I give up, I have them all the space they could want to roost, and what do they do? They cluster together, well at least they seem content.

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Well except Henny Penny she is special and has her own space and she certainly looks content!

I wouldn't worry about it at all. My first group (8) I put into my coop - 2 4' roost. I assumed it would probably shake out to 5 on one roost, 3 on the other.

NOPE! All 8 consistently smooshed on one roost. Didn't matter if it was hot or cold - all 8 on 4' of space. :idunno :idunno The other roost? Empty! There was a slight height difference between the two, but not much. They were a very cohesive group, despite there being 3 different breeds. I was so devastated when a dog broke through the fence and got all but my Rosie, who had just started to lay and was in the coop. I got home from work, found 2 that were alive, but clearly in shock, (it was Feb.(, and were wet & cold in addition to injuries. I dried them and ministered to their wounds best I could, and put them in a box with towels and a hot wter bottle. One died shortly thereafter, the other died sometime during the night. Poor Rosie. I do think this was part of the reason she was so special to me - we formed a strong bond as I was her flock until I could source a couple of pullets.

Okay, enough of the sadness. My point was - they did what they wanted, not what I thought was best - and they were happy and content with doing it. Don't worry about it at all. You are giving them the options (plenty of space to be a 'flock' or roost solo), and they are doing with that option what they want.
 
Our other two residents came to us in April as chicks. My wife raised them until they moved outside and then they became my responsibility.



Hattie is our lavender orpington hen. She has not starting laying yet but i expect she will once the days turn longer.





Jabberwockie, Jabber for short, was supposed to be an Easter Egger hen, however, he is clearly not a hen.



He and Hattie are inseperable.

They are beautiful!!
 
I wouldn't worry about it at all. My first group (8) I put into my coop - 2 4' roost. I assumed it would probably shake out to 5 on one roost, 3 on the other.

NOPE! All 8 consistently smooshed on one roost. Didn't matter if it was hot or cold - all 8 on 4' of space. :idunno :idunno The other roost? Empty! There was a slight height difference between the two, but not much. They were a very cohesive group, despite there being 3 different breeds. I was so devastated when a dog broke through the fence and got all but my Rosie, who had just started to lay and was in the coop. I got home from work, found 2 that were alive, but clearly in shock, (it was Feb.(, and were wet & cold in addition to injuries. I dried them and ministered to their wounds best I could, and put them in a box with towels and a hot wter bottle. One died shortly thereafter, the other died sometime during the night. Poor Rosie. I do think this was part of the reason she was so special to me - we formed a strong bond as I was her flock until I could source a couple of pullets.

Okay, enough of the sadness. My point was - they did what they wanted, not what I thought was best - and they were happy and content with doing it. Don't worry about it at all. You are giving them the options (plenty of space to be a 'flock' or roost solo), and they are doing with that option what they want.
Thank you for that, I always try to keep my pets happy, but sometimes I wonder if they need more.

I am so sad about your loss, dogs are just so bad when they are running. As bad as coyotes and foxes😢 and sometimes it seems that no matter what you do something will happen.

My Vet once commented that even with all my expensive fancy mesh fencing with my horses they still managed to get injured! And so it seems with my chooks, who knew chickens would be such a source of worry 🥺.
 
You do dance? I had to idea. So do i.
Anywhoooo to reply also, I did ballet and tap until I was in my 20s then work had me taking a hiatus from dancing, but then on my 40s I started back with a ladies dance class - we did hip hop (I called it hip popping haha), and tap. We had a blast 😊 but my working so much away from home meant I was not able to continue.

I did belly fit then and then last year I started belly dancing - so much fun and such a good workout!

I was so younger here - before I became decrepit hahaha 🤭
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Dancing tax
Dorothy doing her swan lake imitation
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Yes, the very one who ONLY eats white store bought eggs. Let's be real folks, at the moment, the leghorns are too young so I only personally have tiny white chiquita eggs and Momma hen eggs. She chose her own egg from one of the cartons I had on the counter, a big butter egg that is creamy colored. When she told me she ate it, I asked her how she liked it. She said it was good, followed by "I could not tell a difference between it and the store egg in taste." Ok, I will take that as a win if you could not tell me it tasted better. She did go on to say she was shocked at the size of the egg. My home grown egg was bigger then her store bought jumbo. She then informed me I was selling my eggs to cheap at 4 a dozen, clearly they should be 5 a dozen. If you know my grandmother, that is the biggest compliment she could give in her own way. She has made out a list for someone to go to the store, she needs a few more cans of corn beef hash and another thing of english muffins. You know what is not on her list, eggs!

My glucose readings have been very stable. I've had 2 times where I've ate something that sent my sugar a little high. A gas station pizza roll and then spahgetti. With the pizza roll I may have not correctly guessed the right amount of carbs in it. The spahgetti, I think I got the right amount of carbs, but with pasta it processes different in the body. a hour later after the initial insulin dose I had to give a correction dose as carbs from pasta take longer to process. All that being said, with the pump and not the shots I do not have to eat a set amount of carbs every day. Yesterday I was in range the entire 24 hour period, average glucose reading of 123 and only 70 carbs the entire day. On insulin I will always have to eat some carbohydrates, but I feel better not having to eat a lot of them to cover the insulin.
The dexcom is a life changer. I'm so glad you were able to get one.

Tax
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