Carol's Chickens

Both Emerald and Toffee are moulting but Emerald is moulting much faster than Toffee.

Emerald and Toffee are both moulting

Emerald was looking a bit shabby yesterday morning.

It’s Barley’s turn to share the nest box with Butterscotch

While Peaches looks on

Barley soon laid her egg and Butterscotch sat on it until I removed it. It is so odd that whereas the girls used to make a fuss about sharing a nest box they all go and lay their eggs next to broody Butterscotch while the other nest box is empty.

I swear Butterscotch is somehow influencing them to do this.

Emerald has lost her tail

A little later in the afternoon and Emerald has lost her tail completely.

Emerald does look rather odd

Toffee

Toffee has a few feathers sticking out but otherwise looks pretty good.

Today is the last day of worming and after the initial two worms I only ever found two more worms in one poop on the third day after I started worming. I think I must have caught it early.

I have ordered some more flubenvet as I like to keep a supply in stock just in case, like this time, I ever spot worms. Otherwise I will worm them again in November.

I am picking up loads of Emerald’s feathers from the run each day. At least the good news is that the moulting is staggered rather than them all moulting together and I am hopeful that once Butterscotch finishes her broody spell she will start laying again.

Butterscotch lays for three weeks then goes broody for two weeks as regular as clockwork. The weird thing is that every time she goes broody she moults. I thought that this gradual moulting was going to mean a different section of her would moult each time until she had replaced all her feathers.

What is really weird though is that last time she went broody she moulted her head and neck feathers. In the three weeks that she returned to laying these pin feathers opened and she was just about completely covered again.

Now she has been broody for a week and she has lost these same head and neck feathers but there are pins again.

Butterscotch had these feathers back in

This was Butterscotch two weeks ago which was one week before she went broody.

Butterscotch’s head and neck now

Close up

Butterscotch looks like she did the last time she went broody. I am puzzled that she lost these feathers then they grew back and now she has lost them again and they are growing back again.

I wonder if this normal for a broody goldtop. I am beginning to wonder if she is ever going to be fully feathered and keep her feathers. She seems to being going through this process for such a long time.

I was so pleased to see her feathers back in and then disappointed to see them gone again and now am pleased to see pins again but don’t know what to expect next. I have never come across a girl like her before. I would be interested to know if anyone else has experienced this.

Recently we went to a party at our next door neighbours and while in their garden we saw our chicken run from a different perspective. We decided that we could make it look more attractive both for ourselves and for our neighbours.

The front of the run as it was

We had always intended to put some wood over the front edge of the run but somehow just never got around to it. The ladder is in this shot because I decided to get a photo of the run just as my husband was about to begin the improvements.

The side as it was with a strip of corrugated plastic

Ugly side view that the neighbours looked at

Starting the improvements

The new look at the front of the run

My husband added a few bits of decoration. This is a much nicer front view and it now looks properly finished.

New side view

My husband removed the corrugated plastic strip from the side and replaced it with wood.

The side from the other direction

The side view that neighbours see is now improved

After adding the wood my husband trimmed the plastic sheeting so that it now doesn’t show from the outside. This gives a cleaner and tidier look.

Side

New look

Ugly

Inside the run my husband had used some left over roofing felt to wrap around the panel joints to take the leaking water outside the run. We always thought it looked ugly but it did the job.

Neater look

My husband has now replaced it with some waterproof, jointed, black plastic sheeting. It’s not amazing but it is much neater.

We are pleased with the results and our neighbours have said that they are happy with the new look. They are lovely neighbours and have never complained but we want to make their outlook onto us as good as we can plus it is nicer for us too.

Of course the girls couldn’t care less what it looks like but I am sure they appreciate the run staying dry as much as I do.

A few days ago we saw a slow worm on the path in the back garden. Yesterday we saw another one on the path in the front garden. We are feeling really pleased that they are living in our garden.

Another slow worm

Slow worm on our front path

And it’s off

In the second photo that’s my husbands knee next to the slow worm as he was taking a closer look at it. It eventually disappeared into the greenery. We feel privileged to have seen it.

I am only putting this photo out in case it can be of help to someone else.

The day before yesterday while poop picking the chicken shed I found two worms. Time to get the girls on flubenvet.

Worms

I am putting flubenvet in a treat each morning, alternating between, fish, egg or mash and will do this for seven days. I last wormed them in February. I do it every six months or sooner if I spot worms. In six years of chicken keeping this is the third time that I have spotted worms.

Emerald is moulting and yet doesn’t look any different but as well feathers all round the run there has been a pile of feathers under her roost spot in the mornings.

Emerald’s feathers yesterday morning

Other news is that yesterday I spotted a slow worm in the garden. It was lined up against the edge of the path sunning itself. It is good to know that we still have slow worms in our garden.

Slow worm

Peaches and Barley

Finally I couldn’t resist a photo of these two best friends together as always.

Yesterday when I got Butterscotch out of the nest box she ran straight out into the run for a dust bath.

Butterscotch has a dust bath

Speckles comes to help

I can help with this

I did my best

Butterscotch is on her own again

Butterscotch soon hurried back to the nest box. I realised Speckles was missing.

Speckles was in the nest box with Butterscotch

Sharing

A little later Speckles had laid her large egg and Butterscotch was sitting on it. I still wonder if she has some telepathic powers to encourage the girls to lay their eggs next to her.

Butterscotch is just like clockwork. Three weeks of egg laying then two weeks broody. On day twenty one she laid her last egg and went broody again, she has been broody for the last three days now.

Toffee stopped laying three weeks ago and started to moult. Emerald had her slightly broody day one week ago and hasn’t laid an egg since then. Yesterday she too started to moult. I have been picking up her feathers from the coop and run yesterday and today.

The game girls are the best egg layers when they are laying but have such a short season. After having four and five egg days recently we are now down to three out of six girls laying and are only getting one or two eggs a day now.

Butterscotch is a docile broody and I am back to getting her out of the nest box three times a day.

I lift her out and set her down in the run.

I put Butterscotch down in the run where she remains flat

I ruffle her tail to encourage her to move from the spot.

From flat to fluffed up

This makes her fluff up and then she takes off at speed and has a quick scratch and some days a frantic dust bath.

She then eats some pellets

She feeds as fast as she can

She then drinks plenty of water

Then she makes her way back to the nest box

She sits in the nest box again

This is a routine that I am well practised with. I think Butterscotch will always be like this. Her hormones and her internal clock are as regular as a girl could get. This will be the routine for the next couple of weeks.

It was my birthday a few days ago. My husband said that despite his resolve not to buy me anything chicken related he just couldn’t resist this one. He chose a spot in the garden for the new chicken.

Birthday chicken

Close up of my birthday chicken

My husband said that now it’s in the garden it reminds him of chocolate. Jackie said she managed to avoid a chicken related gift and gave me this lovely insect house. We put it on the wall opposite the chickens.

This wall has the plant holders my husband gave me on a previous birthday and the bird box he gave me for Christmas. It is filling up with my gifts.

Insect house

Close up of insect the house

I had some very thought full gifts and an evening meal in our local pub. It was a lovely birthday.

When we moved here, nine years ago, there was an established miniature lilac tree in the garden. I call it miniature because it wasn’t a full sized large lilac tree but was about six foot tall, fully grown, with small delicate lilac flowers rather than the large flowers on the very tall trees.

We were quite pleased that it was already in this garden as we had bought one for our previous garden which we left behind.

Last year the lilac tree suddenly died and we noticed another tall plant had been growing in it’s place but had been hidden by the original lilac. It had already got quite big so we took out the dead lilac and left the new plant. We thought it fortunate that it had taken the original lilac’s place and would mean we didn’t have to buy a large plant, which would be costly,  to fill the gap.

The new plant didn’t flower last year and we weren’t sure if it was a different sort of lilac. This year the new plant is already as large as the original plant and has been in bud for ages.

I have been taking photos while waiting for the flowers to open. It has a lot more foliage than either the original lilac or a standard lilac tree but the flowers appear to be lilac flowers.

I have a theory that maybe like roses grafted on to wild roses to produce bigger flowers that this may be some sort of grafted lilac that has reverted to a more wild version and therefore has more foliage and less flowers.

Whatever it is we are quite happy to have the new plant in place of the old one.

Lilac in bud

The flowers are almost open

It’s now about six feet tall

Lilac flowers

Close up of fully opened flowers

It has taken weeks for the flowers to open, while the flowers have been open on the regular large lilac trees for some time. I definitely think it is part of the lilac family though.

I am amazed that such a big shrub/tree has appeared only last year and grown this much already. If anyone knows anything about this tree I would love to hear about it.

It is such a surprise when something just appears in the garden but I think there must be a connection with the plant that died. We are happy to have this replacement in our garden whatever it is.

Emerald always jumps on the inner gate when I open the outer gate to the run and Speckles would jump on me as I went through the gate. Speckles has now developed a slight change in her habit. She too jumps on the inner gate (if Emerald can do this then so can she!) and then she jumps from the gate to me.

I have no worry that she will jump from the gate to outside the run. I simply turn my back to her and on she jumps every time.

Speckles on the gate

You can see her looking at me ready to make her move.

Speckles now goes from the gate to me

These funny girls, they do make me smile.