What a great story and well told. I was rooting for Queenie with every line!Queenie is making integration progress:
Over two weeks ago she and the Buckeyes were inspecting some run litter, pecking and scratching, very interested in it. Possibly a dustbath was in the making. Queenie was on the outside edge but interested too, and she started digging a shallow hole, and scratched and then pull-pecked & side to side with her beak, and then stepped forward and lowered her breast into the little depression to settle in it. It looked to me very much like she was going to start dustbathing.
Except that Hazel went over to her and pecked at her and drove her off it. Queenie moved away and went around the group a bit and found another place. Same thing happened, Hazel steamed over to her - straight across the Buckeye's group- and drove her off of it again: "Oh, no, you can't do that!" This happened multiple times -
Queenie goes around a little, looks here and there, and finds another interesting spot. "Ooh, let's scratch right here!" Pull-peck. "Yes, this is good!" She steps forward and lowers into it. But Hazel has made it her mission to patrol Queenie. She practically leaps over the other Buckeyes to get to her: "Nope, not there, I don't think so! Get off that!"
Queenie gets up again, moves away a bit but goes around the circle, staying close to the others. The Buckeyes are pecking and sort of beginning a dustbath, but it is not in full swing where they are squirming in their dustbathing trances. They are still working up to it, and Hazel's head is up a lot, watching. So Queenie pecks around: "....Okay, looks good here, yes, this feels pretty good, let's sit down..." -- Hazel's there in an instant: "Hey! What did I say? Not there either! Move on!"
So Queenie made a full circle around the group, and never got a chance to dustbathe that time. Actually nobody really did, because the interruptions by Hazel threw everything off, and it never developed into a real cuddle-puddle.
I was sad for Queenie in seeing this, but not entirely, because I noticed that as with everything with her so far, Queenie was not giving up, and it was encouraging that she was actually physically closer to them than I'd ever observed before (other than when competing for treats; she has become a master thief. She also carefully but quickly zooms in between others to get bites of the mash dish). She didn't stand away more than half a foot from them. With more time it seemed her persistence could pay off and things could improve.
Then early last week I happened to catch her in a full-blown dustbathing cuddle-puddle with everybody! Yay! She was not in the middle, but she was right in it. Of course she was squirming right next to Hazel, who made the effort to remind her of her place. Whenever they were facing the same way, side by side and head next to head, Hazel would suddenly stop, notice, and peck her ("Hey, it's you again! Take that!"). Relatively gentle pecks, they didn't bother Queenie much, but sometimes Hazel grabbed and pulled her comb. Then Queenie would get up and make a quarter-turn away, but staying in place. And she kept bathing. Again, if she got turned back around and found herself head to head with Hazel, she got the reminders.
Queenie's seemed to figure it out:
This week while I was scooping the poop tray and Popcorn was in the nest box laying, I heard a Buckeye making very interested Bok-Bok noises, and I came around the run to see the three Buckeyes getting very interested in digging a hole, with Queenie standing by, looking interested too. When Queenie would get close to Hazel, Hazel would peck towards her. But Queenie persisted, kept going around the group, and eventually just went for it and settled into a spot, facing away from Hazel. She could be next to others, and facing them without trouble, and she was often right next to Hazel, but she never put herself in a head-next-to-head position with her. No head pecking or comb grabbing this time. Success!
I have a 5-min video I have to edit down and then I'll post it. I couldn't seem to upload it in full. There was nice purring, bokking, and sometimes squealing sounds. I think it's Hazel who is doing most if not all of the vocalizing.
This was where I noticed both Peanut and Butters manipulate their legbands at different times, when that leg was against the ground during the dustbath. I think the band rubs against their leg when they are pushing and they don't like it. Hmmm.
Well looking on the bright side, the third box is getting used!
she smacked her lips after that pre-egg snack!
