Carol's Chickens

I worm the flock twice a year in March and September. I find the easiest way is to add a spoon of flubenvet to four little dishes of mash (pellets with water) every day for seven consecutive days. The girls love mash so this ensures that they all get a dose.

Cloud is very firmly bottom girl. She waits until the rest of the flock move away before she has her share. It’s funny because Mango and Cloud are so firmly bonded and together with everything except this one thing. Mango is above Ginger and Silver in the pecking order but Cloud is such a wimp that they have moved above her. They run at her and she runs away where as Mango stands her ground and sees them off.

By lunch time all the mash dishes are empty. This is by far the easiest way to worm them for me.

I knew Gold was getting ready to lay as she had been squatting when ever I came up behind her and also was very vocal. She has a very bright red face and comb too. This morning she started going in and out of the nest box. She later settled in the nest box.

A little later Gold was back out and there was her first egg of the year.

I put Gold’s egg between Silver’s egg which is the smallest and Red’s egg which is the biggest for a size comparison. Gold is the next biggest girl after Red and her egg is the next biggest egg after Red’s.

Storm has now laid three eggs and we now have five girls laying, which are, Ginger, Silver, Storm, Red and Gold. The other girls usually start laying in March so it shouldn’t be long before they are all laying.

For the last few days Storm has been very vocal and has been looking in the nest boxes and the corners of the shed. This morning she was in and out of the nest boxes. I didn’t manage to get a photo of her in the nest box because I was busy and missed her but she gave out the egg shout.

When I checked her egg was in the nest box nearest the chicken shed. It is bigger than Silver’s and Ginger’s eggs. I remember now that her eggs have always been quite big for her small size.

So we are back to three girls laying. Red gave up being broody after just a few days so it shouldn’t be too long before she is back to laying again. Gold is now squatting when I hold my hand over her and is also very vocal so I think she will also start laying soon.

It seems ridiculously early in the year but Red has gone broody after laying sixteen eggs. Yesterday Red was in the nest box from the morning onwards. She finally laid an egg in the afternoon but returned to the nest box. She was still in the nest box when the pop hole had closed and the rest of the girls were in the chicken shed. I lifted Red out of the nest box and perched her in the chicken shed and she stayed perched.

This morning Red went back in the nest box and I knew for certain that she was broody. I lifted Red out and closed the nest boxes for the morning. We had to go out in the afternoon and I knew Silver would want to lay so I had to leave the nest boxes open. On our return Silver was in the nest box with Red.

A little later Silver laid her egg and I closed the nest boxes again. It was getting near to the end of the day so by closing the nest boxes I hoped it would encourage Red to go in the chicken shed at bedtime.

At bedtime Red had perched in the chicken shed. Looking back at last year’s egg records Red only took a two week break each time she went broody. She comes out of it very quickly so a few days of keeping her out of the nest box most of the day will probably break her out of it. She still laid the most eggs last year despite going broody quite regularly.

Hopefully another girl will start laying soon. Gold has been very vocal and has gone to the grit and oyster shell and had a look in the nest box so she could be the next to start laying. I am sure we will be getting more eggs soon.

Snow laid two eggs on 3rd and 5th of January. After a month’s break Snow laid again today. I didn’t actually catch her in the nest box but had seen her on the ramp yesterday and this morning.

What really made me certain that it is Snow’s egg is the shape. It is the typical torpedo shape that Snow always lays and no other girls lays an egg quite that shape.

So we now have four girls laying. Mango has been in the grit today so I think she will probably lay next. It is lovely when they all start laying one by one.

Silver laid yesterday after a five day break. She does seem to be erratic at the moment. That means we now have Red, Ginger and Silver laying.

I love how the girls’ eggs are so different making it easy to tell which egg belongs to which girl. I am sure it won’t be long before there are more girls laying. They all have red combs now.

I knew Ginger was getting ready to lay again and yesterday Ginger laid her first egg of this year with Red laying today. Silver last laid six days ago.

Ginger’s egg is quite different from Silver’s. We had eaten the previous eggs so I had to use my last photo as a comparison. Ginger’s egg is larger and longer. It will be interesting to see if Ginger now continues to lay and also to see who will be next to start laying.

There has been a very strange pattern with the egg laying girls. Snow laid twice on 3rd and 5th January and hasn’t laid since. On those same days Red and Silver also laid giving us two, three egg, days.

But the really odd thing is that Red and Silver have been in sync with each other regardless of how many missed days there have been in between. So this has been the pattern:

Both Red and Silver laid on 3rd January then missed one day then both laid again as explained above. Then they both missed eight days then both laid again then missed a day and then both laid again, missed another day and both laid again. They then both missed two days and then both laid again. They then both missed five days then both laid again which was yesterday.

I find it incredible that they have continued to both lay on the same day no matter how many days they have missed in between. I have never had this happen before. Considering they are different breeds and different ages I find this even more amazing. Have they got some sort of telepathy going on here!

I think Ginger will start laying soon. Her face has got quite red and she has started squatting when I hold my hand over her back. I wonder if she too will lay on the same days.

We only have a few days left of this month so it will be interesting to see if there are any more eggs.

I was amazed by the early start of eggs this year. Silver, Snow and Red all laid on the 5th January. They then missed a day and all three laid again on the 7th January. That was five days ago and they haven’t laid since.

I wonder what triggered all three to lay at the same time on those two days and yet not since then. I don’t mind the girls not laying yet as it’s very early in the year but I just find it odd that all three laid at the same time then stopped. It’s as if they are somehow synchronised.

I feel sure that as we get longer days and hopefully warmer days egg laying will begin in earnest. Silver has been erratic with her laying so I am sure she will start again soon and Red and Snow are good layers once they get going.

We had half a pot of yogurt left over from last night’s dinner so it became a treat for the girls.

Yesterday Red was in the grit for the first time this year. She always used to go the grit the day before laying so I wondered if she was getting ready to start laying again.

Then Snow started looking in the nest boxes. She also does this before starting to lay.

Today Snow was in and out of the nest boxes. Then Silver would join her going in and out. Then Red joined in going in and out. I was surprised at all this activity so early in the year.

All three girls were constantly in and out. I wondered what triggered the three of them to decide that this was the day for egg laying. I left them to it and returned to check again later. All three girls were out in the run. I checked the nest box and there were three eggs nestled together.

Red’s larger egg on the left Silver’s egg in the middle and Snow’s usual torpedo shaped egg on the right. I can’t believe that our first eggs of the year are also our first, three egg day, of the year.

This is much earlier than I expected. Silver took a three day break since her last egg so she may be getting into her stride. With three girls laying I may not have to buy eggs every week as I have been doing. It’s amazing to have such an early start to egg laying. Well done girls!