OMG....someone get me a drink!! Whose idea was it for me to get more chickens.
So, I go pick up my pullets from Wendell. 4 Beautiful little girls, 2 Dominiques and 2 EE's. Takes me more than 45 minutes to get home cuz they are doing construction on I-25. Some driver curses me out when I'm trying to go thru one of those single lane underpasses under the interstate. Seems there is some company south of there that the shift changes just as I was leaving, and they were ALL going the opposite direction. Sheesh. But does that spoil my mood? No, I have new chickens nothings spoiling my day.
Get home, put the girls in the coop for awhile so they knew where food and water was (only about 15 minutes, wanted to see them and my older flock interact between the fence). Let em into their section of the run, got myself a chair and just watched. Everyone crowded the fence, running back and forth along the sidelines. I can tell my BA and my Wellies will definitely be the aggressive ones towards the new girls. The others lost interest after about an hour, but the BA paced the fenceline scolding them for another half hour or so. The Wellies would return and peck at any feather that mistakenly crossed thru the fence.
But after awhile, everything calmed down. New girls checking out their new run. These are VERY friendly birds, especially the Dominiques, who decided my lap was the perfect place to be. I was sitting with my arms crossed, just watching them, then the action started. At one point, I had 4 new chickens on me. One on my shoulder, 2 had found some way to perch on my crossed arms, and one in my lap. Believe me, my original flock would not even consider this.
OK, so 8:15 comes, bedtime for the old flock. BUT, just about then one of the EE's (you're right Wendell, these are flighty birds) takes off and lands on top of my 4' chicken wire divider. Not exactly a solid landing strip, but good enough for her. Before I can get her down, over she goes into the big girls run. I have to exit one gate, circle to the other side of the run and go in another gate. I catch her, drop her over onto her side and head for my shed for my extra chicken wire (thankfully I always have some around). Before I can get into the new girls run, over the fence goes the EE again. I calmly tell her she's not allowed on that side, and place her back where she belongs. Go to their side and start extending the divider by another 2 feet or so. It's practically dark, and the older girls have gone to bed. I see the coop door closing. Wait, here comes one of my BR's. I guess the commotion scared her off and she missed curfew. So the think I need to re-open the door is on the new girls side. I get it, but I can't reach the auto door from that side, I have to cross over again. OK, I open door, get older pullet in, close door. Phew, back to making the divider higher. I just want something quick as it's dark, but as I'm putting up the chicken wire, I now have both a Dom and an EE flying up my back and perching on my shoulders. I think they just didn't know at that point where they were going to sleep.
OK, I know I'm gonna have the same problem inside the coop. So, I take the extra chicken wire in the coop and start making that higher, too. I can hear the new girls out in the run, still making a commotion. I finish the new divider and go outside to round up the 4 new girls. Wouldn't ya know, one of the Dom's had flown at the chicken wire at just a spot where the zip ties weren't real close (my fault I just wanted something quick) and had gotten herself wedged in where 2 pieces of wire met. She could have been there as long as 5-10 minutes. No wonder there was a commotion. Well, I take all the new girls into the coop, put them on the small roost I have. The girl that was caught jumps to the floor and hides in a corner. Everyone is all a-twitter, including my older girls on the other side of the coop.
Worried that the one Dom may have hurt herself, I get a flashlight out of the house (OK, from now on flashlight in the coop somewhere) so I can check her out. She seems to be OK. I put her on the roost and this time she stays.
OK, I'm going to bed.
