Choose a bad night to mess about

[Andy]

The weather has been a bit hit and miss lately. With the evenings drawing in I can struggle to do the birds after I finish work. With the clocks going back next weekend I will stop doing them in the evenings and just do them once a day. I did let them out yesterday afternoon but the weather came in and by the time I finished work it was starting to get dark. I quickly cleaned them out and called them in. The old birds all came in but several of the youngsters wouldn’t come down onto the loft. I tried calling them in again as it got dark. I did manage to get another half a dozen down and in but 14 of them wouldn’t come down. The last I saw of them they were sitting in the tree behind the loft. We had a really rough night with very heavy rain and thunderstorms. When I got up this morning they were still sat in the tree. The rain had stopped and they were preening themselves. I cleaned out and called them in. They all came down and in. I am missing a latebred, but after the night we had I was happy not to lose anymore.

[George and Morgan]

it is frustrating Andy

[Buster121]

Strange they started messing about has something upset them

[Trev]

Glad you got most of them in eventually Andy, it's a shame you did lose the late bred though. Maybe the incoming weather unnerved them, most animals get very agitated when its windy.
I will be separating my birds at the weekend and will also be going to once a day feeding as it will be too dark by the time I get home from work.

[George and Morgan]

i only ever feed once a day

[Andy]

Strange they started messing about has something upset them

I do have them messing about occasionally but they usually come down in the end before dark. Sometimes if I have a stray that is nervous it upsets them. Some of them came down onto the loft but then took off again. It did get dark quite quickly and I have no lights in the lofts so it could have been that. The problem is that they do usually land in the tree or on the house beside the loft which is a fair drop down.
[attachment=0]E8B5C16C-6C0A-4A56-9C65-7F87D588F3BC.jpeg[/attachment.
This photo taken in the summer but shows the drop to get onto the loft.
They do sometimes try landing but then fly back up before touching the loft. I am planning on taking the tree down in our garden that is in front of the loft which should make it easier for them to land straight onto the loft. Usually though it’s not a problem.
It could possibly be that the late bred, a white grizzle, was taken by a hawk before which had upset them as I hadn’t seen that one during the evening.

[Trev]

I thought you'd cut that tree down a couple of years ago Andy that's the trouble with polaarding, they come back bigger and stronger than ever
Is the grizzle that's missing from one of the birds from me ???

[Andy]

I had cut it down a few years ago but only half way Trev. This time I’m going to take it completely down.
Yes the grizzle late bred was out of your grizzle cock who was first bird from both of the north road races this year and a hen that was from one of yours. The hen flew Elgin 457 miles last year as a yearling. I still have the nest mate of the late bred.

[Trev]

I had cut it down a few years ago but only half way Trev. This time I’m going to take it completely down.
Yes the grizzle late bred was out of your grizzle cock who was first bird from both of the north road races this year and a hen that was from one of yours. The hen flew Elgin 457 miles last year as a yearling. I still have the nest mate of the late bred.

Lol I thought you had Andy yes probably best to take it down completely this time you might not need to get the root out unless you want to plant something else in its place, just cut it as low as you can and poor weed Killer on it
That is a shame about the Grizzle, hopefully the nest mate will do well for you

[Murray]

It's stressful when they do that.

You spend all night with one eye open imagining a thousand empty perches.

I had a bunch of small youngsters out last week and a thunderstorm came in. Crash Bang! Oh no, I thought.
The big youngsters all dived in and the little ones ran in after them.