12 January

Maude this morning was aggressive enough towards the other hens I worried they might be stressed, so I took her out of the henhouse and released her into the larger coop.  Wilma took a couple of pecks at her when she ventured too close, but would probably have been fine if left alone with her, but Wilma and I had our own plans so we left Maude in the coop while we went spider hunting.  Eventually I tired of spider hunting but had turned over an interesting patch of composting weeds that Wilma didn’t want to leave, so I went back to the coop without her and spent some time getting Maude used to being handled.  She would prefer I didn’t and peeps indignantly when I pick her up but is no trouble to catch and settles down easily enough in my arms.  The other two are far too flighty to catch.  Later on Wilma returns to the coop and after a couple of pecks, the third time Wilma goes for her Maude fluffs out her chest feathers, stands on tiptoes, flaps her wings and stares Wilma down.  It is an almighty display of confidence from a ball of fluff about a third Wilma’s size.  Mabel and Goldie get on very nicely together when they are alone in the henhouse, showing no particular interest in asserting any kind of pecking order between the two of them.  When I return Maude to the henhouse, Goldie wisely retreats to the perch.  She is the only one of the three I have seen on the perch, and looks very relaxed on it, almost falling asleep.