Carol's Chickens

Much to my surprise after one night of steering the little girls towards the pop hole they have got the hang of it.

I now realise that by putting them in I was confusing them because they didn’t know how they had got there. Tonight at half past six Caramel made her way to the pop hole and went in to the chicken shed and settled down in their usual corner.

A few minutes later Pebbles made her way to the pop hole and also settled in their corner.

I have been fretting about Caramel’s eye all day. Yesterday it had looked better but this morning it looked worse again. I decided to give her the eye drops again and once again it seemed better at first then worse. It was dirty around the eye so I think that she has been rubbing it and I worry that it may be infected.

It has been closed most of the day and although open at the end of the day I worried that she wasn’t eating as well as the day before. She is too small not to eat for long and I have cried this evening over the prospect of  possibly losing her. I intend to take her to the vet tomorrow. I tried to get her to eat some mash, sunflower hearts and chopped grapes, before bedtime, but she wasn’t interested which is really worrying.

At half past six Caramel made her way to the chicken shed

Her poor eye looked worse again today

Pebbles heads towards the chicken shed

Up the steps

And through the pop hole

They both settled in their usual corner and the rest of the girls went in about fifteen minutes later and perched up as usual.

I had planned to try lifting the little girls on to the low perch but because of Caramel’s eye I didn’t want to disturb them. I don’t want to add any extra stress to them at the moment. I feel we need to try to help Caramel get better before doing any thing else to their routine. I just want to keep them as stress free as I can right now.

I am so worried about her at the moment and we will just have to see what tomorrow brings. I really hope things will improve but I am scared for her and feeling heavy of heart tonight.

Last night I decided that I need to start moving the bedtime routine onwards. I have been putting the little girls in the chicken shed at half past six, as with Caramel’s eye problem, I didn’t want to add any further stress.

By doing this it means they don’t know how they get there and they are not learning the way to go to bed. At half past six each evening Pebbles starts looking for somewhere high to roost. I decided to stay with them and let the other girls to bed in the usual way in the hope that the little girls would follow them.

At half past six Pebbles discovered that by using one of the new little perches she could get up onto the wooden table.

Pebbles on one of the new perches

Pebbles uses the little perch to get onto the wooden table

Pebbles on the wooden table

Pebbles was still looking up as if to find a better place to roost. She flew back down from the table. Both little girls went to the food dish and the other girls started making their way to bed. Emerald is always the first one in.

As Pebbles obviously wants to go high I decided to put her on the bigger, higher perch, in the chicken shed.

I tried putting pebbles on the higher perch

Barley soon chased Pebbles off the perch

Emerald took no notice of Pebbles but as soon as Barley came in she intimidated Pebbles causing her to jump down. She came back out of the chicken shed.

I stood at the end of the patio blocking the little girls from leaving the patio area. Once most of the girls were in the chicken shed I ushered the little girls towards the pop hole using my hands behind them to steer them in. Once they stepped up through the pop hole I had to use my hand to block them from coming back out again.

I directed the little girls to the pop hole

Once they realised they couldn’t come out they went in and settled in their usual corner. Toffee and Peaches were last to go in and they took no notice of the little girls in their corner.

They settled in their usual corner

What I don’t understand is that Pebbles obviously wants to find somewhere high to roost and yet despite putting her on the perches in the chicken shed she always comes back down and settles in this corner.

I don’t mind if they want to sleep here but I feel that Pebbles really wants to roost up on a perch. What I might try tonight is moving the little girls to the little perch after all the girls are settled.

It will be interesting to see if the little girls go in on their own tonight. If they don’t I will once again steer them towards the pop hole until they get the hang of it. I feel that we are making progress and feel sure that in a few more nights they will get the hang of it.

Pebbles and Caramel have now found all the new, lower, perches that we put in for them. I missed most of the photo opportunities as they had moved on by the time I got my camera but I did just manage to catch them on this perch.

Pebbles and Caramel on one of the new perches

Are you looking at us!

The two of them remain inseparable and we have never yet seen them not together. The good thing is that the other girls are not bothering them at all.

I wrote the above part of this post yesterday afternoon. This morning I went out to the girls at seven o’clock and I gave them their morning corn and had a look at Caramels eye. I am so pleased to say that it is looking much better.

Morning corn

Caramel’s eye is looking a lot better

I am so pleased that she seems to be on the mend now. Her eye is staying open and is looking a lot better. She has a little bit of dirt around it where she has rubbed at it but I am reluctant to interfere with her. I think the drops made it worse before better so I am inclined to leave her alone. I am feel a lot happier about her today.

Pebbles and Caramel have found a new favourite spot to sit. They have been spending a lot of time sat on the log either preening or snoozing.

Caramel and Pebbles new favourite spot to perch

Caramel and Pebbles sitting on the log

I think this may be because they were spending time on the little coup roof but now that I have moved it back to the patio this has given them a new place of a similar height where they feel safe when they want to doze. So far the other girls haven’t bothered them here.

I wrote the above part of this post yesterday and was going to finish it when the girls had gone to bed so that I could update how they went in.

Shortly after I had taken these photos I noticed that Caramel had a problem with her right eye.

From the day she came to us she has occasionally sneezed and wobbled her head. I wasn’t sure if I should be concerned but we have had girls who have sneezed before and have also had hiccups and we told ourselves that she had been with Kirsten for a year so she must be okay. She was active, eating well, drinking, pooping and dust bathing so we figured it was nothing to worry about.

Yesterday afternoon I noticed her right eye looked sticky. We weren’t sure if it was connected to her sneezing and she had a cold or if she had either got something in her eye or been pecked although there was no visible sign of a peck.

I decided to call Kirsten for advice. I asked her if I should take Caramel to the vet. She said seramas are susceptible to colds and sometimes have them after she has taken them to a show so maybe the move has caused a bit of stress. She said there is no point taking her to a vet because they would only give antibiotics which won’t help with a cold. She said she has a very good vet who has told her that any products we use for our eyes can also be used on chicken’s eyes so she would advise using eye drops.

I happened to have optrex eye wash and also eye moisturising drops as I have just had a recent problem with a scratch to my eye (I wear contact lenses and this happens from time to time).

I tried the moisturising drops in her eye yesterday afternoon as they are very gentle and soothing. Her eye appeared a little better but worsened again as the day went on.

At half past six both Caramel and Pebbles were where their little coop used to be and were looking around and upwards in confusion. I didn’t want them to become stressed so once again I put them in the chicken shed and closed the pop hole.

Just the same as the night before they settled in the same corner behind the door and the other girls were waiting at the pop hole at seven o’clock. I let them in and they all perched up. I left the automatic door connected this time.

This morning I went out just before seven o’clock. Caramel’s eye looked the same and I wondered if the moisturising drops may have added to the stickiness so I decided to give her some of the optrex eye wash from a pipette. Once again it looked a bit better for a little while but when I checked on her a little later it looked worse once more.

It now seems to be closed most of the time and I have decided it may be best to leave it alone.

Caramel has a problem with her right eye

She has been eating and pooping so that is encouraging. We now don’t think it’s a cold as we think that would effect both eyes. We think it’s more likely she may have been pecked although we can’t see anything.

Caramel stands by while Pebbles has a dust bath

It was sad to see that she didn’t join Pebbles in a dust bath so she obviously doesn’t feel right but she still sticks by Pebbles every where she goes.

I feel really worried about her but I don’t think there is anything we can do but give it time and hope she gets better. I would hate to lose her and she is my favourite of these two but I don’t know what else to do for her.

Both Amber and Honey had an injury to an eye and got better so I am keeping everything crossed for her. I shall be keeping a very close watch on her.

A few days ago we saw our long, slow worm, again.  This time it was on our patio. We do wonder why it comes to the patio where there is no cover for it.

We know it’s the same one as it has a mark (a ring) round it’s tail. We think perhaps it has dropped it’s tail in the past and regrown it.

We see our slow worm again

Just over the white line on the right of the photo you can see the mark on it’s tail.

What is it doing on the patio!

My husband picked it up and put it safely in the undergrowth of the garden. It must be a resident of our garden. We saw it a week earlier on our path. You can read here and find out a bit more about them.

Yesterday morning I introduced the little girls to yogurt. The rest of the flock had three little dishes on the patio area and I put one little dish on the little girl’s food station.

Caramel is first to try the yogurt

Caramel is always first out of these two to try any new food item

Caramel likes the yogurt but Pebbles isn’t sure

I had to go out for the rest of the morning and when I returned at lunch time the little girl’s yogurt dish was empty. I opened up the run and moved all the dishes to the patio area ready to move integration on to the next stage.

It didn’t take long for the little girls to find the new feeding station and also the other girl’s yogurt dishes. It seems that Pebbles does like yogurt too.

Later in the day both little girls share some yogurt

I was quite happy that the little girls knew where the feeding station was and they held their own with Peaches on the patio. The problem was that they didn’t know where to go at bedtime. I closed their usual section of the run and I picked them up and put them in the chicken shed to show them where to go. I even put them on the low perch but they just jumped straight down and went back out.

They usually go to bed at half past six and the other girls go in at seven o’clock. At half past six the little girls were at the gate of their section. They couldn’t work out where to go. My husband suggested that I put them in the chicken shed and close the pop hole to let them settle in there before the other girls went in.

I put them on the low perch and closed the door and the pop hole. I heard them jump straight down. I checked back a little later and they had settled in the corner behind the door. They looked so sweet.

The little girls in the chicken shed at bedtime

A little later I went back and the other girls were waiting outside the pop hole. I lifted it up and let them go in. They all perched up and I let the pop hole door down and left it disconnected. The little girls in their corner were safe from any attention from the other girls and I could go out at first light and let them all out together.

Maybe the next night the little girls will know where to go but if not I could do this for a few nights.

I went out at half past six this morning. I propped open the automatic door as I was a little early and it didn’t open when I reconnected it.

The girls came out with the little girls coming out last. Speckles had a go at the little girls. I gave them some corn and they all had some including the little girls. The little girls then made their way down the run to the log where they like to sit.

I was worried that the little girls hadn’t gone to the food and water dishes so I decided to make a couple of dishes of mash. I put one on the patio and by now the little girls were sitting on the wooden block so I put the other dish of mash on the block with them and guarded them to keep the other girls away.

They tucked into the mash, another new experience for them. Once they had had their fill I took this photo then when they left the block I put the dish back on the patio.

Mash in the morning for the little girls

I put their little coop next to the other one on the patio so that it will become a second nest box once more. I feel happy that we have moved on to the next stage now.

I will see if they go in on their own tonight but if not I will put them in each night until they get the hang of it. One good thing is that these little girls had been used to being handled and so are easy to pick up.

When I left them all was calm. I think they are all going to be fine together.

Yesterday I mixed the girls for the whole afternoon. I had been to the woods and collected some branches to make some extra, lower, perches for the little girls. I had picked branches that were a smaller, broom handle width, to suit them. I put them in the run in a pile to decide where they should go and opened up the run.

The little girls checked out the heap of branches. The other girls were near by but there was no chasing.

The girls are mixing with no hassle

Speckles is close by but is not chasing the little girls

Despite Speckles being near the little girls she didn’t chase them away. I think she is beginning to see that they get that they are below her in the pecking order and maybe she is getting bored with constantly chasing them.

A little later they were all on the other side of the wire, near each other, without any chasing. Things are definitely improving.

The girls are together without any problems

We put up four lower, branch perches, in the different parts of the run.

Just a reminder of how cute these little girls are

Barley tests one of the new perches

Barley was first to test out one of the new perches. Peaches and Barley found all the new perches first. The little girls did find a couple of the new perches but had jumped down before I could get a photo. Those photos will have to wait until another day.

At the end of the day I separated the girls again but this was the first day that I had left them together all afternoon and had left them at times without watching them. I have grown more confidant that they can be left together without me watching over them.

I think we are ready for the next stage now. I want to try roosting them together at night. I plan to put them together in the afternoon and see if the little girls will follow the rest of the girls into the chicken shed at bedtime. I will close the little coops and the gates to the other side of the run.

If I can get them all in together at bedtime I will unhook the automatic door opener so that I can go out first thing in the morning and let them all out together. This way I can check that they all come out in the morning without any problems and can then decide if they are okay together or if I should separate them for a bit longer.

I am quite hopeful that they will mix together this weekend while I am around to watch them. It will be really good to have one united flock once more.

For the last three days I have been letting the girls mix together each afternoon for an hour or two when I am able to watch them.

Speckles has been the only one to have a go at the little girls which is typical behaviour for the bottom girl. The good news is that none of the other girls have bothered with the little girls so at least they have only one girl to run from. Speckles mostly goes after Caramel, the smallest of the two little girls.

The little girls have taken to using the ladder to perch on.

Caramel and Pebbles perching on the ladder this morning

Caramel and Pebbles perching on the ladder this afternoon

In the afternoon I opened both gates and lifted the wire at both ends of the run and all the girls piled into the smallest section of the run. Yesterday I put the original flock on this side for the morning so that the little girls could have more time to get used to the other side of the run and the original girls wanted to get back to the other side. Today they were on the other side and yet when I opened it up they all piled into this bit. As they say – the grass is always greener on the other side.

With the entire run opened up all the girls piled into the smallest part of the run with the little girls

Time for a snooze

The little girls stay on the little coop roof while Peaches inspects their feeding station

When I open up the original girls always eat food from the little girl’s dish and go and take a look in the little coop. It’s as if they think the little girls may have something better than they do when in fact, of course, it’s exactly the same. They remind me of children at times.

All seven girls stayed in the smallest part of the run

All the original girls piled in to the table corner

The little girls stayed on the little coop roof out of the way of the other girls until Speckles jumped on to the little coop roof and chased them off. They ran out in to the other part of the run and up the ladder onto the high branch perch.

The little girls escaped to the high branch perch

It is good that they are learning all the escape routes and where all the perches are but I worry about them getting stuck too high up.

I decided that this was enough for today and closed the gates and the wire and got the original girls back on their side once more. I then decided to lift the little girls down. My husband said that they would be able to fly down but I worry about them getting down safely.

While watching them I am able to assess anything that needs tweaking. I think I will get some more branch perches and put them in lower down so that there are more places for the little girls to perch.

I also noticed that Caramel could get cornered and trapped in the corner at the back of the gate when it’s open. I have decided to lift the wire by this corner so that she can pop through to the other side. As these girls are so little I think it’s best to have as many escape holes as possible.

I think it is going really well but I just don’t want to risk any harm coming to the little girls. I will start mixing them for longer Friday afternoon and at the weekend when I don’t need to go out and I can keep a close watch on them.

It would be good if I could get them together over the weekend but I will play it by ear as I would rather take longer than take any risks. If these girls were not so tiny I would probably go for it at the weekend but I am being more cautious because of their small size.

Overall I am really pleased with the progress and I am sure they will all be together soon.

Saturday just before bedtime both Pebbles and Caramel were on their little coop roof. I could tell that they wanted somewhere to roost.

Pebbles and Caramel on the little coop roof

Good as gold they went into the little coop a few minutes later but I started thinking about getting the right perch for them in the chicken shed. I had read that they need a perch the size of a broom handle so decided that we should buy a broom handle for them.

On Sunday my lovely husband fitted it in the chicken shed. He took out the existing perch that was across the angle as the main flock all use the perch at the back. This meant we could position it lower down and the new girls wouldn’t get pooped on.

New, smaller, lower perch

Sunday morning at first light I let the new girls out into the other side of the run. They found the food dish straight away.

Straight to the food dish

They look so tiny on the patio

They set off to explore the new space

They marched down to the end of the run

They found the log and said hello to Speckles on the other side of the wire

They found their way back to the patio area

And back to the food

I stroked Pebbles

They had pellets and water after their expedition

I showed them inside the chicken shed

I picked them up and put them in the shed so that they would know where to go in the future. I lifted Pebbles on to the perch in the hope that she may remember it later.

They found their own way back out of the shed.

They set off back across the patio

Heading back towards the run

I love the way they go everywhere together. Where one goes the other one follows and they are never far from each other.

Caramel spotted the other water

As Caramel passed the other water she stopped to investigate it. I imagine she may have recognised it from the farm. She couldn’t quite pluck up the courage to actually take a drink though and this was the closest she got to it before deciding to catch up with Pebbles.

The new girls sit near Peaches and Barley

The new girls have a dust bath

This was the first time we had seen the new girls having a dust bath.

When I went back after I had taken this photo, Peaches and Barley were also having a dust bath on the other side of the wire. We decided that as the new girls were sitting and dust bathing so close to the other girls, perhaps it was time to let them have some time together.

I opened both of the gates. As we had expected Speckles was the one that went for them. I used the water spray to deter Speckles. The new girls ran to the ladder.

The new girls find the ladder

Up the ladder they go

Right to the top

I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t be able to get back down. I needn’t have worried. Pebbles led the way. She walked down the straight bits at the side of the ladder getting a bit faster towards the ground. Caramel followed her lead and they both made the ground safely.

I opened up the corner of the wire under the ladder and showed them both how to go through the gap. I wanted them to know where all the escape routes are.

I decided after an hour that this was enough for the first day. I put the new girls back on their usual side and closed the gates and the wire in the corner.

We felt it had gone well for the first day. The new girls have learned where the chicken shed is, how to get up and down the ladder and where the escape routes are.

I am going to continue to give them some supervised time together each afternoon. I am not ready to leave them alone together yet as the new girls are so tiny that I don’t want to risk Speckles having a peck at them. Speckles is the only one that went for them though. All the other girls didn’t take any notice of them.

I know Speckles has to show them their place but I don’t want any pecking with such tiny girls so we will take our time and wait until the time is right to advance to the next stage.

What an adventure it has been for the little girls today. I am going to move on from calling them the new girls to calling them the little girls from now on.

A few days ago we saw another slow worm on the path. I think it was the biggest one I have ever seen.

The slow worm with my husband’s foot to show it’s length

I think this is the biggest one that I have ever seen

I placed a ruler next to it to try to show it’s length

It’s just over a foot long

They grow up to fifty centimetres (one foot eight inches) and this one was thirty seven centimetres (one foot three inches) so it wasn’t far off the longest.

They are actually legless lizards. They have closeable eyelids. They can drop their tails to escape predators and they eat slugs, worms, snails and the odd insect or spider.

They don’t bite and are harmless. They hibernate from October to March.

We feel lucky to have them breeding in our garden. We have seen babies, medium sized ones and now this large one. It was very accommodating to wait for me to get a ruler and take photos. We do like to see them in the garden.