The big girls weren't in any hurry to go to bed tonight. Mind you, the top rail is incredibly squishy. They are squeezing 14 up there most nights. Only the lowest ranked girls are on the 2nd rail: Gloriana; Portia; Desdemona. Desdemona is right @ the bottom. I'm keeping an eye on her to make sure she gets enough to eat but so far she seems to be doing ok.
I'm opening the gate early. With no~one broody everyone can come & go to lay & they are choosing the nesting boxes.

This means everyone is getting plenty of space most of the time & I have had very few issues.
Today was a little weird. I let the girls out early & they were all happily rummaging in the run ~ almost unheard of. Usually somebody [looking @ you Aoife!] jumps the fence & I'm on round up duty but nope. Everyone was as good as gold. I heard the alarm go up but ignored it. The girls alarm @ all sort of things, mostly nothing ,& after a few moments of alertness everyone goes about their business. When the commotion didn't die down but became frantic I went out to investigate. No~idea what they'd seen but every single chook was in the pen. The Littlies had gone to roost as high as they could go & the Big Girls were in a huddle screaming about whatever it was.

Probably not a hawk as they seemed more intent on the bushes outside the pen so my best guess is a monitor lizard or snake, probably lizard. It took a good 20 minutes before Soda deemed it safe to lead everyone back into the run & they stayed close to safety all day.
View attachment 2528126