Chapter- ALL TOGETHER NOW
The next morning, after they were let out, the three ladies that were in their own run were making a ruckus. They wanted to be let out, but even more so, they wanted their sister. The humanlady came to the gate, and the three gathered around.
They werent let out! One by one they were carried to the other run- where the little girls were. The Ladies were NOT happy! Why were they stuck in this run with those - GIRLS? It didnt make sense to them. But when they started exploring, they realized the girls had a very nice spacious run.
The Ladies kept separate from the girls. They stood staring into their run and wondered when they would get to go back. They heard the humanlady say she was going to clean that coop and run out for the babies. She told the Ladies they were going to be mothers.
The humanlady brought treats. She was nice enough to bring two bowls, but the Ladies did not want the girls to have any. They kept pecking at the girls to keep them from the treat. The Ladies thought they should get to eat because they were guests. The girls were not being good hostesses.
The girls didnt see the Ladies as guests. To them, the Ladies were intruders. They did not like having the Ladies boss them around. In their pecking order, many of them were pretty much equal. The girls thought the Ladies should respect that, and not try to take over what had always been the girls area.
But life wasnt fair, and in the world of chickens, any time there is a group, there is a pecking order. One is at the top, one is at the bottom, and the rest fall in between. The Ladies had their pecking order, as did the girls. Now that they were all together, though, a group order would have to be determined.
They had never been enclosed together before. For months, they all roamed the yards at the same time, but they hardly ever associated with each other. Even though the enclosed area was very large, it wasnt as large as the 4 neighbors backyards. Since this was their first time enclosed together, the group pecking order was not yet established. For today, they would just avoid each other as much as possible. They all thought this was just a visit.
Every time one of the girls looked as if she had something interesting, one of the Ladies would run over. The Ladies were challenging the girls, and the girls just backed off. Lohi Moa was the worst of the Ladies. The attack of the big brown monster left her brain slightly scrambled. She couldnt find her was into her run at night, even though she was closely following the others. But when it came to the girls, her brain was very active. She noticed every move they made, and any girl that moved too fast found herself being immediately pecked by the little meanie, who would come flying from across the run.
They had a fresh bale of hay to play in. The humanguy had scattered some scratch in the hay, and the humanlady threw in some sunflower seeds. By the end of the day the hay was scattered. Playing in the hay made the day go by fairly quickly.
The girls, who always went to bed earlier than the Ladies, went to bed as it started to get dark. The Ladies wandered around, looking at their coop, and fussing quite a bit. They were ready for bed, but couldnt reach their coop.
The humanlady came in with the flashlight. She squatted down next to the pop door and shone the flashlight into the coop. The Lady who was the overnight guest the night before went right in and hopped up onto the top roost with the girls. The other 3 werent as easy to convince to go in. After several minutes, they stepped into the vestibule. They were thinking of coming back out when the door was shut on them. Uh Oh, now what? It was a bit dark, and they didnt know where they were.
Suddenly, they saw a light. The humanlady was shining the flashlight through the vent so the Ladies could see the roosts. It took a bit, but they knew they had no other choice, so 2 of the Ladies jumped on the lower roost. There was no room on the upper roost, so they settled in. Lohi Moa was not so easy to please. In the Ladies coop, her spot was always the upper right hand corner. She wanted the same spot in this coop. But there were 3 girls squished together in that spot. Moa tried to peck their feet to get them to move, but they were not budging at all. Moa paced back and forth, looking for a way to push the girls aside. But they were packed in there so tightly it just wasnt possible.
The light went out. The humanlady told them it was time to get to sleep. She left for a few minutes, then came back to check on them.
All was well in the coop. Good Night!!
See the moons?
gonna have babies, I hope! I'm gonna be a basket case. I know the little buggers will wait till very late Sunday night to pip, then I'll be up all night waiting, and have to go to work without any sleep and they will hatch by the time I get home, and I wont be able to take pics or video of it all. Hows that for a run-on sentence LOL
