Firstly, there are 11 very small chickens in a small coop. It;s OK with the door open, they are still small. If we shut the door, it could get a bit too hot.
Secondly, if the door is shut and one of the hormonal boys decides to start trouble, there is no way for his victim to escape. BigBoy had been causing trouble and dissent all day. I had even seen him chasing and pecking the girls, and not in a playful way.
We decided it was cool enough to risk it. They are just below us in the garden, we slept with the window open, and we can hear them well enough.
I decided I'd get up at about 6.30 to let them out, before trouble broke out. If it worked, maybe they could stay for a couple more days.
At 5.15, Sasha started. Then Fay. I got up, checked out of the window, nothing there. I stomped outside, caught them both and put them in the little wooden nestboxes. These have been brilliant. They are tall enough for any of the Girls to walk into and sit down and make herself comforrtable. They aren't tall enough for a bird to draw itself up to make the loudest racket possible. I left Fleur alone; the two Oldees, Gloria and Poppy, hadn't even got up yet.
I heard BigBoy crowing in his coop.
I went back to bed. At 6 am, Fleur started. Fleur rarely gets gobby unless everyone else is, in which case she joins in so as not to be left out. I waited for about 30 seconds to see if it would subside, and it didn't. I got up and went out. The Oldees were getting up. I shut the auto door on the main coop, caught Fleur, and posted her in to the main coop through the nest box.
Big Boy and Long John both crowed, and there was lot of impatient shuffling as I walked past.
I made a cup of tea and went upstairs. I was wide awake, so I came back down again.
I opened the Littlees coop and they all streamed out. The two leghorns crowed. There was some squawking and some bad tempered chasing around the run. I opened the run so they could get out on the grass.
Today it is.
