Tilda has just spent her 14th night out with The Others.
Apart from a little wobble last Thursday, when she came and sat in the kitchen for a while, she's been OK. Mostly.
To mark this milestone, I folded up the dog crate that had been her pied-a-terre for the last 8 months. It's still in the kitchen, just folded up and leaning against some kitchen units. It'll get back to My Shed eventually. Just not yet.
Poppy (1 year old, Australorp x Indian Game) is still broody. She comes off the nest, eats, poos, drinks... but then goes back on. I've shut everyone out of the coop each afternoon and, as soon as I reopen the door at 7pm, she bolts up the ladder. I've started to take her out in the morning and shut her in the Purple Cube run (with the pop hole shut). Once the others had laid, I shut the orange pop hole, and released Poppy. In the meantime she has fresh water, fresh food, mealworms. I'm wondering if she's staying broody to avoid confrontations with Tilda?
Florence (3 years old, Australorp) is now trying to go broody. I caught her eating an egg today. I think she probably sat on a weak shelled egg and broke it, as her front and tummy were covered in a sticky mess. Her beak was all yolky, which might have been from where she was trying to groom herself, but it was more likely from her eating the remains. I took her in the house and gave her a bath, and I found that she's losing her breast feathers. If she goes broody, she's going in the purple cube run straight away. It seems kinder than putting her in a broody cage.
