When it has been raining and there are a few wet patches in the run I dig for worms for the girls. As soon as the girls see the fork they follow me with great excitement. I have to be super careful with the fork as they have no fear of it.
Cinnamon gets the lion’s share of the worms because she is so quick. If I dig for potatoes in the veg plot I also give the girls any worms I find. Rusty gave Cinnamon a real pecking to her back after she manged to get most of the worms the other day. I could feel Rusty’s anger but even when I directed a worm towards her Cinnamon would nip in and snatch it and run with it.
While digging in the run today it was Cinnamon and Dandelion who got most of the worms. Cinnamon would go racing round the run with a worm while Dandelion chased her and tried to get it off of her. I wanted to take some photos but they were just way too speedy.
At one point Cinnamon and Dandelion had a tug of war with a worm and they managed to get half each.
Dandelion and Cinnamon have half a worm each
Dandelion’s half of the worm is on the ground just beneath her beak. In the background Cinnamon is pecking at her half of the worm.
Cinnamon gets the next worm
By the time I caught her up to take a photo the worm had nearly all disappeared.
Cinnamon got most of the worms as usual and this time Dandelion had a real go at her. These two used to be best friends and while integrating them, Dandelion used to cry, if she lost sight of Cinnamon. You wouldn’t imagine it now if you could see how brutal her attack was on Cinnamon when she got the last worm. She pulled at her feathers and pulled Cinnamon over. Cinnamon was left shaking her head afterwards.
I wondered if maybe digging for worms wasn’t such a good idea if it was going to cause such anger. In contrast, when they couldn’t pull a big worm from the ground, Speckles pulled it out and offered it to the little girls. The contrast of behaviour between former friends and surrogate mother was startling.
I always used to think that digging for worms was such fun but I am learning how aggressive seramas can be to each other in the heat of the moment. Who would have thought such cute little girls could behave like this!
Click here to see the history of my flock.
NICE TO SEEING THEM ENJOY THEIR WORMS.
They definitely enjoy their worms but it does cause aggravation when Cinnamon gets nearly all of them. No one told her she should share if she doesn’t want to get pecked, well I did actually, but she doesn’t listen to me!
It’s like a game of chase when I dig over the borders – if one gets a big worms and can’t eat it straight away, she is pursued by the others, the worm often changing hands several times before someone finds the space to actually eat it! They do love them and, just like you, I have some who are always at the forefront, or in prime position to steal – Galaxy, Pavlova and Buffy are the main ‘forwards’ in this game.
It is just as you say. I sometimes do the commentary, Cinnamon has the worm, Dandelion has taken possession, Rusty is chasing, Rusty has possession, Cinnamon regains possession, she deserves the worm because she has done numerous laps of the run, she finds a quiet spot and spaghetti’s the worm down. Phew, that was exhausting!
I love watching them when this happens. And when one of them finds something and the others notice and come running!