It was getting dark as we drove homee, and I commented on how long its been since we've driven anywhere In the dark. Then we realised it had been a long time since we had driven anywhere.
We got home. I hesitated about going out to check on the Girls. I check every day, in case someone hasn't been able to get in the coop. I've also been checking that Nora, our oldest lady, hasnt been forced into sleeping on her own in the emergencu coop. There hasn't been an issue, even Nora hasn't been on her own for weeks. It was bitter outside, I wanted to get on with dinner.
But I went out anyway, just in case.
Before my torch conked out, I saw that there was one girl, no, 2 girls, sitting on the mezzanine outside the orange cube. I wondered what had gone wrong.
I went back in to the house to get my phone: i need to use an app to open the coop door. I also needed a working torch.
Back outside, I activated the coop door opener. . While it it was opening, I opened the back of the Cube to see who was in there. I put a torch inside, and three girls scurried in. They were all Purple Cubers, so I realised something must have gone on with the other Cube.
I walked to the free side of the Cjbe Run, lifted the rain cover, and realised there were 3 more purple Cubers still on the mezzanine!
These 3 would not budge.
The next 20 minutes were farcical.
To get them go move, i had to squeeze between thd two cube runs, which are side by side. Each one is attached to the main run, and the gap between them is real tight.
We have a door on the side of each fun, just in case we need to get in. Regrettably, the door for tve orange cube opens in to the alley between the cubes 2 tbd door js so wider than the alley, so it doesn't open fully. It's also very tall, so I cant step over it.
So. I had to shuffle between the cubes, undo the door pins, open tvd door, the squeeze round so the door can open.
If j bend over I can reach inside, but j can't reach the mezzanine. I cant bend over fully, there isn't enough space behind me.
The stick id brought was too short.
I had to reverse the process to get out and get another stick. Then go through it again
They were huddled together for warmth. It was dark, and they didn't understand. Evdntuly I managed to separate one of them and tun her round. She saw the light shining from the doorway, and scrambled in.
The last 2 had their backs to the door, and were as far away from me as possible. I tried squatting, and I'm amazed that I managed to get down at all (Thank you 21 Day Challenge!) Unfortunately, it was agony, and I panicked as I wasn't sure I'd be able to get up. I thought about phoning DH, but I realised that it would take him too long to understand and reach me.
I scrabbled up, putting my weight on the sides of the two runs. There was no way I could move the girls from there.
I extficated myself, closed the door, wiggled round, and went back to the doorless side of the run. I took the cover off that side and I was able ro 'poke' the girls through the bars. I managed to get one of them to turn around so she was facing the open coop door. I then pushed her and pushed her until she walked forward and eventually went in.
The final bird was hunched in the corner, and I really struggled to get her to move at all. She wedged nursery in the corner, and would not respond. I couldn't poke her very hard, I didn't want to risk hurting her. She took about 5 minutes to get up, and I could have cried when she went in. It was one of the 3 older girls, just one year younger than Nora.
When she went in, I activated the coop door closer, retrieved my torch from the back of thd Cube, put the covers back on both sides and checked all was safe.
I then looked in the purple cube to see what had happened.
There were 2 girls in it. My lovely Elizabeth, who is the daughter of Annie, hiding in the nest box. And Fleur, blocking access to the door. That was it.
Fleur had obviously denied them access, and the door had closed. There wasn't time for them to get in to the other Cube before that closed, and they had either chosen to stay on the Mezzanine...or it was too dark for them to find their ways down to the other nest boxes or to the emergency coop.
I'm so relieved that I checked them. Three of the stopouts are elderly, and the freezing weather would not have done them any good. It may even have proved fatal for Gloria, who has slowed down a lot over the last few months.
Even the youngsters might have been unwell as a result. Its very easy fkr hens to get a respiratory issue in winter, these are often contagious, and being unwell in winter just makes them susceptible to other issues.
I'll give them all a good check over tomorrow.
And I'll adjust the closing time of the emergency coop so that they have the chance of going in there if they are denied entry to the others.
