Milly is now back to her bullying spiteful self. She had a couple of quiet days, one with looking very sorry for herself and the oother where she was only in the mood to bully in spurts.
Roobarb, meanwhile, started refusing to go back in the Run. She's still growing her new feathers and a couple of the others (including Milly) have been taking the opportunity to barge into her a lot. It's taken several - spaced out - attempts to get her in in the evening. I had to go and do the allotment Girls on Friday and I shut the chicks in, then shut the Girls in. Roob refused. I tried a few times, at intervals, but she just would not go in and she would not be caught. In frustration, I left her out, telling her that if she got eaten by a fox it would be her own fault.
On Saturday I had a doctors appointment at 9.00. I let the Girls (and the chicks) out early, then attempted to shut them in again at 8.30. Everyone except Roobarb. Several attempts later, I was going to be late, so once again she was left out.
On Saturday night, Milly and Florence decided that if Roobarb got to stay out, they should too. My frustration - in the midst of heavy rain - almost boiled over. I picked up a garden rake and chased them into the Run. I felt really sheepish afterwards - sodden and sheepish - but I was reaching the end of my tether.
This morning I had to move the chicks Cube. It's currently got 3m of run, as well as the 1m under the Cube, so it's quite big to manouevre, especially as I wanted to turn it 90 degrees. The Chicks thought this was a great game, and when I had to temporarily move some of the netting, they seized on the opportunity to break free. I let them.
They were fairly easy to round up, Garvo was offered as a bribe and this brough 15 of the 18 back in to their area immediately. The ohter 3 weren't so cooperative, and I mentally marked their cards.
The Big Girls decided that they were missing out on something, so started wailing in chorus. I try not to react to them when they start (they quickly learn to associate wailing with attention), but I could feel myself getting really really annoyed. I came inside and sat down for a few minutes.
I'm going a bit stir crazy.
I know that the chicks have plenty of room in the cube run to be perfectly IK for me to leave them for an hour or so. However, I also know that it's like kids in the back of the car. That bit of giggling shoving and puhing can quickly get out of hand and turn nasty. With chicks, if blood is drawn it could be disastrous. For that reason, as they are at the age where they are doing a lot of "play" fighting, I don't like them to be shut in any more than absolutely necessary.
It's only a problem because DH is away, so it's not possible for us to coordinate being in and being out.
It wil be fine. It's not for much longer.
Roobarb, meanwhile, started refusing to go back in the Run. She's still growing her new feathers and a couple of the others (including Milly) have been taking the opportunity to barge into her a lot. It's taken several - spaced out - attempts to get her in in the evening. I had to go and do the allotment Girls on Friday and I shut the chicks in, then shut the Girls in. Roob refused. I tried a few times, at intervals, but she just would not go in and she would not be caught. In frustration, I left her out, telling her that if she got eaten by a fox it would be her own fault.
On Saturday I had a doctors appointment at 9.00. I let the Girls (and the chicks) out early, then attempted to shut them in again at 8.30. Everyone except Roobarb. Several attempts later, I was going to be late, so once again she was left out.
On Saturday night, Milly and Florence decided that if Roobarb got to stay out, they should too. My frustration - in the midst of heavy rain - almost boiled over. I picked up a garden rake and chased them into the Run. I felt really sheepish afterwards - sodden and sheepish - but I was reaching the end of my tether.
This morning I had to move the chicks Cube. It's currently got 3m of run, as well as the 1m under the Cube, so it's quite big to manouevre, especially as I wanted to turn it 90 degrees. The Chicks thought this was a great game, and when I had to temporarily move some of the netting, they seized on the opportunity to break free. I let them.
They were fairly easy to round up, Garvo was offered as a bribe and this brough 15 of the 18 back in to their area immediately. The ohter 3 weren't so cooperative, and I mentally marked their cards.
The Big Girls decided that they were missing out on something, so started wailing in chorus. I try not to react to them when they start (they quickly learn to associate wailing with attention), but I could feel myself getting really really annoyed. I came inside and sat down for a few minutes.
I'm going a bit stir crazy.
I know that the chicks have plenty of room in the cube run to be perfectly IK for me to leave them for an hour or so. However, I also know that it's like kids in the back of the car. That bit of giggling shoving and puhing can quickly get out of hand and turn nasty. With chicks, if blood is drawn it could be disastrous. For that reason, as they are at the age where they are doing a lot of "play" fighting, I don't like them to be shut in any more than absolutely necessary.
It's only a problem because DH is away, so it's not possible for us to coordinate being in and being out.
It wil be fine. It's not for much longer.
