I normally prefer the girls be in the coop the night before I had woken up at half past three feeling really hot despite sleeping by an open window. I had started to worry about how hot the girls were and went out to them with a torch and opened the door to the chicks coop and removed the side panel from the big girls coop.

We decided that during the few nights it’s forecast to be exceptionally hot it would be safer to leave the girls out.

However at half past two in the morning we were woken up by a terrific storm. There was lots of overhead thunder and lightening as well as heavy rain.

Again I went out to the girls by torch light. I lifted them all down from the perches and put them in the coop. I was afraid the storm would frighten them and felt happier to know they were safe in the coop and I knew they would only be in there for a couple of hours before the automatic door opened at first light.

This morning when I went out all the girls were happy in the run together and everything was fine and the air was, thankfully, cooler.