Saturday 5 May 2012

Broodiness continues

Milly and Florence are obstinately continuing to be broody.  It's two and a half weeks now, so they should give up the idea in another week or so.


Every morning when I go to eject them, I find them squashed in one nestbox (DH made a divider so I could divide the Cube's roomy single nestbox into two slightly snug ones). usually they are both trying to cover an egg laid by one of the 3 non-broody girls.    The side they are sitting in rotates, as the non broody girls go into the unoccupied cubicle to lay.


Every morning, the same routing.  Lots of bad tempered growling (from the Girls, not me);  Milly comes out first, with her head down so low that I'm surprised she doesn't hypnotise herself.  I lower my hands, with her gripping to my thumbs or whatever else she's been able to get hold of,  then as I get near the ground she leaps off, lands, and a big poo explodes from her nether regions.   


Florence, who is much bigger and heavier and fidgetier, is harder to remove. She's learnt that if I have to get her out backwards, it's harder.  So, I try and get her out (holding her wings so she can't use them like arms to block the entrance), and as she comes out backwards she grips the edge of the egg port.  I then have to unstick one foot, which switches to grapping the fleshy part of my hand; and then unstick the other, which grabs the other hand, and  I move her away like that. Of course this means both my hands are rather full and I can't hod her wings, so we get a bit of wing flapping.  Her bottom is usually pointed at my chest at this point,  so I try to lower her to the ground as quickly as possible.


We repeat this process a couple of times a day.


On the plus side, it does give me an opportunity to stroke and cuddle my two girls who rarely permit me to handle them (especially Florence).

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