Perching together

At bedtime there are always squabbles over which girl is tolerated next to which flock mate. At times it seems really harsh with Peaches and Barley pecking at poor Speckles and at other times Emerald pecking at Peaches and Barley. It is noticeably the bottom girls that take part in this behaviour with the top girls not taking much notice of the nightly goings on.

I can never understand why they must do this but have read on other blogs of the same behaviour so I know it is a natural thing. What I find most odd though is that during the day they choose to perch together quite happily. If they can do this during the day I wonder why they can’t do the same in the evening.

Very often most of the girls will be on the favourite table with the remaining few underneath it. Sometimes they will all be on the ladder and the perch above it and sometimes they will gather with half the girls on the perch outside the hatch and half on the perch inside the hatch. This is where they were perched today.

With the colder weather they seem to prefer to perch than to be on the cold ground. Although half are one side of the wire and half the other I think this still makes them feel that they are all together. It is very sweet to see.

From the foreground to the back, Emerald, Honey, Barley and Peaches

From left to right, Speckles,Topaz, Butterscotch and Toffee

You can see the other girls on the other side looking down on this foursome. The one thing you can always be sure of is that by day or by night Peaches and Barley will always be sat together if they can and in fact some of the bedtime squabbles are caused by them trying to get next to each other when another girl is in the way.

All the girls joined the flock two at a time but none of them actively seek out another flock member except for Peaches and Barley and they are absolutely inseparable. It comes from them being together right from when they were hatched and they have been with me from six weeks old. This has made them really bonded together. The other girls were together but in a mixed flock and came to me in twos but have never had the same bond.

It is lovely to see them all perched together and I am sure if the perches were long enough they may all be on the same perch. It’s just a shame they can’t behave like this at bedtime. Once the light fades though they all accept the position that they have taken up and become quiet until the next night when it all starts over again.