Carol's Chickens

On the first evening that Mango and Cloud were broody I closed the nest boxes before bedtime. When I went up before the pop hole closed to check on them they were in the corner of the shed as I expected. I put them on the perch but when I returned they were back in the corner. I perched them again once the pop hole had closed and they stayed there.

On the second evening Mango and Cloud were again in the corner of the shed and I perched them. When I returned they had stayed perched this time.

On the third evening something amazing had happened. At bedtime Mango and Cloud were on the perch. For the first time in the two years we have had them they had put themselves to bed on the perch. I wondered if this was a fluke.

The second evening I checked with baited breath. Yes, Mango and Cloud were on the perch together at bedtime and they were no longer broody either.

On the third night I checked and Mango and Cloud were perched again at bedtime. I couldn’t believe it. I decided now was the time to try to get Red and Snow to go in too. If I could get all the girls to go in themselves before the new girls arrive I will have a better chance of the new girls eventually going in themselves too.

I decided to take out the third nest box by the gate as this will eventually become the new girls’ coop. I emptied the shavings into the other two nest boxes and hoovered it and put it in the garden shed. It will then have fresh shavings when the new girls arrive to give them a nice fresh start.

I then covered the the other two nest boxes with a trellis over a bucket at an angle then covered the whole thing with a thin plastic decorating sheet. I hoped that by blocking this off Red and Snow might go in at bedtime.

I checked before bedtime and whereas Red and Snow would usually be settled on the nest boxes they were wandering around the run looking a little lost. Mango and Cloud were perched in the chicken shed for the fourth evening along with Storm and Gold.

I went back after the pop hole had closed. I was really pleased to find that Snow was perched next to Mango and Cloud. This felt like such a victory.

Red had obviously jumped at the nest boxes and causes the plastic to slip exposing the trellis at the back where she was perched. I knew Red would be the most difficult one but I am encouraged that this may change with time. Tonight I will try to block the nest boxes off a bit better.

I feel as if there is light at the end of the tunnel and the girls will all go in eventually. This will be a huge game changer for us.

On the broody front, Red, Mango and Cloud are all through their broody spell now. Unfortunately we had been down to only one egg layer, that being Storm, for the last four days. Gold took a break from laying.

The good news is this morning Snow came back into lay after a break of eleven days. Shortly after Gold laid after her four day beak so we are now back to three girls laying.

We now need to wait and see what happens at bedtime tonight. Fingers crossed!

Two girls laying that is. Red has now gone broody too so we only have Gold and Storm laying. I am sure there has never been a previous year where we have had so few girls laying for such a lot of the time. It seems like we have a never ending stream of broodies this year. Red has laid eight eggs in twelve days. She is matching Sugar’s record.

Red is also more determined than the rest of the girls. I close the nest boxes and shed after the two laying girls have laid and Red will sit on top of a nest box.

I am finding this a bit exasperating at the moment. Snow has now come out of her broody spell so hopefully she will start laying in around a week’s time.

Edit

Today I could tell that Gold wanted to lay so I opened her favourite nest box by the gate. The next time I went to check the three broody girls had piled in with her.

It’s as if they have a sixth sense and somehow know there is a nest box open!

In all our years of chicken keeping this has never happened before. We went up yesterday afternoon and there were no chickens in the run, empty run! They were all in the three nest boxes.

Mango and Cloud have now gone broody together. Of course together because they do everything together! The thing that drives me crazy when these two go broody together is that they take on mother and chick roll and Mango sits on top of Cloud. It’s always this round, always Mango on top of Cloud. And they egg each other on, excuse the pun, making it harder to break them out of it, plus it means losing two egg layers at once.

Snow is still broody although I think she is loosening as she is staying out in the run a bit longer. That leaves three remaining laying girls, that being Red, Gold and Storm. So I went up to check on them with my camera.

Red, Gold and Storm got their eggs laid and I then turfed the broodies out and closed the nest boxes and the shed for the rest of the day.

This is definitely the most broody year we have ever had, sigh!

Snow went broody two days ago after laying seven eggs in eleven days. Meanwhile Storm came back into lay the day before yesterday after a three week break. Gold came back into lay yesterday after an eleven day break.

This means we now have five girls laying, those being – Red, Gold, Storm, Mango and Cloud.

I thought I should take some group photos of our now depleted flock of six. I am so glad that we will be getting two new girls in August as the flock feels very small at the moment.

I am finding it very hard to get used to seeing just six girls. I keep finding myself looking for Sugar.

They are now all “pipinchick” girls until August when we will add two “chickens to your door” girls. It will be good to get back to a bigger flock but as the new girls will be only four months old they will have to stay separate for two months while they are on grower pellets. Then the integration can begin.

I am looking forward to getting the new girls, not so much the integration, but I have done it many times before so I’m sure it will all be fine.

Sugar was our longest lived and our last serama. She had virtually every chicken problem our flocks have ever had and yet she came through every thing, she was very resilient. Despite being one of our smallest girls Sugar had been top girl for a very long time.

Although Sugar was top girl she had a lovely nature. She was able to put her flock mates in their place with a look or the peck that doesn’t quite land. She was also friendly and very easy to handle. When we had to clip her nails she would let me do so without flinching.

Sugar was also a serial broody. We have had loads of broody girls but Sugar would only ever lay a clutch of eggs each month before going broody and if left would sit for long past the time it would take to hatch eggs. She therefore had to spend time in the broody crate for her own good.

Sugar had egg laying problems in her last years and we knew something was adrift with her because for her last couple of years she spent a lot of time sitting. Despite this she still had quality of life. She dust bathed, sun bathed and loved any treats.

Sugar has seen a lot of girls come and go in her time with us. She has remained with us while we lost five seramas. They were in order of their going – Marmite, Shadow, Smoke, Spangle and Salmon. Sugar has also seen ten other girls go in her time with us making it fifteen in total that have gone during her time. They were – Speckles, Ebony, Spot, Flame, Saffron, Snowflake, Diamond, Dot, Star and Autumn.

I have picked photos of her that show her from chick to adult but also show her broodiness and her eventual decline as they sum up her life completely.

Sugar was an amazing character and has left a huge hole in the flock. She has been a joy to have in our flock. She is very much missed and I am sure we will never have a girl quite like her again. Goodbye to our beautiful Sugar.

Sugar was five and a half years old and we had known there was something adrift with her for the last two and a half years as she spent a lot of her time sitting but she just kept going. Last year she started laying at the beginning of May but hadn’t laid this year despite the lovely spring weather.

However over the last week Sugar seemed more active and faster to run to the treats. Over the last few days we both said that Sugar looked much more like her old self. She was sitting less and was dust bathing more.

Yesterday she dust bathed in the afternoon and last night she ran up for the sunflower hearts and was perched at bedtime next to Storm as usual.

This morning Sugar wasn’t out in the run and we found her dead in front of her roost spot. She had gone on my birthday of all days.

We had only said yesterday how good Sugar was looking and I said how much I loved her as we had seen her come through so much in her time with us. It must have been her last hurrah!

At least once more there was no slow decline, vet visit, or decision to be made. It was rather a shock though and so sad that she went on my birthday.

We buried her in the chickens’ strip. Unfortunately it has filled up over the years and we are now having to do a double layer back near the start of the strip. I planted a wall flower over her which I took from another part of the garden.

I will do a tribute to Sugar in a few days time as it will take me a while to go through the many photos of her over the years. Sugar will leave a huge hole in the flock and will be very much missed. Goodbye sweet Sugar.

After a break of ten days Red is back in lay. It will be good to have her slightly bigger eggs again. We now have four girls laying. Gold is taking her time coming out of her broody spell.

When I checked again these two girls were together which looks so sweet. They soon got their eggs laid.

It is good to be getting more eggs and Red’s bigger eggs are most welcome. Well done girls!

The day after Snow came back into lay Gold went broody. It really has been one in and one out constantly this year. I don’t remember such a broody year as this but I wonder if it’s because we have had such good weather early in the year which would be ideal for raising chicks.

So we are back to three layers being Snow, Cloud and Mango. Gold has laid seven eggs in ten days.

One thing about Gold though is that when I lift her from the nest box for a break she always goes for a dust bath. Her favourite place at the moment is one of the many large holes Red has dug all round the run. It’s the deepest one at the bottom end of the run.

I am hoping that Red comes back into lay soon. This really is a yo yo year.

Today Snow settled in a nest box. She had taken just under a two week break since she went broody.

Next time I checked Snow was back out in the run and her egg was in the nest box. I was so pleased to find that it was perfectly smooth and normal looking. No wobble in the shell at all.

It seems that Snow really is back to normal. Whatever had happened to her laying seems to have fixed itself.

Both Red and Storm have now come through their broody spell and we now have four girls laying, Gold, Cloud, Mango and Snow. Hurrah!

Yesterday I felt sure that Mango would lay soon and today she did. She spent a long time going in and out of the nest box before she finally settled.

When I next checked on Mango she was standing over her egg. Hurrah! We now have three girls laying, Mango, Cloud and Gold.

I had just bought some eggs as we were so low with only one little egg a day but now hopefully I won’t have to buy any more this summer. Well done Mango!