Carol's Chickens

During the recent hot spell I have been leaving the chicken shed door ajar until I go in to lock up after the pop hole has closed. I did this for four evenings. During this time Mango and Cloud have been going in through the door and perching.

Before this I had been going up as the pop hole closed and would hold the shed door open and Mango and Cloud would go through the door and perch. It was good that they were going in themselves but I wouldn’t want to leave the door open on a more permanent basis especially in winter.

I now remember that this happened on a previous year. Two evenings ago as it was cooler I left the chicken shed door closed. I wondered if Mango and Cloud would still go in with the door now closed. I checked on them about an hour before the pop hole was due to close and was amazed to find them both in and perched.

I returned once the pop hole had closed and Mango and Cloud were still perched in the chicken shed. I now wondered if this was a one off or if they would go in the next night.

Last night I again checked on the girls an hour before the pop hole was due to close. Mango and Cloud were in the chicken shed and perched.

When the pop hole had closed I checked again and Mango and Cloud were still perched. I think we may have finally got there. They have twice, in the past, gone in for four days and then stopped so we need to get past the four day mark but I am hopeful that this time we have done it.

I will be keeping the top of the nest boxes blocked for a couple of weeks as I don’t want them to revert to sitting on top of them at bedtime which will be the next hurdle to overcome. But for now it’s looking good and I think we may have finally succeeded in getting these two to go in at bedtime.

Much to my surprise Gold started laying again yesterday. She has stopped moulting so maybe she is laying again as she only had a partial moult. It was over two weeks since she last laid.

The nest boxes were closed as I wasn’t expecting any eggs because Cloud had already laid. Gold laid her egg in the shelter. I left the nest boxes closed again today as I didn’t expect Gold to lay two days running but she laid in the shelter again today. Well done Gold for coming up with an alternative to the nest boxes.

Despite me keeping the nest boxes closed Storm has now been broody for three weeks, Snow for two weeks and Red for one week. They have never been committed to being broody before but they seem to encourage each other.

The broody girls perch at night and I am keeping the nest boxes closed and yet still they remain broody. I have kept the top of the nest boxes blocked off too but they sit together in the run or on the patio. If I open a nest box they are there straight away.

As it takes three weeks to hatch eggs I keep thinking Storm should come out of it any day now but at the moment she continues. It’s good to have two girls laying again for now though.

We are having a mini heat wave with a few days of slightly over 30 degrees. I could see the girls were hot as Snow was holding out her wings. I decided it was time to give the girls frozen peas again. I gave them two dishes of frozen peas in a little water. The water stops the peas drying out and the girls get some cold water while fishing for the peas.

The girls had soon eaten the peas and proceeded to drink the cold water. A double way to cool them down a bit.

Red has now gone broody again. She had laid eight eggs in twelve days which was exactly the same as last time. So now we have only Cloud still laying. I know that she will go broody again soon and then will probably moult and that will be the end of her laying this season along with Mango.

Gold is now also moulting. It’s two weeks since she last laid and she usually comes back into lay after around a week. This will mean she will have finished laying for this season too.

Red is also dropping a few feathers but I don’t know if it’s the moult just yet. This is going to be our worse year for eggs since we started chicken keeping.

I think that was has happened is that summer started early this year with an unusually warm May and has continued to be very warm. This has triggered the chicken hormones to keep going broody and those same hormones then say that after going broody x amount of times it’s time to moult.

I had been finding feathers under Gold’s roost spot for days. Last night at bedtime I found tail feathers under Gold’s roost spot.

This morning there were another two of Gold’s tail feathers under her roost spot.

Last year Snow was the last girl to stop laying and Storm was last but one. At the moment though these two are not coming out of their broody spell. I think being broody together has kept it going longer than usual even though the nest boxes are closed most of the day.

I have had to buy some eggs again. This is the first year that I have had to buy eggs several times in the summer. I hope that the new girls will change this around next year.

I am getting to my wits end with trying to train the terrible twosome to go in at bedtime. I keep trying different things in the hope of something working.

The night before last I decided that an hour before the pop hole closed I would remove Mango and put her in the “broody” crate. I thought that if she wasn’t there Cloud would go in and then I could return Mango to the chicken run and she would go in. If it worked I thought I could do this for a week to establish a routine and then stop doing this.

I kept popping back to check on proceedings. Several times Cloud went in the chicken shed and I thought it might be working. But each time when I next checked Cloud was back out in the run. Cloud was patrolling the entire length of the run.

I realised that Cloud was looking for Mango. She was only going in the chicken shed to check if Mango was there as she didn’t perch but just had a look around and then popped out again and continued to roam the length of the run.

Just before the pop hole was about to close Cloud was at the bottom of the run. I thought I would put Mango on the chickens’ patio and if she didn’t see Cloud she would go in. Of course that didn’t work! Cloud was immediately by Mango’s side and despite me trying to herd them in they resisted.

I scooped Mango up and shoved her in just as the pop hole started to close. Cloud followed her just in time and I held the door open to give them enough light to jump to the perch. That’s another plan that didn’t work!

So last night another plan was needed. I decided that it has to be Cloud that goes in the “broody” crate. Execute the plan in reverse. Cloud is more difficult to pick up so I planned to lure them with sunflower hearts and grab Cloud and put her in the crate. It was easy to grab her while having some sun flower hearts.

It was a repeat of the night before. This time Mango was patrolling the entire run looking for Cloud. She didn’t even look in the chicken shed though.

When it got to nearly the time for the pop hole to close I returned Cloud to the run. Neither of them showed any sign of going in. I eventually shoved Mango through the pop hole. The pop hole started to close so I shoved Cloud through too. I held the door open so that they could see to jump to the perch.

I felt deflated. I am not sure there is anything more I can do. I have hit a wall, I am all out of ideas. I am not sure I will ever get these two to go in.

My very last hope is that eventually Cloud will go broody again and maybe like last time that will kick start them going in again. The difference will be that they won’t be broody together. It may also go the same way of them going in for a short time and then changing their mind.

It’s about all I have left to hope for though as everything else isn’t working and I can’t keep going on like this as it’s a lot of effort for no return. For now I think I will have to admit defeat. I really didn’t want to give in this time but I am getting nowhere with this. I have never had this before but for now I feel beaten.

Mango is moulting and is looking very shabby. Her comb has also got paler. Cloud on the other hand still looks pristine and has a red comb.

Yesterday I could see that Cloud was getting ready to lay. It’s been three weeks since Cloud last laid. She was looking in the nest boxes and in the shelter and a corner outside the shelter. Cloud always has great difficulty in deciding where to lay.

Cloud used to lay in the nest boxes occasionally. Mostly Cloud would lay in the shelter and quite often would lay in the run. I think she takes so long running around trying to decide where to lay that it often takes her by unawares.

Cloud was spending a lot of time making a nest in the corner outside the shelter and then in both corners of the shelter. I decided to help her by putting some pine shavings in all three spots. I thought it might help her decide plus keep her egg clean.

When I returned Cloud was at the water and there was no egg in either of the three spots where I had put shavings. Sure enough she had laid her egg at the bottom end of the run in front of the ladder, sigh! This is not unusual for Cloud. It is good to have her back in lay though.

It means we now have two girls laying but also means that unlike Mango, Cloud will continue to lay for a bit of a longer season.

The night before last I went up before bedtime and picked Mango up and stood outside the run with her just behind the fence. Again Mango and Cloud were calling to each other. It reminded me of the scene from one of the Jurassic Park/World films where the velociraptors were communicating with each other. Mango and Cloud couldn’t see each other but were calling to each other.

This went on for about five minutes and then Cloud went through the pop hole and perched. I put Mango down on the chickens’ patio and she went straight through the pop hole and perched with Cloud. I’m not sure how any of this helps going forward though.

Last evening we decided to have a B.B.Q. We do this on the top patio next to the chicken’s patio. It’s really secluded and quiet there. It was also the hottest day of the year so far at 30 degrees. I felt really sorry for Mango as moulting while it’s really hot must be so uncomfortable for her. She will be feeling prickly and hot at the same time.

I decided that I would leave Mango and Cloud to do what they wanted at bedtime and just put them in myself. I felt that while it was so hot there was no point stressing them and it’s understandable that they don’t want to go in.

While we were waiting for the B.B.Q. to get going I realised that Red, Snow, Storm and Gold had all gone in the chicken shed. I could understand them going in an hour before the pop hole closes but this was two hours before the pop hole closes and on the hottest day of the year too. Talk about one extreme to the other!

I decided to get the girls out again and give them a dish of frozen peas in a little water. This would cool them down before bedtime and I would unblock the pop hole a bit nearer to bedtime. It’s the fist time these girls have had frozen peas and they loved them.

A bit later I let the four girls return to the chicken shed. Meanwhile Mango and Cloud were enjoying having the peas to themselves and had a feast.

Later just before the pop hole was about to close I returned to the chickens. Mango and Cloud were still out in the run and the pop hole started closing. I opened the chicken shed door and they both came running. They went straight through the door and perched.

This shows that do want to go in for the night but they want me to let them in. I remembered that I used to hold the door open for them rather than pick them up. That doesn’t actually help though.

I don’t know where to go from here. I am not giving up but I will just do whatever feels right from day to day. I am hopeful that maybe when the weather cools towards the end of the year they may go in. It may change it up a bit having Cloud laying and Mango not laying too although I won’t be holding my breath.

The battle of the bedtime will continue.

Red is now the only girl laying. She is laying two eggs every three days. This means that the nest boxes can be kept closed until Red is ready to lay. Red is easy to tell because when she is ready to lay she stands in front of a nest box and shouts. I open the nest box and she goes straight in.

Of course the two broody girls go straight in the nest box with Red.

Progress at bedtime for Mango and Cloud has been very up and down. Red and Snow were actually fairly easy in the end. Once they had got the hang of going in at bedtime that was it, done! They have gone in every night since.

But Mango and Cloud would go in for up to four nights then change their mind again. It’s really frustrating. I think the problem is that they have each other so they don’t feel they need to follow the rest of the flock.

I have been going out to them, every evening several times, before the pop hole closes. They are either just mooching about or they sit down together on the patio area. I have tried to herd them in but they avoid me or they pop out again. Mango is by far the easiest to pick up so I have put her in and put the hatch screen in front of the pop hole to keep her in. As soon as she jumps to the perch and I remove the screen, Cloud goes straight in.

Last night I picked Mango up and reached for the screen which is on a hook by the chicken shed door. As soon and Mango was out of sight in my arms Cloud went straight in and perched. If I was just dealing with one of them it would be easy but the two of them are so together that it makes it really hard.

On one of the first nights that I put Mango in and blocked the pop hole with the screen they were calling to each other. Cloud was stood on the patio calling out to Mango as if to lure her back outside. Cloud will only go in once Mango is perched or is out of sight.

I keep trying different tactics but every time I think we are there with this the next night they want to stay out again. I will just keep on and on with this but it is proving very difficult. I am determined but only time will tell.

Snow has now gone broody after laying seven eggs in ten days. They seem to be going broody faster and faster. Gold has come out of her broody spell but it will probably be a week before she comes back in to lay. We now have just Red laying but luckily she lays the biggest eggs.

We have never had only one girl laying in the middle of summer before. Roll on the new girls. Sebrights are not a broody breed, hurrah! and lay an average of 60 – 80 eggs a year. Dutch bantams do go broody but lay an average of 160 eggs per year!

That should bring the egg totals up. But of course every bird is different and we have had supposed good egg layers in the past that didn’t lay well. It will give us the possibility of more eggs though and that would be lovely. Plus in their first year they should lay through the winter so a few winter eggs could make up for the smaller number of summer eggs.

I can’t wait to have new girls!

Yesterday Storm joined Gold in going broody after laying twelve eggs in seventeen days. On the same day Red came back into lay after a break of eleven days. It constantly seems to be one in and one out and we always seem to have two out of six laying at any one time. We now have just Snow and Red laying.

This morning I took a few photos while the girls had their morning spinach.

Mango, front right, is looking rather tatty.

Last night was the fourth night that all the girls went in on their own so I think we really have cracked it now. I checked on them a couple of times and Mango and Cloud now go in with the rest of the girls about an hour before the pop hole closes rather than leaving it until the last minute.

Tonight I am going to leave the nest boxes in place. I will check several times to make sure they are not taking any notice of the nest boxes. It’s the final step. In future I will endeavor to make sure that all new girls go in. I will keep training them until they do. It is so good to be back to having the flock go in on their own and I never want that to change in future.

Over the last few days I have realised that Mango is moulting. I remembered that last year Mango and Cloud moulted after they had been broody a few times. I looked back at my photos from June last year and sure enough there were photos of Mango and Cloud broody together followed by photos of Mango moulting.

I then looked at photos of the year before and that year they started moulting in July. It seems that Mango and Cloud moult early in the year and each year it has started with Mango first. Each year it has started after several broody bouts. It’s as if their bodies, or should I say hormones, decide that they are done for the year.

Sadly this may mean no more eggs from these two. Game girls have a short season.

In other news, tonight I checked on the girls an hour before the pop hole was due to close and both Red and Snow were in and perched along with Gold and Storm. I checked back half an hour before the pop hole was due to close and Cloud was inside the pop hole looking out and Mango was outside the pop hole looking in.

I decided that I wouldn’t go back until after the pop hole closed as I wanted to see if they would go in on their own and I sometimes think that perhaps I am a distraction for them. The pop hole is currently closing at half past nine.

I went back at half past nine when the pop hole was closed. All the girls were in and perched including Mango and Cloud. I was elated. This was the first time that all six girls were in and perched without any help from me. At last!

I will be leaving them to it from now on but will keep removing the nest boxes until they have been going in for a week as I don’t want to risk upsetting the routine. I think we are there at last. This has been a long time coming and will make such a difference going forward. I hope that this means putting some of the girls in will become a thing of the past and we will be back to the girls going in themselves which was how it always use to be. Going forward I hope to continue this way.