Lilly wins the Coveted Roosting Spot
One of the sad things about fall is the lack of time I get with the girls in the morning and evening. Last night I was sitting out with them as they started to go to bed. Way too early for my tastes but the sun was going down.
As you know, I have been interested in what is going on with the pecking order since I saw everyone huddled together on the roost. So I watched for who would go in first.
Hattie was first to bed. Once Lilly saw Hattie had gone in for the night, she sprinted accross the yard to the coop. Of course she was too late and Hattie had the best spot on the roost as determined by Daisy, the greatest hen ever, back when the coop was new.
Now I can't see what is going on inside the coop but I can hear Hattie's yelps. It is clear that unlike the normal bed time shenanigans, Lilly is hurting her. Hattie never yelps like that. I assume that Lilly found a spot sans feathers where she could inflict pain in order to get Hattie to give up the spot. So I flipped on the coop cam and started recording so I could see what was going on.
In the 2 minute video below, you will see Hattie eventually give up and hop down off the roost, use her step to get back up and settle near the roost extension with Mal & Aurora.
You will see Mal roost up on the extension as well as Aurora look in, change her mind and come back out to check on me, run past the door a few times, and then go in and settle for the night. You will also note that despite all of the pecking order meaness going on between Aurora and Mal, there is none on the roost. I am not quite sure what that means.
