Luckily for them I am an early riser ~ earlier even in summer. Just now our mornings are simply bitter but chooks, like most animals, are creatures of habit & finely tuned to their surroundings. They know when I get up: the lights go on, the kettle whistles, the cats appear...by the time I get out the door to open the hutch they are jostling @ their window looking for me with chirps & clucks of excitement, anxious to get out & begin their day.
When we kept chooks last time our family of 7 easily generated enough table scraps to add spice & variety to our chooks diet. Now we are just 2, things are different. While I generally have a small bowl of pickings after preparing dinner my Aussies hog all the best scraps so last time I was in IGA [our supermarket] I grabbed the fruit & veg guy & asked about their scraps ~ because most places will let you have things like the outside leaves of lettuce, anything spoiled or rotten. You just have to ask & know how their system works.
No problemo. There are usually 2 big bins each day out the back. Help myself. So we tried 2 afternoons in a row. Zero. Zilch. Nado. I got someone scavenging the bins for his food rations who kindly pointed out the bins with the only just out of date stuff ... um, no thank you. So this morning I swung by IGA after I dropped the MOTH to his boat. BINGO! A whole box of lettuce scraps! My girl are happy campers.
Just the same I have a rather odd set up just now. In some ways I have 2 different flocks, with 2 alpha chooks. When free ranging the Aussies stick together & the Rocks hang together but each party has a lead girl. When together, I have an alpha Aussie & a beta Rock ~ but both Aussies will tend to hog the best of the food. I obviously have a pecking order still in flux as my younger birds mature.
I am still keeping a fairly tight reign on them. This isn't the safest of environments & until they know it better I prefer they stick close to their coop ~ which they have actually been doing. Easy enough as there is heaps of mulch to scratch & lots of spots for some dust bathing without the need to stray too far but of course now I have one eye on the clock for eggs. Of course I could just do a collect when I let them out but I don't want to encourage pythons to hang around on the off chance of a tasty meal. Unfortunately they already know let out time is after I pick the MOTH up from his boat & start creating a din as soon as they hear the car pull in. Won't be happening today. I am off to the mainland for *stitches out/stitches in* & we won't get back till late. I could let them out for their run earlier ~ but I won't. They are, understandably, not as co~operative about going back in their cage as they are about getting out & I can't afford to be chasing reluctant chooks round the yard. The Aussies are pretty co~operative but the youngest Rock gets muddled & I have a loner who never seem to be where she should be so today is lock in day. As the weather warms up they will get more free ranging time but just now I am reluctant to be paddling about in the cold.
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