It's not particularly for safety reasons, it'e entirely selfish. I discovered that if I make sure that only Phyllis is allowed in with Astrid and Sunshine (the two leghorns), then there is relative peace first thing in the morning. The noise doesn't start until 6ish.
If I let anyone else join them, the trouble starts before the coops open at 5.25 am.
For six out of the the last seven mornings, I've not had to get up until 6am. Somewhere in the middle I allowed Elizabth to join the orange cube, and I had to get up at 5.15.
The flocks have been tolerating each other reasonably well, with a couple of unpleasant incidents. Four of the five Evacuees have been gradually spending more time down near the house.
Nora, who is well over 9, blind in one eye, and has been badly attacked by Fleur, is a little more reticent. I hefted her the other day, and she's lighter than she was. They've been here for 7 weeks now, and I'm amazed that the shock of the change o the environment, the regime and the flock composition (and the fights - some of which she has been the winner) didn't kill her.
The recent rain has been very welcome. The grass was parched, and the wear caused by last years massive run for the chicks - which we thought had recovered - came to the surface on our "lawn".
DH rotovated the old chick area at the allotment, over the course of a few days, and put grass seed down. He had removed all the netting which enclosed the allotment, so I suspect a lot of the seed might have been eaten. He timed it so that it was down just before the rain came, so he didn't have to water by hand.
I haven't been down to the allotment since we evacuated the girls.
DH was adamant that we won't be putting hens on there again, but have agreed to see how we feelwhen the Covid situation is under control. Each morning, when I get up at silly o'clock and later when we have Nest Box Wars, I make a mental note of which girls I'd like to put on the allotment and which girls I'd keep in the garden.
I don't know if we will return to it. I don't know how many Girls we'll have left when the time comes. I have a lot of very OABs in the garden at the moment, 3 of whom are from the same hatch. There are at least 4 that I anticipate may well die of natural old age at any time, and 3 slightly younger girls that have a not particularly robust conformation and whose sisters/mothers died at around the age these girls are at now.
So we'll see.
And that reminds me. It's a sunny-ish morning, and BigBird, who has the loveliest nature but a brick shaped body, needs a bath .
