Tilda decided to go to bed with the Big Girls last night.
I'd popped out earlier on and told her that she could come in if she wanted to. She ignored me. I carried on anyway, telling her that if she didn't want to go to bed with them, all she had to do was wait in the run when they went up, and I would come and get her.
And for those of you who think I am mad, this is exactly the arrangement I've had in the past with Tilda, and she has waited in the run for me to get her.
Anyway, back to last night.
I watched on the camera. The three Big Girls - Custard (Tilda's sister, and chief bully), Florence (Australorp) and Roobarb (Welsh Black) - farted around, making a really big deal out of going to bed. Poppy was sat tight on the nest box anyway, Lotti kept out of the way.
Roobarb and Custard eventually went up, although Custard reappeared shortly afterwards. I thought that Tilda was going to wait for me...but then events took a strange turn.
Florence, who had been ignoring Tilda all day, marched over to her and pecked Tilda on the head. Tilda wooshed out of the way, and ran to the bottom of the stairs. She stood at the bottom of the ladder - Custard and Roobarb had decided to have a late snack in the dust bath.
Time passed. Then Florence and Custard both appeared behind Tilda, and lunged for her, and suddenly she was up that ladder in one jump. Eventually Custard and Tilda followed. A bit later on, I went out and helped Lotti move from the veranda into the Cube. The Big Girls didn't take any notice of her, so either they are stopping her getting in when I', not loking, or she's just so used to being pecked that she can't bring herself to try without Mummy backup.
This morning, everything was fine. Tilda was stuck at the top of the ladder, so I encouraaged her into the nestbox and helped her down from there.
Both DH and I had to be out at the same time this morning, and I left Tilda shut in with the others. She was fine.
So, is this another holiday, or is she looking at emigrating?
