Carol's Chickens

It’s all been happening on the egg front over the last few days. Yesterday Speckles laid her second egg of the year, five days after the first. Once again she made a meal of it, going in and out of the nest box all morning and finally settling with a little pile of pine shavings on her back.

She came out shouting and I went to inspect and found it broken with Emerald attempting to eat it. The shell was good and hard but the dented break looked as if it had been trampled on. All the bigger girls were trying to get at it and I had to close the nest box and remove all trace before opening up again. We have been getting few enough eggs without breakages.

This morning I went out at quarter past seven as this is when the automatic door is now opening. Under Freckles perch was a broken little egg. This one had a partly soft shell. Freckles only laid her first egg two days ago so this was quicker than I would have expected.

It was definitely hers though as she did the thing they often do when this happens. She didn’t realised she had laid it and spent the morning shouting and going in the nest box. It must have fallen from her while she was on the perch and the fall, plus the thinness of the shell, caused it to break. Now adding to our lack of eggs we have two broken in two days.

I spent some time in the run as I had no lunch deliveries and I was putting up some tarpaulin under the roof panels in the new girls part of the run, by the hatch, to try to keep it drier. The panels at this end drip and I am hoping that this will keep it dry so we that we can take our time with integrating the new girls.

All the time that I was working Freckles and Peaches were shouting their heads off. It seemed that they both wanted to sit in the nest box at the same time. I wished that I could explain to Freckles that she had already laid her egg and didn’t need to be doing this.

Eventually they decided to share the nest box and it all calmed down.

Freckles and Peaches share the nest box

Peaches finally laid her first egg of the year. This is two weeks later than last year. It had her tell tale blob of poop on the end, I don’t know why, but she is the only girl always to do this. It was also really long. Peaches always has laid bigger eggs than Barley but not so many of them.

Peaches egg is in front of Freckles

I picked up the egg and Freckles started shouting as if it was her egg. I have a comparison coming up later which made me smile.

Freckles is shouting

After this Freckles seemed to accept that her job was done and she came out of the nest box and attacked a bit of melon then took herself off for a dust bath.

Freckles and Rusty have a dust bath together

They are soon joined by Peaches and Barley

Peaches first egg of the year in the middle

Freckles first egg is on the right, Peaches long egg is in the middle and a medium shop bought egg is on the left. Freckles is a slightly yellow/cream colour compared to Peaches white egg. Peaches egg is impressive in size compared to a standard hens egg.

Egg on the stand for comparison

Pointy end up

I always store eggs pointy end down but thought I would show them pointy end up to compare the length of Peaches egg. Now you can see why I smiled at the thought that Freckles could imagine that was her egg.

At least I have one out of three eggs to keep. Hopefully eggs will be more abundant soon and the girls will settle into egg laying without quite so much drama.

I didn’t end up putting the girls together before bedtime last night. I chickened out, excuse the pun! I decided to stick with my usual plan and go slowly with the integration. I thought I would give the new girls all of their half of the run to get them used to a bigger space.

When they have got used to this I will switch them to the other side of the run to get used to that, find their way around and discover the feeding station, nest box, and chicken shed.  I want them to grow in confidence before I do any mixing. Apricot has already become more confident and is no longer spending her time in the little coop.

Cinnamon was having a dust bath this afternoon which was really good to see and there was poop on the little coop roof so the girls have found that they can get up there. I suspect that was Cinnamon too as she has been looking like she wanted to jump up there and straight feathered girls are best at getting to higher spots.

I  have also decided that when I start mixing them I will put Rusty and Freckles in with them at first. This will mean that they will be starting with girls their own size, it worked with Pebbles, Rusty and Freckles. If I can get these five used to each other it will then mean that the new girls will only have four instead of six to contend with when they are eventually all mixed.

For the first time in ages there was some sun in the garden and as well as prompting dust bathing it meant the crocus was finally starting to open.

The crocus are opening at last

Some of the miniature daffodils are almost open

I closed the gate and the wire at the far end of the run so that the new girls half is separated from the other half. I then opened the hatch and ushered the girls through it.

Cinnamon and Dandelion explore

They stick closer together in the strange new space

Apricot joins Cinnamon just outside the hatch

Three new girls in a corner

Apricot is the least brave and didn’t want to wander far. I picked her up and put her on the perch at the end of the run.

I put Apricot on a perch

She turned around and jumped down

I did this because I want them to know where the perches are if they need to escape the attentions of the other girls. They are not used to perching yet though and Apricot was very wobbly and made her way down as fast as she could.

She must wonder why I am always doing things like this to her but it’s simply because she is so easy to pick up unlike the other two.

I had closed the hatch to encourage them to explore but they were soon, all three, looking through the hatch trying to get back to their familiar area. I relented and opened the hatch. I don’t think they will explore without encouragement. It is going to be baby steps. They have been used to being kept in a small space and are older than Rusty and Freckles were, when I got them, so I think it will take longer for them to become more adventurous.

It did make me realise that they think of their small area as home now. They were all three quick to get back to their familiar space.

I will close the hatch before bedtime to make it easier to get them in for the night but will leave it open the rest of the time so that as they become braver they may start spending time in the bigger area.

It also means I can now separate all three areas which will be handy for switching the groups to the different sides. I can contain the original flock in the bottom third while I let the new girls in to the other side, then open the hatch and the two groups will then be on opposite sides. I will reverse this procedure to return the new girls to their part at the end of the day.

Sometimes this whole procedure has only taken a week but I think with these girls it will take at least a couple of weeks or maybe longer. It doesn’t matter how long it takes though so I am going to take my time.

I have known for days that Freckles was going to lay soon. She has been very vocal, squats if I put my hands near her, and has been going in and out of the nest box. This morning I felt that today was the day.

Before I went out to deliver my lunches she was shouting. I didn’t know she would be, or could be, that loud! For a little girl she has suddenly found a big voice.

When I got back at lunch time my husband said that she had finally laid her egg. He had no deliveries today and could hear her shouting from inside our cabin (work kitchen). He left the egg where it was for me to see.

Freckles first egg

She had laid it in the right place, clever girl.

Comparison with a medium sized shop bought egg

On the egg stand

Side view

Freckles egg is half the size of our other bantam eggs, it almost falls through the egg stand. I would always be able to tell the little girl’s eggs now that I have seen one. It had a little streak of blood on it, which is often the case, with a first egg. What a clever little girl she is.

I am thinking of starting the integrating process very soon but I knew that if I let the main flock into the new girls area they would go straight to the new shelter and scratch all the shavings out. I suddenly had a light bulb moment! I took the shavings out and put them in the main chicken shed and then I took the card board out too. I then filled the tray with dry soil.

This can now become a permanent winter feature and it won’t matter how much scratching goes on. It may even be used as a dust bath. It might also be more attractive to the new girls. I put Apricot in to try it out and she did have a little peck at the soil before coming back out. A small improvement.

An alteration to the shelter

I should have thought of this in the first place but I put pine shavings in it because that was what the new girls had been used to before.

If I am brave enough I may give the girls a little bit of supervised time together before bedtime. Watch this space.

This morning when I opened up the little coop Apricot was first out. The new girls now come out straight away in the morning and head to the food dish.

This morning when I opened the coop

I added a bamboo perch to the new shelter and put Apricot on it to try it out.

I put Apricot on the perch

She wasn’t at all sure about that. She wobbled a bit then managed to turn herself around and jump down. She was out of there at speed. I am not sure the new girls are going to get the hang of the shelter any time soon.

When I put them to bed tonight Apricot ran in to the shelter, had a buzz round, then ran back out again. I think she was a bit confused but at least she now knows that she can go in and out again. I am not sure these girls will ever use it but I know the rest of the flock would love to get in and have a scratch around.

Today we had heavy rain and then later in the afternoon a hail shower. I worry about the new girls being cold and about them not having a very big dry area. Apricot spends a lot of time in the little coup. She only seems to come out to eat and drink. Dandelion spent some time sat on or near the ramp today. Cinnamon seems totally unfazed and uses all the space.

I thought the best thing to do would be to speed up integration, so that the new girls have more dry and sheltered areas and access to the big shed, but when I got home at lunch time I saw that Rusty had blood on her comb at the base of her beak. Rusty spent time this afternoon up against the wire with Cinnamon. The wire is double but because these girls are so small I think they managed to get a tiny beak through. Maybe speeding up integration isn’t such a good idea.

I then came up with the idea of making another shelter, for the new girls area. I thought I could use the dog crate and some tarpaulin we had in the shed, to cover three sides and the top, then fill the tray with pine shavings. I lined the metal tray with cardboard to make it warmer. It doesn’t look very attractive but that doesn’t matter.

It may be a crazy idea, because the new girls may not want to go in it, but I thought that there was nothing to lose by giving it a try.

The new shelter

I bought the tarpaulin a few years ago, thinking that it was clear, but it has these squares running through it. It blocked too much light to use it over the run but we kept it in case it came in handy for something else. I attached it with garden wire.

The shelter in place near the little coop

By the time I had finished, it was almost the girls bedtime, so I decided to encourage the girls to try it tomorrow. However Apricot came out of the little coop and showed some interest in the shelter.

Apricot has a look at the shelter

I scooped her up and popped her in it. She immediately popped straight back out.

I put her in but she was straight back out

Oh well, it’s early days. Soon after this Apricot went back in the little coop so I put the other two in with her for the night.

It would be really good if the new girls would hang out in the shelter on cold or wet days but I am not holding my breath. Chickens don’t do what we want them to do. There is nothing to lose though, by giving it a try, so we will see what happens tomorrow.

I know the original flock would be straight in there for a scratch around but of course that doesn’t mean they would hang out in there during bad weather either.

The automatic pop hole is opening at about half past seven at the moment so I thought this would be a good time to let the new girls out.

I opened the door and waited and nothing happened.

I opened the door at half past seven this morning

I decided to help them out. Apricot was last as she has no fear of my hands.

Apricot is so calm around my hands

I persuaded Apricot out, well actually I gently pushed her out, and she went straight to the water.

Apricot comes out to the water

I was really pleased to see all three girls go to the water so that is one thing less to worry about. The water level in the bottle hadn’t moved so I removed it. Now I know they are drinking from the water dish I don’t need to leave the bottle.

I also saw all three girls go to the pellets dish so I am happy that they are all eating. I made both lots of girls some mash and the new girls all tried the mash too.

There is a very definite pecking order with the three new girls and it seems to relate with how they are with me too. Apricot is firmly at the bottom of the pecking order but is the most friendly with me, doesn’t mind me touching her, and is easy to pick up. Cinnamon is in the middle of the pecking order and is also in the middle of ease to pick up, allowing me close to her but not wanting to be picked up. Dandelion is at the top of the pecking order and doesn’t want me near her and is the most difficult to pick her. I had to trap her in a corner to pick her up at bedtime last night.

Dandelion, top girl

Cinnamon, middle girl

Apricot, bottom girl

Apricot spends a lot of time in the little coop. She is so nervous of the other girls that they only have to go near her or look at her and she runs into the coop. They never follow her in though. I did notice that she was being intimidated away from the food and water so I spent some time hand feeding her pellets.

She came out for water and ran back in again when Cinnamon moved towards her so I put the water in the little coop and she had a long drink. I am now standing guard over her several times a day while she feeds and drinks. The handy thing about this is because she is so relaxed around me it makes it easy for me to help her. It also means she will be as willing to come to my hands as Rusty and Freckles are. I don’t imagine Cinnamon and Dandelion will be as friendly with me, but you never know, it may change with time.

It’s quite a different dynamic having three girls instead of two. Rusty and Freckles were so bonded with each other from the first day they came to me whereas these three don’t appear like that at all.  It may have been partly because as a twosome they only had each other and it may also be because Rusty and Freckles were only four months old whereas these three are six months old. Luckily there are no spats between them but there is a very definite pecking order.

At the end of the day, once again the original flock were all in by five o’clock, but the new girls were all still out at half past five. I was surprised that even Apricot was out this time. I put them in as I don’t want them out in the cold. I put Apricot in first as she is so easy to pick up. The other two I directed to the corner, then picked them up more easily, than last night.

I am not sure that they are going to get the hang of putting themselves to bed but I am sure that once they are mixed with the other girls they will follow them. At the moment everything is very new and different for them but I am pleased with the first day’s progress.

I was so excited this morning to go and choose some new girls from Dave. I was open minded as to whether I would have two or three. I wanted them all to be different.

Dave has beautiful black cockerels and I asked if he had any black hens. I was disappointed that he said he doesn’t keep black ones as he doesn’t like the dark colours and they aren’t popular for selling. I would have loved one!

Most of his girls were a combination of similar colours to Rusty and Freckles. He had a gorgeous blue hen but said she wasn’t for sale as he only had one and wants to breed from her.

He had only one hen left that has what he calls srizzle feathers. She is a cross between silky and frizzle feathers. I said I would have her to give me a third feather type. She is a bit bald but it’s due to her moulting and her head is full of pins and so are her wings so she will look much better when fully feathered.

I then picked a brown straight feathered hen as she was the only brown one. When he checked her over he said she had a few red mite around her vent so he would rather not sell her to me. He said I could treat her but he was reluctant to let me take her. Instead I picked another straight feathered girl in a combination of orange and white feathers.

I wanted another silky and fell for a really pretty girl but he said she was the only one he wanted to keep for himself because she was the only one that always comes to him when he goes in. I must have looked disappointed because he then said that if I really wanted her I could have her. I was quite touched.

I asked how much I owed him. Last time he said £20 each or three for £50. He said £45. I said he must take £50 as he hadn’t wanted to give one of them up.

We started to drive away when I had second thoughts. I said I would really like the brown one rather than three with a similar colour combination. We had dealt with red mite in the past and could deal with it again. The girls will be separate for a while anyway and we will have these girls for as long as they live whereas red mite is something that comes and goes in a poultry keeper’s life. My lovely husband said I should make up my mind before we got any further away as it is an hour’s drive each way. I asked him to turn around but he already had, he knows me so well!

I asked Dave if I could change the straight feathered girl for the brown one. He said it was no problem. She was pretty and I felt tempted to keep her too but three is enough to add at the moment. He sprayed the brown one with a red mite spray and suggested I treat all three girls.

Three new girls in the cat box

The bigger girls are all interested

I decided to move the new girls from the cat box to their little coop and shut them in for ten minutes. I thought this might help them to know that they should return there at bedtime.

I start them off in the little coop

I carried on with my theme of descriptive names.

Apricot

Apricot is the silky feathered girl that Dave didn’t really want to part with. Because of her silky feathers she reminds us both of Rusty. She is the most friendly and would let me get  really close to her and pick her up easily. That’s why her photo is the only close up. I can already feel that she is going to be a favourite. Being silky feathered she is as usual, less mature, with the smallest comb.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is the brown, straight feathered, girl and is the smallest of the three but has the biggest comb and may be laying. I had a chance to see their eggs at Dave’s, he had a pile of them on his bench. They are about half the size of our bigger girls so I now know what to expect.

Dandelion

Dandelion is the srizzle feathered girl and least likes me getting close to her. She is the most difficult to pick up.

Meanwhile Freckles was checking out the nest box

Freckles is definitely getting ready to lay as she squatted every time I got near her today. She was also investigating the nest box which really pleased me as it means she will know where to go when she is ready. Speckles had just laid her second egg which wasn’t quite as long as her first one.

Speckles checks in on her

Freckles makes her exit

What a shame Cinnamon left the shot before I clicked

I was so disappointed that because of the slowness of my camera I missed getting all three girls in a line. I thought I would keep it in as shows a comparison between them.

Rusty and freckles squared up to Dandelion

The bigger girls haven’t paid much attention to the new girls. I think they are small enough not to pose a threat to them. However Rusty and Freckles were raising ruffs and aiming pecks through the wire at Dandelion. The wire is double so they can’t land a peck. Dandelion was not backing down.

Cinnamon and Dandelion

Before bedtime I picked up each girl in turn and offered some water from the dropper as I hadn’t seen them drink. None of them were interested so they must be okay. They have a water dish and a water bottle. I had seen all of them go to the food. I then dusted each of them with red mite powder. I have also sprinkled it in the little coop.

Apricot was the first to go to bed

By five o’clock the original girls were all in bed and so was Apricot but not the other two. I really wanted them to find their own way in rather than me putting them in so I left them a while and just kept checking on them. By half past five I decided that I must put them in. They didn’t really like me picking them up but needs must.

Bedtime girls

One last shot of them at bedtime, that’s red mite powder at the base of Cinnamon’s tail. What gorgeous girls they are. I am so pleased with the new additions. I am sure there will be a few bumps along the way but the process has been started now and we are, for the first time, a flock of nine. Welcome little, Apricot, Cinnamon and Dandelion.

We survived the winds of yesterday’s storm Doris without too much damage. A few fence posts have come loose which will have to be dealt with at a future date and the tarpaulin over the corner shaped part of the run was lifting so we weighted it down with a couple of slates. This too will need dealing with properly at a later date. It needs renewing as it is getting brittle but it is a really awkward job as it’s difficult to get to.

However today the signs of spring are once more showing in the garden.

Miniature cyclamen in a patch of sun

Crocus should be opening soon

Some giant snowdrops

Hellebores are all over the garden

It is good to see these signs of spring in the garden and in the chicken run, Freckles squatted today, when I went to pick her up. That is a sign that she is getting ready to lay at last. I tried it with Rusty but no reaction so she isn’t ready yet.

I am so excited to be collecting new girls tomorrow. Watch this space!

With spring on it’s way, hormones raging and egg laying beginning or about to begin, the girls behaviour is changing. They have a new found confidence and all of them including the little girls are more vocal.

Suddenly Emerald and Speckles are jumping on the inner gate again, each time I enter the run, and Speckles goes from there to my shoulder. Peaches and Barley jump on my back when I poop pick and the Freckles has become quite vocal, giving out a repetitive little call each time I go in the run.

They all look amazing and all their combs are getting bigger and redder. It is lovely to see how spring causes the girls to blossom.

Speckles and Emerald jump on to the inner gate when I open the outer gate

Where has Emerald gone?

Emerald always jumps back down to the patio but Speckles always jumps from the gate to my back.

A blind selfie of Speckles on my back just below my neck

She snuggles into my neck and I have to stoop down to let her dismount. It is funny how they were doing this last year and then this behaviour just stopped through the winter. As soon as spring approaches and the girls are getting ready to lay this behaviour starts up again.

I have no idea why they do this but they do seem to gain in confidence as they approach egg laying. It is amusing and I quite like the interaction that this gives me with them. They are my funny girls!

I have wanted to add new girls since losing Pebbles but have had to wait and be patient.  Firstly I needed to let six weeks pass to make sure the flock was in good health. It then wouldn’t have been fair to add more seramas during the dreadful frosty weather that we have had recently.

The weather improved but we had a busy social weekend so I put it off for another week. Finally the time seems right and I called Dave the serama breeder. I was really nervous because I have waited so long for this and he was talking of the possibility of giving up breeding, due to lack of time, when we last saw him.

I took the plunge and called him yesterday and he said that he had downsized but still had plenty of hens for sale. He said that they are aged from six months upwards. This is really good for me because now that I have a few girls laying it would mean that I could integrate them as quickly as possible. They could all have layers pellets whereas younger chicks would need growers pellets and have to stay separated until old enough to move on to layers.

Dave works shifts and is not available during this week so the earliest we can go to him is Saturday morning. We have arranged to get to him at eleven o’clock on Saturday. I am so excited.

Girls, I am about to rock your world again. I think it will be really good for the little girls to belong to a bigger group but of course they may not see it like that at first. I think the bigger girls will take the newcomers in their stride but it will interesting to see what the little girls make of new girls.

At the moment the bedtime routine is super smooth. The little girls, as good as gold, go to to their own little perch with Rusty always next to the door and the bigger girls go to their higher perch. The order is always the same with top girl Emerald going in first in her favourite position next to the wall and Peaches and Barley together followed by Speckles, sometimes next to them, sometimes at the other end of the perch. Tonight is a typical evening line up.

Bedtime positions

There are no longer the aggravations that there used to be. It runs like clockwork with all the girls used to going to their own spot. How will that work with new girls? I am sure it is going to shake up the routine.

I can’t wait to have new girls and I think the flock will be richer and better balanced with more little girls but these two little girls have been used to no competition. I wonder how easily they will take to newcomers. Only time will tell!