Carol's Chickens

I love this photo of the girls and Spot checking each other out. It’s so unusual to get all the girls in focus at once.

The new girls have settled in really well. Having said that they were easy to handle I soon realised that wasn’t strictly true. Gold and Storm are very easy to handle. Snowflake isn’t at all. She lives up to her name and I could call her The Snowflake. She is the only one that is nervous and doesn’t like me to get too close.

I discovered this at bedtime on the first evening of the first full day with us. Getting new girls to go in at bedtime is always the first hurdle. I wondered if they would make their own way in.

The first night I was pleased that Snowflake was in as I knew she would be the difficult one to catch. Gold was perched by the hatch so I knew she would be easy to pick up. Unfortunately when I put Gold in Snowflake shot out. I easily picked up Storm and put her in but spent a bit of time chasing Snowflake from corner to corner before I was able to catch her in the corner.

Snowflake screamed when I picked her up as if I was trying to murder her. Not great at all.

The next day Storm discovered the coup during the day and was in and out. I knew this was good as once familiar with the coup during the day there was more of a chance she would go in at bedtime.

Sure enough Storm was in the coup at bedtime. Gold was perched above the hatch this time. Again easy to pick up and put in. Once again I chased Snowflake around the corners until I could pick her up. She didn’t make a sound this time so that was an improvement.

Last night I left it a little later in the hope that the new girls might be in the coup. The first thing I saw when I went into the run was Storm on the main flock’s side of the run. I was puzzled as to how she had escaped as there were no gaps.

I then looked up and saw that Gold was perched on the chicken wire divider just under the roof. I realised that storm must have followed her and then dropped down on the other side

We have had girls dig underneath before but have never had them come over the top. Luckily Storm is so easy to pick up that I picked her up and put her in the coup. I then stood on tip toes and lifted Gold down and put her in the coup.

I then started chasing Snowflake round but luckily as she went round the coup she went straight in the coup on her own. Progress.

This morning when I went out it had been raining all night and the new girls’ area near the hatch was wet where it drips in at that part where the original part of the run joins the later part of the run.

I had a light bulb moment. I decided to move their coup and feeding station into the corner of their space next to the large wooden shelter. This will give them a bigger dry area.

This also has the advantage that instead of chasing Snowflake into that corner I will be able to chase her straight into the coup. This should make bedtime a lot easier.

Originally we had a bush in that corner and when it died it left a stump that I left for the girls to perch on. I think that was why I had always put the little coup in front of the shelter.

The stump eventually fell over and I removed it but just hadn’t thought of putting the coup in it’s place until now. The coup is now in the corner that the girls are in in the first photo. As you can see it should be easier to guide Snowflake towards the open coup at bedtime.

I am hoping that over the next few evenings the girls will get the hang of going in at bedtime.

I am amazed how much these girls eat and Gold is permanently in the food dish. She is definitely the top girl of the three.

I am very happy with how it is going and am hopeful that bedtime will soon sort itself. It usually takes about a week.

Postscript

I have now updated all the pages that appear under the heading of my blog. I had got a bit behind with them recently. If anyone would like some information on my newer breeds you could click on “Some information about my bantam breeds”. You would need to scroll down to almost the bottom where I have now given information first on Spot and then on the three new girls.

My three girls were supposed to arrive between 2.00 pm and 5.00 pm yesterday. When they hadn’t arrived by 5.00 pm I started to get anxious.

The phone doesn’t get answered after 5.00 pm so I e-mailed the lady to ask if she could track when they would arrive. She was very apologetic and said that the courier had been held up in traffic and was running late but was on his way to me.

She e-mailed again that he was 40 minutes away and then again that he was 10 minutes away. He arrived at 5.45 pm.

I had separated the small part of the run and had put a barrier around the little coup and feeding station as I wanted to give the girls a chance to have food and water before going in the coup but wanted to confine them close to the coop so that I would be able to get them in easily.

After being confined to the chicken carrier for so long the girls were not interested in the food and water but just wanted to escape the small area I had put them in. As the main flock were already in the chicken shed and the pop hole was closed I decided the safest thing was to put the girls in the coup.

I checked back on them a bit later and they were settled down with the chabo and the modern game snuggled together and the ardennaise a little away from them.

This meant photos and blogging had to wait until today. I followed my tradition of giving them descriptive names. The chabo is Snowflake, the modern game is Storm and the ardennaise is Gold.

This morning at 7.00 am I let them out. Gold was first out and straight to the water then the food then the water again. Snowflake was next out and Storm was reluctant so I guided her out. They are beautiful and I am thrilled with them.

They must have been used to being handled because they are not bothered by me at all. It looks like Gold is top girl of these three. The only one of the original flock that took more than a passing interest in the new girls was Spot.

Spot was going all around the new girls’ perimeter and being very vocal. It is typical that it is the bottom girl that does this as they want to be sure they don’t remain bottom girl when new girls come along.

The new girls all had food and water then Gold had a dust bath so she is really making herself at home. I am really pleased with how it is going so far.

I feel that I definitely made the right decision to use a courier service to have a bigger choice of breeds. I think these girls are beautiful and make a lovely addition to the flock.

We shouldn’t have favourites really but I just love Storm so much for her quirky and different appearance and her small size. They are all beautiful but I think she is a bit special. I am so happy.

Over the last few days I knew that Flame was getting ready to lay her first egg of the year. Flame has been in all three nest boxes and all four corners of the chicken shed over the last few days and has been flicking the shavings out of the nest boxes. I am constantly sweeping up shavings.

Spot also looks as if she won’t be long. She has a red comb and blue lobes and has been looking in the nest boxes. Even Sugar and Spangle have investigated the nest boxes.

Salmon is the only girl not looking in the nest boxes but she too has a red comb and face.

Yesterday Flame finally settled in a corner of the chicken shed. The next time I checked on her she was in the process of laying her egg. What a clever girl. Flame laid her first egg of the year yesterday.

It feels like the circle of life to have Flame’s first egg of the year after our recent losses. Well done Flame.

Edit – Some exciting news

I e-mailed the chicken breeder with a courier service (Pippenchick) to see if I could put my name on a waiting list for the three breeds I had chosen which were bantams : chabo, modern game and sussex hybrid. They e-mailed back that they already have in stock chabo and modern game but not sussex hybrid. However they have ardenaise which was the next choice on my list.

I replied asking what I need to do to order them. The lady rang me to talk me through it and said that they could deliver this Friday.

I wasn’t expecting this to be so soon and can’t quite believe it at the moment. They are three and a half months old so are on growers pellets. I will separate the run today to get ready for them. Watch this space for the new arrivals.

It has been shock to lose Smoke less than two weeks after Shadow. We always thought that she would outlast the other girls as she was so robust, feisty, and had never had a day of not looking on top of her game.

Smoke will be for ever known as the most serial broody ever and a great digger of the deepest holes.

Last year Spangle laid 31 eggs, Salmon 47, Sugar 57 whereas Shadow laid 107 and Smoke a whopping 121. I think this prolific egg laying was what led to Smoke’s sudden departure.

While looking back over four years of photos the theme with Smoke has been many photos of her while broody or making herself look bigger, more than any other girl we have had. I could repeat the same image of Smoke many times over but have just picked a few to capture her character.

Smoke was a character and will never be forgotten.

Smoke looks like she has an egg laying problem. It has been a month since Smoke last laid and I was expecting her to start laying again about now.

Yesterday Smoke didn’t look her usual self. She wasn’t rushing for the treats and she was sitting in the familiar pose of a girl struggling with an egg. I picked her up and checked her and she had a slightly mucky bottom.

I am so shocked by this as Smoke has always been a good layer and never had a problem before now. Of all our girls I never expected Smoke to run into a problem. Smoke is four years old and is our top girl.

It is heartbreaking to be facing this again so soon after Shadow. The thing that Shadow and Smoke have in common is that they were the best layers by far and they were both the only ones to continue laying in winter. I often think it’s not good for them to lay so many eggs.

It also seems that spring is when problems arise as they come back into lay. I am feeling as if there is some conspiracy against me at the moment and as the girls come into lay I am going to lose them. I know this can’t be true but it just seems that way.

Last spring we lost Marmite as she came back into lay followed by Speckles, at a good age, soon after and it now seems as if it is happening again.

I will see how Smoke goes on today but I know that I must not let her suffer and will have to make a decision to take her to the vet sooner rather than later. I feel very heavy hearted right now.

Smoke has gone

Smoke rapidly went downhill. She was sitting in a hunched position with her eyes closed. The other girls were moving around her but she wasn’t opening her eyes.

This was so fast compared to Shadow and I knew I had to take her to the vet as soon as possible. I got an appointment for three o’clock today.

While I waited in the vets Smoke had her eyes closed the whole time and I wasn’t sure she was even going to make it to see the vet.

The vet examined Smoke and said that she had egg peritonitis. She said that she was fluid filled and inflamed. She agreed that the kindest thing was to put her to sleep.

I explained to the vet that most of my seramas lay between thirty and fifty eggs a year but that Smoke laid a hundred and twenty and laid through the winter too. The vet said that her egg laying had exhausted her.

Egg peritonitis is when the egg is laid internally and can be free floating in the abdominal cavity causing inflammation.

I think this was the reason that Smoke went down hill so much faster than Shadow.

The vet was very kind and when I asked if I could hold Smoke she gave her the anesthetic in her vent and settled her on a towel on my lap. Smoke very gently went to sleep while I held her and talked to her.

I will do a tribute to Smoke soon but at the moment I am still shocked by the speed that this has happened. I can’t believe that we have lost another girl so soon.

We lost our sweet Shadow on Thursday. We got Shadow and Sugar on the eighth of September 2020 when they were about three months old.

It is so sad as she wasn’t yet two years old. She was not only a beautiful girl but she had a beautiful nature too. Shadow was so friendly and easy to pick up. She never minded being handled. She had a lovely chatty nature too.

Most mornings when I would clean out the poop from the chicken shed Shadow would step inside the pop hole and scratch in the shavings beside me. As soon as I stood up and closed the shed door Shadow would bounce out of the pop hole. It was as if she just liked keeping me company.

Shadow had a lovely, distinct, voice. It was a bit husky and she was never one to shout. She would show Sugar that she was above her in the pecking order but it would be with the sort of swift peck that didn’t connect and never any aggression.

Shadow was just so easy around me and she loved to take spinach from my fingers. When I bought her indoors and stood her in a bowl of warm water and cleaned her she would stand still and let me deal with her.

When I would return Shadow to the run she would stand at my feet and wait for me to give her some spinach. Shadow was a little sweetie.

Shadow is such a huge loss. The flock seems very small and quiet without her. In her short time with us Shadow made a big impression and she will never be forgotten.

I said in the comments this morning that I may have been wrong about Shadow having her next egg stuck as mid morning she was so enthusiastic when I hand fed her some spinach.

I added another comment when I next checked on her and she had gone downhill again. I think that she had just had her last hurrah. I took a couple of photos as I wasn’t sure if her face was paler.

Closer up I think her face is still as red but a little later she was back in the position with her back up and her tail down and her eyes were closing. I know that when their eyes are closing this is not good.

Shadow looked miserable and uncomfortable. I knew I couldn’t let her suffer and that it was time to ring the vet. I got an appointment for quarter to three.

The vet was so kind. I explained everything from five weeks ago until now. She felt Shadow’s abdomen and said that she had a large egg stuck and she thought there was a smaller one behind it. I was surprised because Shadow had always laid tiny eggs.

The vet said that she was surprised that Shadow had managed to poop at all. She lifted Shadow’s wings and said that she thought straining had given Shadow some nerve damage.

I can only assume that the last egg, five weeks ago, was also large and had caused the problem and also resulted in Shadow being unable to expel her poop properly.

The vet agreed that the kindest thing for her was to put her to sleep. I asked if I could hold her and she was so kind. She said she would squirt the anesthetic up her vent and then I could hold her.

It would take five to ten minutes for her to gently go to sleep. She pulled up a chair and put Shadow on a towel on my lap and dimmed the light and left the room saying she would return in five minutes to check on us.

The vet came back and lifted Shadow’s eyelid to check her and said that she would leave us a few minutes more. I was of course in tears but the vet was so kind.

I feel so upset that this has happened to such a young girl and can’t understand why after laying tiny eggs Shadow should produce a larger egg.

I have grown so close to Shadow over the last five weeks of caring for her and picking her up every day but I know that it was time to let her go. I will do a tribute to her in a few days time but it is too raw at the moment.

We have been aware that Shadow was on borrowed time until her next egg was ready. We have kept her for a further five weeks since she first looked unwell.

I have continued to pick her up every day and wipe her bottom as clean as I can with tissue. I have then been bringing her indoors every week to stand her in a bowl of warm water and clean her properly.

Shadow has spent a lot of time trying to preen her bottom feathers and I know it bothers her that she can’t keep clean. I feel that bringing her in and washing her must make her more comfortable for a short while.

Yesterday I bought Shadow indoors to wash her again. She is such a good girl and stands still in the water and lets me clean her.

Today I picked Shadow up to inspect and her bottom was mucky again. In fact she was more mucky than before I washed her yesterday.

The most worrying thing is that I can tell by her stance that things are not well. I think she has her next egg brewing.

We recognise this stance, with a hump back and tail down, having seen it many times before. We know that we must make a decision soon because we can’t let Shadow suffer.

At the moment Shadow is still eating and enjoying the treats. I know that if she stops eating it will be her time. I keep hoping that she will go overnight so that I don’t have to make the decision.

I know this is unlikely though. The girls that have gone overnight have been the ones that looked fine the day before. The girls that look unwell continue to look unwell until a decision has to be made.

I find this heartbreaking and dread having to take her to be put to sleep. I think that I will probably know in the next few days though. I keep hoping for a miracle but sadly that’s unlikely.

Shadow seems to be absolutely fine apart from the constant mucky bottom. Of course I know that this means not all is fine.

I have continued to pick her up every afternoon and wipe her as clean as I can with tissue. This isn’t ideal and some poop gets left behind which by the next day sets hard. It is always around the shaft of her tail feathers and her fluffy bottom feathers stay clean.

This means I have to part her fluff to see how she is underneath. Yesterday she had hard poop stuck to her again. It hadn’t set into as big a lump as last time I washed her but just a tube of hard poop around the shaft of her tail feathers.

I think that Shadow is unable to expel the poop and it exits her vent and sits on the shaft of her tail feathers, where any that I can’t wipe off quickly enough, sets hard.

As it was mild yesterday I decided to bring Shadow indoors and wash her properly. I stood her in a bowl of water and gradually softened the poop until I could remove it completely. I then dried her as best I could before returning her to the run.

Shadow is as good as gold when I bring her in. She stands on the towel just where I put her then stands in the bowl of water and lets me deal with her. I stood her back on the towel when I had finished and took a photo.

Now that I had got Shadow properly clean again my plan was to lift her the next afternoon and see if she had managed to stay clean. I was really hoping this was improving but I knew that I couldn’t allow myself to get too hopeful.

I have just lifted Shadow and unfortunately nothing has changed. Already she has a tube of hardened poop around the shaft of her tail feather again. I managed to remove any that was loose but not all of it.

I will continue to clean Shadow each day and bring her in now and again to wash her properly. I know that she is on borrowed time though. This isn’t a permanent solution.

Once Shadow is ready to lay again I know that her time will probably be up. This is so sad. She is such a lovely girl. I wish that I could do more but sadly I know that there isn’t anything more that I can do.

We just have to enjoy every moment we have her. It is heartbreaking.

Before I do an update on Shadow’s situation I am just going to run through the other girls.

Smoke came out of her broody spell after just a week. She doesn’t seem to be so committed in winter which makes sense. I just left her to it because she was getting herself out of the nest box each day and after a week she didn’t bother anymore. That was a week ago.

I have noticed lately that Flame has slowed down and it has now occurred to me that she is feeling her age. We got her in July 2017 and she stopped laying at the end of the summer and moulted. This means she was at least two years old.

Ebony who we also got in July 2017 laid all winter and didn’t moult that year so she was a first year girl. This means that Flame is at least six years old. She is showing the same signs that Speckles did as she aged.

Flame doesn’t rush to the treats but ambles over in her own time. She spends time just sitting and occasionally also dozing a little. Flame is also always the first to settle in the chicken shed at the end of the day. This was the same as Speckles so I know she is feeling her age as she is fine in every other way.

Flame is about six years old, Smoke, Salmon and Spangle are four years old, Shadow and Sugar are two years old and Spot is about eight months old.

When I first started keeping chickens I had read that they could live to twelve years old and indeed some owners have girls of that age. I now realise that is like saying that we can live to a hundred years. Some people do but that isn’t the average. I have now read many times that the average lifespan of chickens is between four and eight years old and I think that is more realistic.

Speckles was eight years old and definitely had the look and manners of an old girl.

Now on to Shadow’s current situation.

I think that something mechanical has gone adrift inside Shadow. Shadow is happy, chatty, active, eating well and looking good, with a red comb and face, as you can see in the photo of her this morning.

But and this is a big but, Shadow is not able to eject her poop properly. She constantly has a mucky bottom and I am picking her up at the end of each day and cleaning the poop from her with tissue.

Yesterday as an experiment I decided to miss a day and see what would happen. Today she was constantly trying to preen her bottom. I picked her up to check and where I hadn’t cleaned her yesterday her poop had set hard as stone around the base of her feathers.

There was no way I could remove the hard ball without softening it in water. I brought her in and stood her in a bowl of warm water. I worked at the ball until it softened and I could remove it then dried her with a towel. I had only wet the feathers around her vent that I was working on.

This has proved to me that I need to clean Shadow each day. I know that if she can’t poop then it is unlikely that she will be able to lay eggs either. I feel that I have to keep doing what I am doing to have her as long as possible but when she is ready to lay again I will probably have to take her to the vets to be put to sleep unless a miracle happens.

I don’t want to take Shadow to the vets now while she has a good quality of life. Luckily Shadow is the tamest girl ever and easy to pick up and she doesn’t hold it against me. Shadow doesn’t stay away from me afterwards but just seems to accept my interventions.

If Shadow was a nervous girl who stressed at being picked up I wouldn’t be doing this . Shadow just takes it in her stride and I can tell she is happy by the way she behaves.

It is so sad but I feel that we must make the most of having her for a bit longer but must ready ourselves for this being a temporary reprieve.