Didn't they do well?!

Ok sorry about the awful egg puns, I love a bad y(j)oke! *groans* The girls are settled in nicely and loving their new found freedom. They certainly seem to like grass, as they peck and peck at it, together with any moss (and there is a LOT of moss here) gets scratched out, who needs a scarifier when you have six hens willing to work for corn?

There has been the odd fracas whilst they sort out the pecking order, and it was interesting to watch who was dominant and who was submissive. The submissive hen freezes, motionless,  head bowed low, whilst the dominant hen, tells her what she thinks. It doesn't always end in an almighty peck. Oddly the order doesn't seem to have much to do with size, because Big Bertha, who is the largest hen, certainly isn't the head hen. The one I have named Agnes is very much the boss, and I named her after my MIL, who is also inclined to bossiness, albeit it well intentioned! Martha is the smallest, she's a pretty scrawny sorry looking thing, and I named her for one of my daughters fashion tutors, who had a similar demeanour.   So that's 3 named and identified. The other 3 have names, I just havent worked out who is who yet, but they will be called Edna, Esther and Matilda.

On Saturday night, they were very reluctant to go back in the coop, and this is something I will have to teach them, as it is not something they have had to do until now, having lived in artificial light in barns, caged 24 hours  a day. They seem to enjoy their new found freedom so much, that they are quite indignant about being put away for the night. Last night was even more fraught, and I ended up resorting to closing and bolting the pop hole, and catching the hens one by one, and posting them through the nest box door!  All I can say is it was a mistake to have had a bath before I attempted this. I am now wiser.

Yesterday morning, I can't describe the excitement when I let them out, firstly to discover they had all survived the night, and no one had literally fallen off their perch. But also snuggled in sawdust as if it had been left by the fairies, an egg. Their very first egg!  Two more followed yesterday, I have no idea who laid what, and thus far today, they have laid 3 more. I am mightily impressed with this, as I assumed they would be off lay for a while whilst they adapted to their new surroundings and regime. All I can imagine, is they must be happy hens and I am getting something right!