Turf wars

In our last episode, we had moved the pullets into Coop 1 for the night. Hilda let the chickens out the next morning. The hens ran right out; the pullets lagged behind, but came out for scratch grains. So far, they forage around the margins, darting in and out whenever space opens up among the hens to grab a grain and run off. We left Coop 2 closed. At the end of that first day, the pullets lined up by Coop 2, uncertain of how to proceed. I had a late meeting. Terry helped Hilda shoo them into Coop 1. Hilda left the light on the timer so that it came on at 4:00 Thursday morning, but there was no evidence of pecking when she let everyone out at 7:00. We consider this a victory. That evening the pullets were in Coop 1 at dusk. We had a couple days of a strong cold wind. The pullets spent a lot of time in the coop. We were relieved that the hens were not defending the feeder.

Pullets taking shelter from the wind in Coop 1

By the weekend, we were ready to put the original fence up in the run and take down the chick fence extension. I cleaned out Coop 2 while Hilda was having lunch with a friend on Friday. Somehow she considered this her job because she has done it the last two years, which is as long as we’ve had the coop. My interpretation was that it was my turn.

Coop 2, cleaned and un-fenced

Here’s a video of how the pullets and the hens interact. The tan-colored Buff Orpington (Kirstie) and the black and white Silver Crested (Gracie and Nadia) start in on the scraps from my carrot and celery sticks. Clair, the Rhode Island Red with the white leg band, darts in from the top, grabs a piece of carrot and runs off. From the right, Antonia and Lillian move toward the loot, but don’t quite have enough courage to grab anything. Mostly, they are content to pick at yesterday’s pumpkin guts. At one point, Gracie chases Clair away. Slowly, the new pecking order is being established.

We continue to be amazed by the volunteer petunia in the patio bricks.

Volunteer petunia blooming its little heart out

My last task of the weekend was to can the sauerkraut. In addition to the 10 pints, 2 quarts and 1 3-cup jar shown here, we have 4 quarts in the refrigerator for immediate use. That should get us through the winter.