Close ups of the girls

Today I thought I would take some close up portraits of the girls to show how their combs are changing.

Peaches close up

Peaches close up

Barley's close up

Barley’s close up

Barley laid her first egg a week ago and Peaches has yet to start. You can see by the photos above that although Peaches comb is starting to get red it isn’t nearly as big and as red as Barley’s comb. Barley’s comb is always bigger than Peaches anyway but you can see that even despite this Peaches isn’t quite there yet.

Butterscotch is having a dust bath

Butterscotch is having a dust bath

Butterscotch has a black comb so it’s difficult to see any changes in her comb. As she was having a lovely dust bath while I was taking these photos I decided to include this one of her.

Speckles close up

Speckles close up

Speckles comb is getting redder but isn’t as red as Topaz, Peaches and Barley’s.

Honey's close up

Honey’s close up

Honey’s comb has just a little pink in it.

Emerald's close up

Emerald’s close up

Emerald has a really tiny comb and it is always pale. I think it looks more pale because she has a white face.

Toffee's close up

Toffee’s close up

Toffee’s comb is quite pale too but has a bit more colour than Emerald’s.

Topaz close up

Topaz close up

Topaz has a very bright comb and is spending a lot of time in the nest box practising. She has just come out of the nest box and Barley is on top of the nest box watching her. You can just see her head in the top left hand corner.

Topaz is in the nest box so some of the girls gather on top of the nest box

Topaz is in the nest box so some of the girls gather on top of the nest box

It is really funny how interested all the girls are when Topaz is in the nest box. At times today Peaches and Barley would go and look at her in the nest box and Topaz would come out shouting angrily. She is one angry bird and can’t stand to be watched when she is in the nest box.

And here she is

And here she is

Peaches checks on Topaz once more

A little later Peaches checks on Topaz

She looks so cute when she is looking in the nest boxes

She looks so cute when she is looking in the nest boxes

Topaz spent all afternoon in the nest box with no egg laid. She came out for the bedtime corn then returned to the nest box.

At dusk I checked on the girls and they were all in apart from Topaz who was still in the nest box.

When this happens with Butterscotch it’s easy as she is a docile girl. I simply pick her up and place her on the perch in the chicken shed.

Topaz is a totally different girl. She has always been our angry girl. I tried to pick her up but she pecked me and ran out of the nest box past me. I felt sure as it was nearly dark she would soon head to the chicken shed so I shut the nest boxes and waited. No way was she going in and she headed out to the garden part of the run even though it was almost dark.

I tempted her back with a trail of corn and as the automatic door had now closed I propped it open with my chicken door stop. I tried to guide her towards the pop hole but she was determined not to go in and kept trying to dodge past me. In desperation I used the net to catch her and put her through the pop hole.

The net is a fishing net that I keep hanging by the chicken shed door because Topaz goes broody often and pecks me so I use it to ease her out of the nest box for breaks to eat, drink and scratch or dust bath. I can pick up all the other girls but Topaz has always been the only girl that pecks in anger. As I have often said she is a unique girl and that brings its own trials.

I could hear her making noises, as if she was upset, from the shed floor as it was too dark to get to the perch. I wedged the torch under the pop hole to give her some light. This worked a treat and she jumped up to the perch and settled. I checked that they were all settled and removed the torch and closed the door.

I wonder if other people have these sort of dramas. Topaz is behaving like a broody but she hasn’t laid an egg yet. I wonder what drama tomorrow will bring.

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4 Responses to Close ups of the girls

  1. David says:

    Lovely photos of the girls; nice to see the different stages of development of their combs in relation to egg laying. The one pullet we hatched from our eggs last year has laid this morning. Like Butterscotch, she’s a silkie cross – her mother is my chocolate Pekin, Galaxy. Also like Butterscotch, she has a purple comb, making it almost impossible to detect any changes. Like Butterscotch again, her egg is round in shape; strangely, although this is her first, there was no blood at all. Nice to be starting to tick over with egg production again. I’m not good on thinking of names, but once they’re laying I need to identify them for records, so I’ve called her Galdau – daughter of Galaxy!

  2. Jillian says:

    Your hens are always so pretty! I also always seem to see Peaches and Barley with a chicken smirk when you take photos of them.
    I have a feeling that the people at Rovio (company that created the Angry Birds app) need to add another character…Topaz! 😉

    Right now we’re enjoying 3 eggs a day, but I am not ejoying “Penny the Piranha” lately. She has bit me twice in the last 3 days, but I guess she thought my thumb was food! Oh well, at least she’s getting braver.

    Another chicken story, King Richard has felt the need to mate on Penny already. Literally he just sat on her and didn’t struggle to stay on like with the other hens. Well, Princess Peach wasn’t happy about her “brother” hopping on her “niece”, so she ran out and started pecking Richard as to say “YOU KNOCK IT OFF!”
    She did it again today, when he jumped on Penny and Speckles.
    So the other hens have a fluffy bodyguard…? 😉

    • Angry bird was made for Topaz! 15 birds have passed my way (in 4 years), 1 being a returned cockerel and none have ever pecked me apart from Topaz. Topaz has no fear of any chicken or of me but she can unnerve me when she pecks. I felt bad using the net to get her to bed but today she followed me and while poop picking the run she allowed me to touch her feet when clearing up and doesn’t bare a grudge or fear me in any way. She is truly her own girl and not afraid of anything and has more anger at times than any other chicken in my experience.

      3 eggs a day is good news and oh goodness, the pitfalls of a cockerel. Hurrah for a fluffy bodyguard!

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