On edge!

[di]

We finally got around to creocoting the main girls coop today.They spent the majority of the day either free ranging or snooping around the teens run & coop.
Come about six O'clock,panic stations...shed still a bit wet.(I did have my doubts we could do it & it would be dry all in a day,but couple of chaps at lottie assured us it would be,has been a really warm day)
Anyway!Absolutely no way could we pop them in there tonight so,they're all in with Marigold & the Teens!
We dusted each down with mite powder before putting them in,so with a bit of luck it will have messed with their sense of smell.We were going to alternate one old girl to one teen,but after the first two oldies started fighting the first teens for perch space we decided to get all the teens in first.
Amazingly managed to get them all perch space,Marigold instantly claimed the nestbox(as usual)...until she saw all the others crammed onto the perches,which is when she decided she wanted up too!Shoved a few of the Oldies along to make a space & popped her on,only to realise I'd put her between the two Big Boss Oldies,so more musical chairs to get them at the opposite end and all was well!
Weekends they usually have a slightly forced layin(about 8:00 instead of 7:00),think I'll be setting my alarm for crack of dawn!One of those times I wish they were garden girls & not lottie!

[Bramble-Poultry]

All will be fine Di - they will not start to squabble until it gets light and they want to get off their perches and out.

Have a nice early start but I bet mine will be earlier than yours!!

[di]

Well as I had letting out duties & putting to bed yesterday and Andi still decided this morning was my turn()officially tomorrow it's his turn!...only problem is,he doesn't worry quite as much as me so will probably win another lie~in simply on the grounds that I'll need to let them out far earlier than he'll see necessary!
Any exciting reason for your early start?

[di]

Well no fatalities!!!
I took my flask & stayed up there for an hour or so to watch & see how they were.There was a little squabbling & I had to move the teens food hopper right away from the Oldies,otherwise the teens would have starved.
The great thing was seeing my once,Oh so timid Marigold standing up for herself!
Before I left the Oldies were all lined up at the gate wanting to go in their run to lay eggs,so I blocked off the coop & have put them back in their run.(when the mites were at their worst,they took to laying their eggs underneath an old lawn mower grassbox and it remains their preferred spot,although come the muddy weather they really need to start laying inside again!

[Suechooks]

Bet you feel better now! I'm dithering about letting my 4 young Warrens (20ish weeks and laying) run with the rest of the flock as I have now only 12 in total its really better if I can get them all in one hut before winter. I'm gradually letting them in the run together - they've been side by side for 3 weeks and free ranging together for a week. The biggest bully is actually home with me to try and get her in a lower place in the pecking order so hoping the rest regroup before I take her back,as she was getting out of hand and top hen was struggling to keep order - really need a cockerel but dare not as lottie neighbours would probably complain!
Hope your coop stays free of red mite now - it's definitely made a difference to mine.

[di]

Sue,I wonder how it would work if you just popped a couple of your older girls in with the young ones each day?That way the old ones would have two disadvantages...not their territory & slightly outnumbered and then maybe gradually increase how many at a time.

[RichmondHens]

Well done on creocoting the hen house Di, you won't regret it.

[di]

Fingers crossed!
We ended up having to do all of the inside,not just the problem areas,as as soon as we'd done where the mites were the survivors massed on the walls.Invented a fun little game(if not a tad sinister)of painting little squares around the mites & watching them scuttle around it not daring to touch the sides,did pop them out of their misery after a few minutes & treated them to a dab of the brush.
Do we just need to wait for it to be dry to let the girls back in,or does the smell need to subside also?We used a substitute that Andi got from the dip tank at work.

[Suechooks]

Yes Di that'd be another way. So far they've free ranged fine and yesterday I left them all together with the little ones run gate open into the big run. It's really the Bluebelle who causes the problems so I'l keep her here a bit longer. Also the Bluebelle has never lived in the big hut where they are going for winter so she'll be at a disadvantage then too.
I've enough time to just let them get together as they're ready so will play it by ear for now! All suggestions thankfully received and stored in the old memory bank for future ref
I left mine till the smell had subsided but that was because I had the capacity and there was no rush.

[its hilly]

I creocoted the new house on weds and it still smells a bit but the geese keep sticking their heads in for a nosy so guess they dont smell it the same. Poor Mrs hen has been on her own all summer since the fox attack, I couldnt put her in with the rugby club as theyre still on ad-lib growers and shes on layers and such a greedy baggage shed clear the lot but i let them out with her every day and apart from a couple of minor spats with the banty maran cock shes been ok. She was desperate for chooky company insted of those big white things. So when i got the silver sussex last w/e and she kept nosying through the netting after two days I hurled (gently) her in with them and held my breath. She did one "sod off I live here" at the hens and two "try that again and I'll marmalise you" at the (gorgeous) cockeral and since then has been fine. Mind you I'm letting them out tomorrow so watch this space

[its hilly]

PS

Invented a fun little game(if not a tad sinister)of painting little squares around the mites & watching them scuttle around it not daring to touch the sides,did pop them out of their misery after a few minutes & treated them to a dab of the brush.

LMAO...