It’s been a while, so here’s today’s nest box report!
Who’s in the nest boxes
Top right, with her eyes half-closed and a funny face, is Poppy 2. She looks just like Poppy, and lots of people can’t tell them apart — but Poppy 2 has less fluff on her cheeks. Are you okay? Your face looks strange. She’s laying an egg.
Next to her, acting as supervisor, is the great Brownie, looking very important. And next to her, all jumpy, is a hen who used to be completely wild. She still isn’t very used to people, but she’s managing somehow.
And behind them — ha, it’s Poppy! Poppy and Poppy 2 lined up together. See Poppy 2’s cheeks? Poppy’s are fluffy, and her color is a little darker.
Getting pecked by Tease-chan
Then there’s Tease-chan (“Ijiwaru-chan,” which means something like “Meanie”). She doesn’t bully anyone anymore, but she’s keeping the name. Today I’m going in to get pecked. She used to really let me have it, so the fact that we call this “gentle” now says a lot about our nerves. Cheering squad, please do your best!
Did she lay? I can’t tell. She got chased out — and since that’s the only time I can touch her, I took the chance to do a quick health check. Ouch! Then I was turned down by the hen behind her. Scary, scary!
Brownie, don’t step on the eggs. Don’t step on them! And don’t eat them either — this one breaks eggs, so keep an eye on her.
Next, Yukinko came to peek in. Is she going to lay? Looks like it. I may have mentioned this once long ago: of the laying hens we bought, Yukinko was the very first to start laying blue eggs. Good luck, Yukinko!
Meet Marron
Marron is a rooster I raised with great care. He made it through a strange, middle-school-ish phase and grew into a fine rooster, and now that he’s moved up in rank, he seems to have earned access to the room indoors. No need to show off about it!
But he seems to have gone back to the wild a bit, and he isn’t friendly with people at all anymore. Where’s your face? Show me! After all that care, too. Oh well — keep doing your best, Marron.
Thanks for watching Chicken Paradise Hawaii. See you in the next episode!