Hurrah! Butterscotch is laying again

Butterscotch is an amazing girl! She is so regular in her laying pattern. She lays for three weeks, goes broody and takes a break for two weeks, then starts laying again. I really wasn’t sure she would start again this time as there have been piles of feathers under her roost spot in the morning, piles of feathers in her dust baths and sometimes she would shake and a flurry of feathers would waft from her. Despite this she never looks any different and you wouldn’t know to look at her that she is moulting.

So it was quite a surprise when I opened the chicken shed door this morning and there was her egg just inside the door. She must have laid, as is usual for her, at first light and with no time to make it out to the little coop nest boxes. Today is day fourteen since she started her break so she is bang on time. What a star! It will be so good to have some eggs again.

I haven’t had much to post about recently as every thing is going along smoothly (no complaints about that) and all the girls are looking good after their moult. So I thought I would just put out a few photos of the girls having their morning spinach as I love to see them all together in a group.

Some spinach for the girls

Some spinach for the girls

Eight girls together

Eight girls together

My flock looking beautiful

My flock is looking beautiful

My flock looking beautiful

Barley and Speckles are having a drink together in the background

The girls look so pretty with their new feathers, fluffy bottoms and Emerald’s shimmering glossy feathers.

While I am on the subject of lovely new feathers my husband went to the farm where we re-homed Pepper and Dotty (to collect some disposables) and saw them together as always. He said their feathers looked pristine and Dotty’s head and neck feathers were all perfect.

I am so pleased that they are still together and it’s good to know that they have all their feathers after their moult. It will be interesting to see if Dotty still has neck feathers next time we see her as she was missing them the last time we saw her. Either way, I know they are happy together and that is the most important thing. Like Peaches and Barley they were together from hatching and totally bonded so it was important to me that they stayed together and they still remain inseparable just like Peaches and Barley. It warms my heart to think of them together happily free ranging together on the farm.

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4 Responses to Hurrah! Butterscotch is laying again

  1. David says:

    The whole flock is looking really good,and I’m pleased that Butterscotch is back into lay; we are now getting 4 eggs every other day, with an odd one in between. Surprisingly, Cate, one of my welsummers, so ill last summer (was about to take her to the vet for the inevitable outcome) started to lay again this week and, at this stage, her eggs have reverted to their normal dark brown colour, after finishing last season with virtually no pigment at all. When you look at Butterscotch, you can see why breeders often advertise silkies as being ‘good winter layers’. Cotton has abandoned her chicks, now 9 weeks old, and was singing this morning, so I expect her to resume laying in the next couple of days.

    • That’s really good news about Cate. She is obviously fully back to normal now.

      I was wondering how your chicks were doing. It’s good that you are getting eggs too. I look to forward to the spring when I will have more than just Butterscotch holding the fort but I am grateful to have her eggs when she is back to laying in between her broody spells.

  2. Jenny says:

    Looks like Speckles is being allowed to join in a bit more now

    • I think at last she is. She has also finally got used to me too and will now let me get close to her without taking any notice of me. I got a good close up of her today and will do a post about her soon. It is so good to see her becoming a little less nervous.

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