We've introduced a new friend for Poppy.
Yesterday lunchtime, DH went to the allotment to collect hatching eggs and to bring back Gorgeous. She's one of Poppy's hatch mates from 2012 and would have joined Poppy as a Garden Girl if Lotti (exchequer leghorn) had turned out to be a boy. Well, Lotti was a girl, and so Gorgeous went off to the allotment along with the others. She was the only one of that group that was 'properly' named, the others are known by the colour of their rings (Lightpink, Darkpink, Blue, Noring, and NoringSaddle). She was the obvious choice - from my point of view - to bring back to be Poppy's new friend.
Yesterday lunchtime, DH went to the allotment to collect hatching eggs and to bring back Gorgeous. She's one of Poppy's hatch mates from 2012 and would have joined Poppy as a Garden Girl if Lotti (exchequer leghorn) had turned out to be a boy. Well, Lotti was a girl, and so Gorgeous went off to the allotment along with the others. She was the only one of that group that was 'properly' named, the others are known by the colour of their rings (Lightpink, Darkpink, Blue, Noring, and NoringSaddle). She was the obvious choice - from my point of view - to bring back to be Poppy's new friend.
DH popped her into the garden straightaway. She and Poppy saw each other and then carefully avoided and stepped round each other. They both free ranged all afternoon, giving each other a wide berth with minimal (preferably zero) eye contact or aggression if their paths crossed.
During the afternoon I introduced Gorgeous to the Cube. She was unimpressed
Early evening, we shut them up in the big run together. Plenty of corn, some cat food. Plenty of room, 2 feeders, 2 drinkers, spaced apart. Plenty of hiding places in case war broke out.
Same behaviour.
Same behaviour.
At near-bedtime, Poppy sat in the dustbath. Not dustbathing, just sitting, quietly.
Gloria (as she will, I think, become) was testing out everything above the floor as a possible perch. At the allotment, in her shed coop, they have roosting poles well above the ground, and she was obviously looking for something similar here. She tried the arm of the big wooden garden chair, the back of the garden chair, and finally settled on one of the perches fairly high up the side.
Gloria (as she will, I think, become) was testing out everything above the floor as a possible perch. At the allotment, in her shed coop, they have roosting poles well above the ground, and she was obviously looking for something similar here. She tried the arm of the big wooden garden chair, the back of the garden chair, and finally settled on one of the perches fairly high up the side.
Nothing much happened.
I wondered if it might be a case of "the first to go in loses".
I picked up Gloria, carried her round to the egg port, and posted her into the Cube. Then I collected Poppy, and put he into the Cube too. Gloria came out and went back to her perch. Poppy came out and went back to the dust bath.
We decided to wait until the light was fading before trying anything else.
Time passed. Poppy took herself to bed. I found her sitting in one side of the nestbox (we have a divider to split the Cube's enormous nestbox into 2). I collected Gloria, and posted her into the other nestbox. She walked through and stood on the roosting bars.
I was tempted to shut the pop hole, but I wanted to leave an escape route in case there was any aggression. Frankly, this didn't seem likely. Neither Girl is showing any dominating tendencies so far, but you just never know.
And I left them to it.
We decided to wait until the light was fading before trying anything else.
Time passed. Poppy took herself to bed. I found her sitting in one side of the nestbox (we have a divider to split the Cube's enormous nestbox into 2). I collected Gloria, and posted her into the other nestbox. She walked through and stood on the roosting bars.
I was tempted to shut the pop hole, but I wanted to leave an escape route in case there was any aggression. Frankly, this didn't seem likely. Neither Girl is showing any dominating tendencies so far, but you just never know.
And I left them to it.
