There seems to be an end of summer feel to the flock at the moment. None of the girls are laying, they are all either moulting or about to moult and they seem to spend a lot of time chilling together.
Very much a united flock
Eight girls chilling together
Speckles stays close to Honey
Speckles can often be found sitting next to Honey and sometimes Butterscotch, Speckles and Honey sit together. Honey seems to like hanging out with the new girls.
Honey never bothered Speckles as she was no threat to her position in the pecking order. She did used to go after Butterscotch as she wanted to show her that she wasn’t going to move her from her number two spot. It seems though, that the lesson has been learned and now it’s okay to hang out together. Honey no longer bothers Butterscotch and seems to like hanging out with the new girls.
Lately Honey has been spending a lot more time sleeping during the day, sometimes with her head under her wing, sometimes just dozing in a patch of sun. It struck me that she is beginning to feel her age.
Honey will soon be three years old and has had three summers of egg laying. I researched the average lifespan of bantam hens and most people seem to think that it’s about four to six years which would mean that Honey is getting old. She is still fast to the treats and likes to scratch and run around with a worm but she is definitely looking older and dozing much more.
Honey is looking older
There are exceptions with some chickens living up to twelve years or more and some breeds living longer than others. I read that game birds live longer than most breeds so that is good to know. Since losing Amber I have grown more fond of Honey as my only older girl. I really hope she has some more years in her yet as I would to hate to lose her.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Oh, I hear ya. My Coco will be 5 next month. FIVE!!! She’d be starting kindergarten if she didn’t have feathers. And I notice that she’s slowed down too. She’s a BIG girl and does have fatty liver disease so it’s a miracle that she’s lived this long. Your girls are all so beautiful and I’m so happy that you have flock harmony.
It goes so quick, it only seems five minutes since little Amber and Honey were little chicks that hadn’t yet started to lay eggs.
It is really nice to have the flock in harmony and I love seeing them all hanging out together.
I think that honey stays close to your new girls because they will look after her as she is getting older in case she needs protection from the others .
( not that she will I’m sure)
That is an interesting theory. I find it quite heart warming after initial integrating spats that these apparent friendships seem to be forming for what ever reasons.
She looks still healthy, so you’ve got a few years left in her. ?
Speckles looks tiny compared to Butterscotch! Is she really small?
Speckles is really tiny. Butterscotch is my biggest girl followed by Toffee. Speckles is the smallest followed by Peaches and Barley. I think her small size is really sweet.
I hope so.
Some of mine are not dissimilar; age is a factor, but probably the impending moult, too. I think that the moult really takes it out of them – sometimes they just stand or sit and close their eyes. I see a stark contrast between the older hens and the energy of the chicks at 8 and 11 weeks. I think that some of your photos have captured the lethargy superbly.
I think you are right that it could be the impending moult. I checked back on last year and Honey started half way through September and they all seem to be a little earlier this year so she should be about to start. She was laying really well, up to three days in a row, but laid her last egg five days ago so that is another sign.