Carol's Chickens

Yesterday afternoon I mixed the girls and it went better than the day before. Now that Apricot has accepted that her place is below Rusty, she runs away from her, if Rusty looks at her or moves towards her. This is much better than the fights they were having on the first few days.

The other step forward is that Cinnamon has now learned to perch. She had been on the bottom rung of the ladder a few times and when Rusty chased her she went up the ladder like Apricot does. This is good because it gives her another escape route. We just need Dandelion to discover this now.

If Cinnamon and Dandelion get separated during the chasing Dandelion cries until she finds Cinnamon again. These two are now most definitely bonded with each other. They are always together whereas Apricot is often on her own, perching at the other end of the run. I feel a bit sorry for her, always sitting on her own and think it would be really good for her to be with the rest of the flock.

I think that what we need next is for Cinnamon and Dandelion to brave the patio and discover that this is the feeding station. Until they discover this they aren’t feeding while the girls are mixed which is why I am keeping their times together fairly short at the moment. It would be no good having dishes in the run because the pellets would end up in the dirt and the dirt would end up in the dishes. The patio area has always been the perfect feeding station and we have never had girls that have been adverse to stepping foot on it before. I don’t know why these two are so reluctant to go there. They also need to get used to it as the nest boxes and chicken shed are there.

Apricot has sussed the patio and is fine with it. Dandelion and Cinnamon are slower to cotton on to new things and are more nervous than she is.

Apricot is getting very brave

Emerald is scratching in the shelter

Most of the bigger girls like to scratch in here but I haven’t seen Rusty or Freckles go in here yet. The bigger girls like to get on top of it too.

Peaches and Barley make the most of their favourite dust bathing spot again

The main flock seem to love getting into the other side of the run. It would be so good to get the girls together but the patio needs to be conquered next and then getting them all to sleep together is going to be a future nightmare.  For now it’s just a case of taking it one step at a time.

Yesterday afternoon all of the little girls and Speckles were having a dust bath. Barley and Emerald were in the nest box and later both laid an egg and Peaches was in the little coop doorway supervising.

All the little girls and Speckles having a dust bath

Cinnamon and Dandelion were dust bathing behind the feeding station.

Apricot, on the other side of the wire, has almost disappeared

Apricot, not looking quite so …. Apricot!

My husband remarked that you would think she would never come clean again. One good shake though and she returns back to normal. I do love to see a good dust bathing session. Dust bathing girls are happy girls.

I used different tactics today. I decided that I won’t be switching the girls to different sides any more as I feel the new girls have learned all they need to about the other side of the run for now. They haven’t got as far as the chicken shed but that doesn’t matter at the moment.

We have some friends visiting this afternoon and staying for a bite to eat so I decided to give the girls some time together in the morning instead of the afternoon. This time I just closed the little coop and moved the food and water dish to the patio. I then opened the gates but also opened the corners of the wire at the end of the run and at the edge of the patio to allow some extra escape routes.

Once again the bigger girls didn’t take too much notice but Rusty and Freckles went for the new girls. My cute little Rusty has turned into a horror! She is by far the worse culprit. This time Apricot ran away and went straight to the top of the ladder. She has her escape sussed now and then just sits it out.

Poor little Cinnamon came off the worse. All that ruff raising behind the wire was forgotten in an instant. Rusty chased Cinnamon round and round the run at break neck speed. Too fast for any chance of photos.

I decided ten minutes of this was enough and separated the run areas again. The new girls are easy to get back to their part as that’s where they feel safe. I rewarded them with a dish of mash.

As I have no photos of the girls today I thought I would take one of some spring flowers in the garden.

Spring flowers

The garden is now bursting with patches of spring colour.

I now realise that adding seramas to the bigger girls is the easy part. The bigger girls give them a token peck in passing to show them their place and the little girls accept this. It’s the same size girls that are the problem. Rusty is determined that she is going to be top serama girl and is brutal at showing them this.

This is going take some time.

When I got back from my lunch deliveries I checked the nest box and found what looked like egg yolk in the pine shavings. I then found half of a soft shell (big sized) on the patio. I soon realised it must have been from Speckles as she was looking miserable and had streaks of white on her bottom feathers.

This is her fourth egg this year. I don’t know why it should be soft shelled as the girls aren’t having any extra treats. She hasn’t laid one like this before so I hope it’s just a blip. I always worry that there may be some egg shell left behind but she perked up as the day went on so hopefully the other half just got eaten. I will add some crushed, baked, egg shells to their mash tomorrow.

After lunch, I did the usual switching of the flocks, to the other side of the run. I tried to encourage Dandelion and Cinnamon to go to the patio for the food. They didn’t quite get that far, but by moving the mash from the run to the bottom step and then to the top step, I managed to get them as far as the top step (wooden block). It’s a bit of progress.

At three o’clock in the afternoon I decided to mix them early instead of waiting until before bedtime. Freckles had been going up and down the wire and I thought she wanted to get to the new girls. I opened up all the gates and Freckles ran at speed to the patio, ran straight to the nest box, up the ramp and settled in. I felt awful that while I thought she wanted to get to the other girls all she really wanted was to get to the nest box.

Within about ten minutes she had laid her egg. Because she has been laying every other day and had laid yesterday, I hadn’t expected her to lay today. I had closed the new girl’s coop to stop the bigger girls throwing the shavings out. That’s two days running that she has laid. I had thought that seramas didn’t lay that well but she is proving to be a good little layer. We now have two little eggs each for Sunday breakfast.

At least that took Freckles out of the equation to start with. Rusty was still eating mash on top of the little coop roof so didn’t seem to notice the gates were open.

I put the girls together

They don’t seem to have noticed

The bigger girls all go to the top of the wooden table/shelter

The bigger girls seemed more interested in checking out the new girl’s dishes, in case they had something different to them, which of course they didn’t and getting back to the wooden table which they had been deprived of for a couple of hours. Rusty finally came out of the new girl’s section and joined the bigger girls.

Rusty joins them but is inside the shelter

Rusty inside the shelter

The new girls are here

Freckles is in here

We decided to move the new girls towards the rest of the flock so that they could interact rather than staying totally separate. We felt it would be best to get it over and done with.

Emerald didn’t take much notice

The bigger girls and Freckles were busy at the food and water

It was only when Rusty suddenly saw that Apricot was near by that it kicked off. Rusty went for her but the difference this time was that Apricot ran rather than fight. They bowled around the run at such speed that no photos were possible. Rusty managed to pull a few feathers from Apricot’s back. Apricot ran to the ladder and up to the high perch.

Apricot can now get to the high perch

Clever girl

When Freckles came out of the nest box she went after Cinnamon but Cinnamon went into the submissive posture and then escaped. The bigger girls landed a few token pecks but nothing too nasty. I decided this was enough for today and got the girls back to their areas.

I felt this had gone much better though. I think it helped doing it earlier with no corn involved as treats cause more bullying. I think that once Rusty has established that she is above Apricot and equally Apricot accepts that she is below Rusty, things will settle down.

The bigger girls have no need to worry about their position in the pecking order and therefore are not so aggressive. I think that the first time Rusty and Apricot got together the problem was that neither wanted to back down which made for a brutal encounter.

I am now much more optimistic that they will settle soon. Once I open up more escape routes it will make it easier for the new girls to get out of the way. One thing that is certain is that they have speed on their side. I am feeling much happier with the progress today.

Freckles laid her fifth egg this morning, she is our best layer at the moment. I thought Emerald was getting ready to lay as her comb is now a lovely red colour and she has become more vocal. She was also looking in the nest box.

A little later this morning I heard some shouting and when I inspected Emerald was just coming out of the nest box with a little heap of pine shavings on her back. There was her warm, first egg, of the year. It is also another long egg. It seems that most of the bigger girls are laying a, long shaped, first egg.

Well done Emerald. This is five days earlier than last year.

Emerald’s first egg

A medium, shop bought, egg on the left for comparison, Emerald’s egg next and three of Freckles eggs on the right. If Freckles lays again on Saturday we will have two little eggs each for Sunday breakfast.

Emerald’s egg on the egg stand

After lunch I switched the girls to opposites sides again. Peaches and Barley enjoyed having their favourite dust bathing spot back.

Peaches and Barley dust bath on the other side of the run

The new girls perch

These three are a definite pair and an odd one. Apricot likes to perch on the ladders. The other two haven’t yet discovered that they can perch but are taking the in between step of sitting on the log.

I managed to lure Apricot to the patio area with some spinach. She has got the hang of jumping on to the wooden block and up to the patio. My husband suggested putting their own, familiar food and water dishes there so that they recognise them as they haven’t sussed out the bigger ones yet. April had some water.

Apricot has got it sorted

Dandelion and Cinnamon were watching Apricot but couldn’t seem to work out how to get up to the patio. I lifted Cinnamon to the patio and put her next to the food dish. She didn’t stay long as they seem to have make there own way there. If I put them there they just want to come back down again.

I put Cinnamon next to the food dish

I decided to make some steps from the other wooden blocks in the run. As a temporary measure this should make it easier for them. I guided Dandelion up the steps.

She does look funny but you have to allow for how much better she will look when her head and neck feathers open.

I have built some steps up to the patio area

She didn’t stay there either and I relented and moved their food and water into the run. They then had a good feed. I can see it is going to take a while to get them used to the patio area.

Just before bedtime I shut the main flock behind the gate on the new girls side and closed the hatch. I used corn to get them in. I then picked up Rusty and Freckles and carried them around, to the triangle part, next to the hatch. I thought this was the easiest way to separate these two.

Then I opened the gate and let the new girls and the bigger girls mix. I had the water spray to hand. There was mayhem and I squirted the bigger girls when they went for the new girls. It was pretty stressful but more like I am used to. The bigger girls attacked and the new girls ran away. This means as long as there are escape routes it’s not too bad.

The difference with the seramas yesterday was that there was no running away or backing down, just full on, brutal attacking. I can see now that the seramas are going to be the tricky ones to mix.

I only allowed about ten minutes of this as it was stressful. I got the new girls through the gate and returned all the areas back to normal. Whew, this is hard work. This is going to take time and patience.

Tomorrow I will continue with trying to get the new girls used to the patio area as the feeding station. I can see that I will need to leave out more food dishes when the girls are mixed but that is okay. I think we made a very small amount of progress today.

This afternoon I switched the girls to the opposite sides of the run. I closed the hatch and put the main flock behind the gate with the help of sunflower seeds. I then let the new girls into the main flock’s side and then opened the hatch.

I closed the new girl’s coop as I knew the main flock would soon scratch all the shavings from it. I put a dish of water and a dish on mash on top of the little coop so that the girls couldn’t fill it with dirt. I used mash instead of pellets so that they wouldn’t get flicked into the dirt.

Both sets of girls seemed to enjoy being in a different area. Peaches soon checked out the new shelter and the main flock reacquainted themselves with the table and perches and also checked out the top of the little coop and the top of the shelter.

The new girls explored most of the run but were very reluctant to go on to the patio. I really wanted them to find the food and water but if I put them on the patio they jumped straight down from it again.

Exploring the other side of the run

Finding the log

Apricot and Dandelion on the log

Apricot

Peaches inspects the shelter

I put Apricot on the patio

Exploring towards the patio area

Getting nearer to the patio

Cinnamon with her little ruff raised

Although Freckles is blurred I kept this photo as it captured Cinnamon with her ruff raised which is something she does a lot to all the main flock members. You would think this would indicate that she is feisty but I know from past experience that it tends to be the one who is going to be at the bottom that does this.

This was just what Speckles was like and once mixed she went straight to the bottom. Cinnamon is the most nervous of the new girls so I am sure she will end up bottom girl. Several times this afternoon she stood on a brick or a log and did this while making herself  appear taller. I didn’t manage to catch a shot though.

Apricot back on the patio

I persuaded Apricot back on to the patio with some spinach but she didn’t stay long enough to find the food and water.

I changed the girls to the opposite sides once more with the evening corn and let the new girls have a fill up on mash. Then I decided to try to Apricot with the main flock. I picked her up and set her down on the other side of the gate.

Oh my goodness, what a mistake. It was awful. Rusty and Apricot were full on fighting. They had hold of each other and were twisting and turning and circling and flapping. It was the most aggression that I have ever seen between two chickens. I sprayed Rusty with water but she wouldn’t let go. I tried to separate them but it was really hard to get hold of them. I managed to grab Rusty and open her beak from Apricot. I held Rusty up high and guided Apricot back through the gate with my foot.

They continued to try to peck at each other through the wire. I kept moving Rusty away but she kept bouncing back. Eventually Apricot made her way to the end of the run and straight up to the top of the ladder.

Apricot at the top of the ladder

A little later everything was back to normal. I was so wrong about the possibility of these two being friends. I think this is going to be a long, hard, slog. I was also wrong about getting the seramas together first. I think it might work better to separate Rusty and Freckles and try the new girls with the bigger girls.

Dave, the breeder, did tell me that seramas can be really aggressive to each other. He was surprised that I hadn’t yet experienced it. I am now beginning to understand what he meant.

Before, during integration, the seramas ran from the bigger girls and got out of the way. There has been ruff raising and directing pecks at each other in the past but I have never seen fighting like this. We are beginning to wonder if they will ever get used to each other.

I am feeling a bit disheartened at the moment. I think it’s going to be a long, slow, process.

Mid morning I looked out of the window and saw April perching on the bottom rung of the ladder. Later in the day I saw her on the ladder several times. She has now got the hang of perching. What a clever little girl she is.

A bit later Freckles was in the nest box and the main flock were dust bathing together. Apricot was dust bathing on the other side of the wire, opposite Rusty. They then had one of their friendly beak to beak moments. We really think that Apricot is ready to join the main flock.

Dust bathing on both sides of the wire

Is this friendship!

These two little girls are often like mirror images of each other. I think they are ready to become friends.

Freckles laid her fourth egg today, so far she is laying every other day.

Tomorrow afternoon I should have more time as at the moment I have no lunches booked for the next day. My plan is that after lunch I will switch the two flocks to the opposite sides to give the new girls a chance to explore the other side.

An hour before bedtime I will switch them back but will leave Apricot with the main flock while I stay to supervise and see how she gets on. I will then put her back on the new girl’s side for bedtime. It will be interesting to see if she is accepted by the main flock. If all goes well I will try integrating her at the weekend.

Cinnamon spends a lot of time going up against the wire with the main flock, raising her tiny ruff and trying to land pecks through the wire. This afternoon Rusty had blood, just above her beak, once more. Cinnamon had a, pin prick, spot of blood, on her comb. Rusty had fared the worse yet it has more of an effect on Cinnamon.

Cinnamon is a really nervous girl. At first I thought Dandelion was the most nervous of me but she has started getting used to me now whereas Cinnamon is still very wary. The day I put some tarpaulin, under the new girl’s roof in the corner by the hatch, Cinnamon looked hunched and miserable and I thought there was something wrong with her. She put herself to bed early. I worried.

The next morning she came out and got stuck into some mash and was right back to her usual self. I think putting up the tarpaulin had stressed her. This afternoon when I saw that Rusty had taken a peck, Cinnamon was once more hunched and miserable. I put a dish of mash in to try to tempt her. Once again when she got stuck into the mash she returned to normal.

It seems that she is really easily upset and it’s almost as if she forgets to eat. Once she eats again she returns to normal. You would think a girl that is easily upset would avoid conflict but of course a chicken’s logic doesn’t work that way.

I tried to photograph Rusty’s pecked comb but needed her, facing straight forward, to show it. That took a few shots but as they are so cute I left them in.

Rusty and Freckles

Rusty has taken a peck

The black spot at the base of her beak is dried blood.

A sorry state

Dried blood and now added to that some dirt on her beak too. Rusty, what do you look like! She seems unfazed by it though.

Some mash will help

The new girls at bedtime

Cinnamon looks fine by bedtime. The girls put themselves to bed again so that is one thing less to worry about.

I have always added two girls at a time, this being my first experience of adding three, and the dynamic is completely different. As time has gone along it has become apparent that we have a twosome and an odd one, that being Dandelion and Cinnamon pairing up and Apricot being the lone one. When Cinnamon has her, down moments, Dandelion sits with her. These two go to bed and chase Apricot out. She has to wait for dusk and for them to become docile before she is allowed in. Dandelion and Cinnamon venture into the new part of the run together and Apricot trails way behind.

Apricot however is really friendly with me. She also seems to want to hang out with the original flock. She runs along the wire with rusty and they have stood beak to beak through the wire in a friendly manner. She is also the only one of the three that gets up on the little coop roof. I think she is ready to learn to perch.

My husband suggested that she is ready to join the flock and that maybe we should integrate her and leave the other two together for longer to grow in confidence and be integrated a little later. He feels she may attach herself to Rusty and Freckles. At first I wasn’t sure about this idea but today I am thinking that it may be worth a try. As my husband says there is no rule that they have to all mix at the same time. We both feel she is much more ready that the other two.

I will switch the two lots to the opposite sides of the run later in the week and then I will think about trying Apricot with the main flock. It may be easier to get her settled then add two girls to the flock. If it doesn’t work out she can always go back. It is food for thought, a slightly different approach.

I thought it may have been Cinnamon who had been on top of the little coop but I realised last night it was Apricot. She jumped on top of the little coop several times. I wonder if my popping her on various perches has helped build her confidence.

Apricot’s new trick

Look at me

Last night was the first time that the new girls put themselves to bed. I had been putting them in at quarter to six as by then it starts getting cold and I worry about them being outside when it’s cold. Last night it was milder and I decided them to leave them a bit longer. At six o’clock they put themselves to bed and I just had to close up the little coop door. This is great news as I think they will probably do this from now on.

For breakfast this morning I decided on two eggs each as we wanted to try Freckles egg which was tiny.

Eggs in a pan

The two eggs on the left are medium sized, shop bought, eggs and the next one along is Peaches egg. The yolk is actually fractionally bigger than the standard hen’s egg yolks but it has a lot less white. Freckles little egg is on the right and is actually not a bad size for such a little girl, especially as it was her first egg.

Later in the morning Freckles settled in the nest box. We were in the cabin/kitchen preparing tomorrow’s lunches when I heard a loud, repetitive, squeak. I realised it was Freckles. I went to check on her and she was stood in the nest box, shouting, with her little egg beside her.

She has now laid three eggs, laying every other day. I am really impressed as that is more frequently than the bigger girls are laying.

Freckles third egg

I am trying to show the size of her sweet little egg. It measures one and a half inches in length. What a clever little girl she is.

By six o’clock this evening the new girls had put themselves to bed again. Hurrah, we have progress.

Today we replaced the tarpaulin over the triangular part of the chicken run. It had become brittle and cracked and was letting in water. The job seemed much easier this time maybe because it’s not the first time we have done this. It’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow so we were pleased to get this done today. A good job done.

This morning when I poop picked the chicken shed I had Rusty and Freckles keeping me company as they do every morning, but this time, they jumped from their bedtime perch to the bigger girl’s perch, to get on eye level with me. I have never seen them do this before. I happened to have my camera in my pocket.

My little helpers this morning

A few times today Dandelion had a little scratch around and  a sit down in the little coop. I wonder if she is getting ready to lay an egg. She has stopped dropping long feathers and the pins in her head are just beginning to open. It will be good to see her with head feathers.

Dandelion looked like she was thinking about laying an egg

The new girls made some progress today. I have put them in the bigger part of the run a few times and they just run straight back to their home part of the run but today they ventured out on their own. Maybe they just needed to discover it for themselves. A few times today they were hanging out on the other side of the wire from the main flock.

They were all hanging out together without any aggravation so maybe they are now getting used to each other. The main flock were all lined up on the log.

Six girls in a row

I love this line up

I love seeing them like this. The new girls were on the other side of this line up but didn’t stay there for me to take photos.

It’s been a week today since we collected the new girls. They had been in Dave’s shed for six months so it’s not surprising that it’s taking them time to get used to this change in environment. That’s why I am taking my time and letting them grow in confidence first.

It’s taken them three days to venture out into the bigger part of the run on their own. I am really pleased with how they are settling in. I know we will get there in time.