Catching the girls coming out in the morning

The days are getting noticeably shorter. Last week the automatic door was closing at quarter past four and opening at quarter past seven. Last night the door closed at four o’clock and this morning it didn’t open until quarter to eight. It was very overcast which probably made it a bit later.

I decided to go and fetch my camera and have another go at trying to catch the girls tumbling out. Again I was frustrated that my camera won’t click fast enough to keep up with the girls and I have included every shot that I got which missed half the girls exiting.

I could hear them bumping about impatiently behind the door. It seems that they pretty much come out in their pecking order with top girl Topaz being first and bottom girl Speckles being last.

Topaz is eager to make her exit

Topaz flattens herself under the door

I love the way she has to hold her wings out to make herself flatter. She can’t wait one more second until it is more comfortable.

Barley, Butterscotch and Peaches are next, followed by Honey

That’s Barleys tail in the foreground and Honey is just visible under the door.

Next out is Toffee followed by Emerald

Speckles is last

Speckles is out

This whole process only took a couple of minutes and the last girl was out just as the door was raised a third of the way up. I love this demonstration on how impatient they are to get out. I can’t blame them though as they now spend twice as long in the coop as they do out of it.

I look forward to the days getting longer again and I am sure the girls will be glad to spend less time in the coop too.