Here is our Mabel. She is the sweetest little girl. Her little voice is just a gentle little brrrrrrr, or coo with an occasional Cluck, She still has not laid any eggs, so I'm not sure when that will happen. She may be laying off in the bushes, so we are starting to hunt for little blue eggs. She is barely 6 months old so hopefully she will bless us with blue eggs soon.
Frankly though, if she never laid an egg that would be OK too. She is starting to stand up to Barbara, who tries to bully her. Barbara has also started pulling out Mabel's tail feathers. I caught her in the act and picked her right up, told her NO, and put her in time out in the coop.
Oh, she did not like that at all! She paced and made a lot of noise, but I did not give in. Meanwhile Mabel blissfully cruised around, pecking at bugs. Then yesterday, Barbara tried to bully Mabel, and Mabel rose up, spread her neck feathers and charged at Barbara. She did not peck at Barbara, just rose up on her tippy toes. I was delighted to see her assert herself.
We are deciding whether to keep moving the coop around, or to just devote an area of the yard to the girls, and fence off a larger area for them for when we are not home. They could still be out loose when we are home, but have more space than the "enclosed patio" Cal built for them,which is perhaps a bit too small.
Overcrowding can cause chickens to get aggressive with each other , just like humans, so that may be why Barbara has been pulling Mabel's tail feathers. I've been trying to tell Mabel to not turn her back on Barbara, but she forgets. Or it is just the proverbial pecking order and Barbara is the Alpha, BUT she needs to be nice to her sister chicken.
I am going to spend part of the day, out on the chaise, just watching the girls. And maybe hunting for the hidden blue egg somewhere in the yard.
God Bless.
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