Carol's Chickens

Flame is happy to lay her eggs next to a little girl and if it’s a broody girl they get to sit on Flame’s eggs. Flame could lay in one of the empty nest boxes but she actually seeks out a nest box with a little girl in it.

Flame laid her egg next to Smoke yesterday and Smoke sat on it as soon as Flame left the nest box.

Ebony is quite different. Whereas Flame seems drawn to little girls in the nest box Ebony has no tolerance of them at all. Ebony has no time for little girls either in the nest box or out of it and will peck them away from her.

Today Ebony was in the nest box getting ready to lay her egg. I had lifted Smoke for a break and Smoke realised Ebony was in the nest box. Smoke wasn’t brave enough to try to join Ebony in the nest box but Smoke wanted Ebony’s egg to sit on.

Smoke kept a vigil at the ramp of the nest box. Sometimes I swear these broody girls have a sixth sense when another girl is laying an egg. I have known the broody girl leave the nest box they are in to sit on an egg laid in the next nest box. We think they are alerted by the sound of a girl leaving a nest box.

Smoke could see Ebony in the nest box so she decided to wait outside. She had her wings raised and was determined to wait it out. If I moved her aside she would instantly take up her position again.

Ebony is in the nest box while Smoke waits outside

Smoke is on alert outside the nest box while Ebony lays her egg

And here is Smoke sitting on Ebony’s egg until I removed it

These broody girls are very determined. I am not even trying to break Smoke out of this as sometimes when I take her out of the nest box she will stand and shout her head off and she is the loudest of all our girls. Smoke can shout even louder than Ebony and that’s saying something!

I now just take Smoke out mid morning and mid afternoon for a break and lift her every time I go in to check if is she is sitting on an egg and if she is I remove the egg. I will let it take it’s course.

After a rare week of no broodies I knew it couldn’t last. A few days ago Vanilla started laying again and just like last time, when she was taking the role of chick to Flame, it was twenty one days since her last egg and eight days after I broke her chick relationship with Flame.

On the same day Smoke went broody. It really does seem to be one in and one out. Smoke had laid twelve eggs in fifteen days. She had laid her last six eggs six days in a row and that always seems to spark her going broody again. She only ever lays for between one and two weeks before going broody. Smoke often lays one or two more eggs after she has started being broody which is what she has done this time too.

A few days later Flame started laying again. It had been fourteen days since she last laid and like last time she was playing at mothering Vanilla it had been twelve days since she broke out of it. It’s amazing how the timing is exactly the same. Once again I hadn’t really expected Flame to start laying again so soon as she had been moulting but like last time the feathers stopped dropping and she started laying.

Broody Smoke

Here is Smoke protesting after I got her out of the nest box to take a break. It’s slightly out of focus because she was quivering. We seem to be destined to have at least one broody all summer. Sigh!

We have been bringing produce home from the allotment most days. At the moment though the most prolific produce is runner beans.

A day’s harvest of runner beans

Every visit we bring home this many runner beans and that still leaves loads more to be picked by the two families that we share the plot with.

Some of the beans are more than a foot long

I prefer to pick them smaller than this but some get to this size so quickly.

A pan of beans ready to cook

I have cooked them and divided them into portions for the freezer. Some people don’t like beans when they have been frozen. I cook them just as I like to eat them and freeze them in portions that are enough for the two of us.

When I take them out of the freezer I put them in a small oven dish and cover them in foil. I then put them in the oven, along side of whatever I have cooking in the oven, for the last fifteen minutes of cooking time.

I find that they are just the same this way as if they have just been cooked. We have also been giving our next door neighbours some too. There are plenty to go round.

I gave the girls some yogurt as a treat yesterday. I wasn’t going to post about it as I have already done a yogurt post this summer but Marmite looked such a state that I couldn’t resist.

Marmite is splattered with yogurt

Marmite looks as if she has dipped her head right in the dish. All the other girls have yogurt on the end of their beaks but Marmite has it covering her entire beak and the edge of her comb and splashes on her face. She looked like she really enjoyed the yogurt.

When I checked back later the dishes looked as if they had been licked clean and Marmite was completely clean again. I do wonder how they manage to clean up so well. They love a yogurt treat.

I haven’t posted for a few days as there hasn’t been much going on. This is a good thing! For the first time this summer we have no broodies and it is bliss. It is so good to go up to the chicken run and see all the girls out in the run doing normal chicken things.

Since Flame came out of her “mother and chick” thing, just like last time, this has started her moulting. I am picking up loads of her feathers from the run and the chicken shed in the mornings. Despite this she still looks pristine.

Flame

Speckles is also moulting but is doing so, a few feathers at a time, like the seramas moult. This means she too looks pristine.

Speckles

Ebony is a bit fluffy underneath and still has white carotene on her head. She seems to have had a white head for months. Head feathers really do take the longest to unfurl.

Ebony

Eggs are thin on the ground as those girls who are no longer broody are still recovering. Whereas we were having some, five egg, days we are now getting just one or two eggs a day. This is okay though as it’s still enough for breakfast eggs at weekends and one day during the week.

The new chicken shed is also bliss. It is so quick and easy to clean. It needs a lot less pine shavings and poop picking in the morning only takes a few minutes. I then wipe the inside, including the roof, with a wet wipe which only takes five minutes and means it is dust free and clean on the inside.

This is by far the easiest chicken shed we have had so far and mites have nowhere to hide so I am also able to keep it mite free. It is a learning curve but if I were to advise anyone thinking about starting to keep chickens I would definitely recommend a plastic chicken shed.

So all is normal in the chicken run for five minutes, touch wood,  until the next drama comes along.

Our hibiscus is looking amazing at the moment but it has grown enormous.

Hibiscus

It’s got huge

It towers over the chicken run

We lopped it last year but it has grown back bigger than ever.

The hollyhocks have finally started to flower

Our holly hocks seem to be flowering long behind the ones we have seen in other gardens and on the verges.

Hanging basket of cherry tomatoes

This was my birthday present from my youngest son and his wife along with some garden centre vouchers. The tomatoes have just started ripening.

Slow worm on the patio

And finally a small slow worm. Over the last few months we have spotted tiny, baby, slow worms, medium sized slow worms and huge, adult, sized slow worms. We have a healthy breeding population in our garden and see different sized ones every year during the summer.

Last night was the first time, after three nights, that I left Flame with the flock at bedtime. I was very pleased to find that at dusk both Vanilla and Flame had perched. I think we have definitely come through this now.

Last night

There seems to be a bit of a parting of the ways on the little girls’ perch. I am not sure what that is all about.

Smoke started laying again yesterday after her broody spell. It was three weeks since Smoke last laid. Cinnamon has finished her weeks course of baytril and is back to her usual self. I am sure she will be happy not be grabbed twice a day.

I hardly dare say it but everything is back to normal in the chicken run … touch wood!

Flame has been in the dog crate for two days and two nights. Every time I put her back in the run she would have a dust bath and then return to the nest box so I would then put her back in the dog crate.

Yesterday afternoon I got Vanilla out for a break and she stayed out for a couple of hours instead of her usual ten minutes. I felt that she was weakening. Before bedtime I took Vanilla out again and closed the nest boxes.

At dusk when I checked on the girls Vanilla was perched up instead of in the corner of the chicken shed. I felt we were making progress. I opened the nest boxes ready for the morning.

This morning when I went out Vanilla was out in the run. I gave out the morning corn and cleaned the chicken shed. By this time Vanilla would usually be back in the nest box but she was still out. It was looking like Vanilla was done with being broody.

I decided to get Flame out of the dog crate and return her to the run. I had been doing this each morning while I put clean paper in the dog crate and fresh water and mash. After half an hour Flame was still out in the run. Instead of returning to a nest box she was perched with Speckles and Ebony.

It was looking like both Vanilla and Flame had come through this at the same time.

Flame this morning

I wondered what would happen when Flame and Vanilla saw each other. A few minutes later Vanilla joined some of the little girls on the ladder and all the girls were preening together. Flame and Vanilla didn’t take any notice of each other.

A communal preening session

In the afternoon Vanilla had a dust bath and Flame and Vanilla had still taken no notice of each other.

Vanilla having a dust bath

It seems that like last time two days has been long enough to break the mother and chick behaviour. Last time at this point I felt confident enough to leave them together at bedtime and then was disappointed to find Vanilla and Flame together on the chicken shed floor once more.

I separated Flame for one more night and the following night Flame and Vanilla perched at bedtime. Because of this I am going to put Flame in the dog crate for one more night. I am quite confident that by doing this they will both perch tomorrow night. I am really pleased with how quickly this has worked.

Cinnamon laid another egg today, in the corner of the chicken shed, which I have of course thrown away. That is two eggs in three days so I think she is feeling much better as she usually only lays once a week. Tomorrow will be her last day on baytril. I am so pleased with how well she is doing. Everything seems to be going to plan, touch wood!

At half past seven last night I left the nest boxes closed but opened the chicken shed pop hole and door ready for the night. Immediately Flame and Vanilla went in and settled on the floor.

It was still very hot and Vanilla was beak panting although I didn’t manage to catch her with her beak open. Vanilla would put up with being hot just to sit with Flame.

Flame and Vanilla in the chicken shed

I decided to put Vanilla in the dog crate in the shed until it was dark. I went out after dark and was pleased to see that Flame was on her perch which she wouldn’t have been had Vanilla been with her. I added Vanilla to the little girls’ perch.

This morning it was much cooler so I decided to try to break this habit. I have had a change of heart and decided that I will put Flame in the chicken crate rather than Vanilla as this worked last time after only two days and three nights.

I am now able to pick Flame up without her pecking me. It seems that Flame only pecks me when she is with Vanilla. It must be her misguided instinct to protect her “chick”. This makes it much easier to handle her.

I intended to give Flame two breaks for exercise and dust bathing, at half past twelve and half past four, but at half past ten I decided to see if she was ready for a break. I closed Vanilla in the nest box  that she was in so that Flame wouldn’t see her.

Flame headed straight into the nest box next to the one Vanilla was in. This meant she wasn’t ready for a break so I put her back in the dog crate. It is no hardship for her to be in the dog crate as she would only otherwise be sitting in a nest box. I had put a dish of water and a dish of mash in the dog crate and she had eaten some mash.

I got Vanilla out of the nest box a few times but she went straight back in. I ended up closing the nest boxes and blocking the shed’s pop hole for half an hour to force Vanilla to take a break.

At half past twelve I shut Vanilla in the nest box again and returned Flame to the run. This time she went straight out into the run for a dust bath.

Flame has a dust bath

Once Flame had had her dust bath she went into a nest box again. I returned her to the dog crate and opened the nest box that Vanilla was in. I shall repeat this until Flame comes out of this. I am hoping that it will only take a couple of days.

Cinnamon laid an egg in the corner of the chicken shed so she must be feeling a lot later. Unfortunately her egg had to be thrown away because of the baytril but the important thing is that she seems back to normal.

I think the entire country is experiencing this heat wave at the moment. We are lucky that ours is only three days, the last day, being today and then more normal temperatures to follow. France has been experiencing a heat wave for months.

I have been giving the girls frozen peas and sweetcorn in dishes of water in the afternoons. Ebony suffers from the heat the most due to her black feathers. She will stand with her wings aloft and pant through her open beak. The frozen peas and sweetcorn seem to cool her instantly.

As today is the hottest day I have also wet some areas of the run by tipping a couple of watering cans of water over the soil. The girls love scratching in the damp soil. I also poured a can of water over half of their patio area to cool it down.

Today’s afternoon temperature showing on my van

37 degrees C is 100 degrees F so very hot for us.

Vanilla has now been broody for two weeks and no amount of shutting her out of the nest box has broken her out of it. I wasn’t too happy with her sitting in the nest box in this heat but then it got worse. As the heat wave started Flame also went broody and the same behaviour has started up as last time they were both broody together.

Flame wants to sit with Vanilla underneath her and Vanilla has once more taken on the role of her chick. Vanilla climbs all over Flame and pushes herself underneath her. This is not ideal behaviour in a heat wave.

Once the girls have laid I close the nest boxes and I have been closing them well before bedtime. This just meant that Flame was sat in the corner of the chicken shed with Vanilla underneath her. I had to wait until it was dark and lift them to the perch.

I have also been leaving the chicken shed door half open  at night while we are having such high overnight temperatures.

This afternoon I closed all the nest boxes and blocked the pop hole to the chicken shed as I didn’t think the girls would lay in this heat and no girl had shown any interest in the nest boxes. This meant that like before Flame and Vanilla settled on top of the nest boxes.

I blocked the top of the nest boxes with some empty storage buckets. The next time I checked they were sat together on the wet patio.

Flame and Vanilla

These two are so determined! I watered the patio area from the store cabinet down and beyond that around the nest boxes and the chicken shed is dry. You can see that they are sitting on the edge of the wet part of the patio so they must like the coolness of it.

At least I feel this is cooler and better for them than sitting in a warm nest box. I want to use the dog crate again to try to break them out of this behaviour but I have been waiting for the hottest days to pass first. My priority has been keeping the girls cool at the moment.

I plan to try it a different way round this time. I have no lunches tomorrow so will be at home for the next three days. I will put Vanilla in the dog crate in the open shed. It will be easier to pick vanilla up and put her back in the run for a break and dust bath several times a day. As she has already been broody for two weeks I am hoping she will soon come out of it.

I will try this first and I can always switch round if I think that would work better. In other news Speckles and Smoke are moulting. I am finding grey fluffy feathers and spotted feathers in the run.

I am pleased to say that Cinnamon looks completely back to normal. She is easy to pick up for her meds but she doesn’t like opening her beak. I am so relieved that she improved so quickly.