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superjules

I vant to be aloooone!

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My Silver laced Wyandotte has taken to roosting on top of the eglu run (inside the big run). For the past 3 nights, I have had to go out there after they've been asleep for an hour and remove her from the top of the eglu run and post her in the henhouse. :? All the others seem quite happy going to bed in the house. It's strange because she is the top of the pecking order of the bantams and there's no evidence of bullying, even of my little Plymouth Rock who would be the obvious target.

 

Is this normal? Will I always have to post her into bed? I might try the torch trick tonight and see if that works. Anyone got any other ideas?

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Redmite crossed my mind, as I have a wooden house as well as an eglu, but it's been so cold I ruled it out - plus everything has been thoroughly dusted with diatom, I kind of paint the powder on with a brush to make sure every surface is properly covered and it is mixed in with their aubiose. I might just get some red mite powder tomorrow though, to be on the safe side.

 

That just made me think - maybe she doesn't like diatom?! :?

 

Fee, any ideas why your bluebelle chooses to sleep outside? Where is she in the pecking order? Is she sociable during the day?

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She slept out a lot last summer but then went in over the winter. She was '2nd in command' to Beauty, my top 'old girl', and since Beauty died a few weeks ago, Belle has mostly slept outside - I think she misses snuggling up to her pal :( . Also I wondered that if she now considers herself top chook maybe she's kind of 'keeping guard' :?

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....maybe she's kind of 'keeping guard' :?

 

Now THAT makes sense! Bossy is my noisiest chook and even when I creep up on her in the dark she still goes into "intruder alert" mode. Unlike your Belle, Bossy isn't top chook overall, although she seems to be top bantam, but she behaves like she's exempt from the whole chook politics thing!

 

Thanks Fee, I hope Belle settles down again soon. How's Evie doing now?

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Now THAT makes sense! Bossy is my noisiest chook and even when I creep up on her in the dark she still goes into "intruder alert" mode. Unlike your Belle, Bossy isn't top chook overall, although she seems to be top bantam, but she behaves like she's exempt from the whole chook politics thing!

 

I think it's an SLW thing, superjules - my Angelica is exactly the same! I put her and the pekins in the eglu today after my big cleanout, and I was going to divide the run just to be on the safe side, but then I thought "What the heck, this is Angelica...". Sure enough they all bimbled around the run together as if they were old chums :)

 

Then as evening drew on, the pekins put themselves to bed, but Angelica roamed up and down until it was dark - I think she was a bit confused by the change in circumstances (new companions, scented hemcore in the run instead of slimy old bark), but she tends to be last to bed (and first up) anyway.

 

She's also the one who sounds the alarm if anything "unusual" happens - a squirrel in the garden, my neighbours looking over the fence, one of the other bantams misbehaving :roll:

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I've annoyed her by putting the 2 new skylines in the eglu. She obviously considers it hers and wants it back! I did let her in there with them for a bit but she kept chasing them out and if she's not prepared to share, she'll just have to go in the big house with the others.

 

Are your girls getting along better now Eyren?

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