Chickens at Night (and a dog)

The new girls and the old girls have made it into the coop at chicken bedtime for two nights in a row. Woohoo!  We were able to get these photos during a commercial break in the 5th Inning.
GO SPORTS!

(If you are counting chickens you may notice only six hens, not seven.  Jim sleeps in a nesting box.  We fought her bad habit for awhile and gave up.  Jim won.)

And here is the puppy napping this afternoon.

Seven

After the baseball game last night we tiptoed out to the chicken yard and made some changes.  We put food and water up on the loft.  We added some overturned flowerpots for jumping on and hiding in.  Then we made the big change.  We carried Brian and David into the coop and put them up on the roost.  There were a few squawks and then all was quiet.  Seven chickens quiet.

This morning the birds are squawking.  Seven chickens squawking.  A new pecking order must be established and it takes some negotiating.  The old girls are fighting for higher spots.  The new girls have to introduce themselves to the old girls.  It is a power struggle.

Anyway, here's what it looks like with seven hens in the coop.

Papa Hen is doing some work in the coop while supervising the negotiations.

Close Up

I sent the big girls to roam the chicken yard and brought the new girls into Red Door Coop for their first visit.  We will do this every afternoon for the next several days.

David.  This chicken gave us an egg today!

Brian.

The big girls stay as far away from the new girls as they can, not even peeking in at them.