Carol's Chickens

I never tire of watching the girls dust bathing. It is often a communal exercise and cements friendships.

The three bigger girls share a dust bath

Togetherness

They are having such a lovely time.

Yesterday I received a small parcel through the post. It was my prize from the postcard competition. I won “Most Boring Postcard” but also made the final selection in several categories and got a mention for my “Walking Dead” postcard.

My prize

The card says – Carol, your prize! It’s a love spoon from Wales. Better late than never. John – Going Gently xx

I am thrilled to win a prize and have thanked John on his blog.

A few years ago I posted about the patio table and chairs that I found in Home Bargains closing down sale for the amazing bargain price of twenty pounds. It replaced an identical set at the top of the garden next to the chicken run. We only sit there occasionally when we have a barbeque as it is secluded and away from the house.

The bargain set is now looking very tired and both the table and chairs are falling to bits. We have “fixed” it several times. At the price we paid for it, it doesn’t owe us anything. It is the second set we have had at the top of the garden as it takes the brunt of the wind and rain.

We decided that we would like to replace it with a metal bistro set as this would last longer in the elements and as it’s only the two of us that ever sit up there we decided we only needed two chairs.

We started looking around each time we were visiting a garden centre or D.I.Y. store. We were shocked at how expensive they were. I even looked on line and they all seem to be between one and two hundred pounds. We decided to put it hold but keep an eye out for a set.

Yesterday we visited a different garden centre looking for a support for the third sedum which got missed last year. We couldn’t find one but I found a metal chicken that I rather liked and it was reasonably priced so I decided to be frivolous and buy it.

Then I spotted some bistro sets and they had all been drastically reduced in price. We decided to buy a set. It was reduced from a hundred and sixty pounds to sixty pounds. What a bargain!

The old patio set

It actually looks a lot worse than shows up in the photo.

New bistro set

It has the added bonus of giving us more space in this area.

I then set about finding a spot for my new chicken. I tried it half way down the chicken’s strip.

The girls inspect the new chicken

I had to laugh at the girls all rushing over to see the new chicken.

I decided to put it in the corner in front of the rusty chicken

It may not stay here if I find a better place for it but it will do for now. I am very pleased with the day’s unexpected purchases.

We are now quite often getting five eggs a day so our eggs are building up even though we are eating them most days. We have eight girls laying regularly. Speckles has only laid one so I am not counting her, Sienna is yet to start and Dandelion and Cinnamon haven’t yet restarted.

We now have enough eggs to give some away.

Abundance of eggs

This is was the bottom of our fridge yesterday. We decided to give some eggs to our friends, opposite us, who we are sharing the allotment plot with.

Gift eggs

An assortment of sizes. The box on the right has two of Flames, large, pale, eggs. One has her tell tale calcium blobs on top, two of Ebony’s, large beige eggs and two of Smoke’s eggs which are our biggest serama eggs. The box on the left has an assortment of the smaller serama eggs.

Our friends are a family of four so I have been waiting until we had enough eggs to give them a reasonable amount.

It is lovely to have enough eggs to be able to share.

We have been allocated the job of getting potatoes and beans ready for the allotment. We had already started the potatoes chitting. A total of two hundred made up of a third red fir apple and two thirds maris peer.

We have now potted up bean seeds. We have potted forty each of stringless runner beans, dwarf runner beans and broad beans.

The scale of an allotment plot is quite different to our small veg plot in the garden. We have always bought bean plants as we only needed a few. For an allotment plot we need to grow from seeds to keep the expense reduced and the number produced increased.

Our front bedroom has become a greenhouse.

Chitting potatoes and planted bean seeds

Runner beans, dwarf beans and broad beans

It is odd seeing the veg on this scale and quite different from our previous experience in the garden.

D and T also have items starting from seed and later some things will be planted straight onto the plot.

It will be interesting to see how our first year turns out and we are looking forward to it.

Salmon has struggled with egg laying up until now. She laid two tiny grape sized eggs, one mid January and the next mid February. Then two weeks ago she looked hunched and miserable  in the afternoon and the next morning there was a soft shelled egg in the chicken shed. One week ago exactly the same thing happened and there was a second soft shelled egg.

Yesterday Salmon was very vocal and was digging in the corner of the chicken shed when I cleaned in the morning. Later she was looking in the nest boxes and settled in the one nearest the chicken shed for a little while. I found this quite encouraging.

A little later still salmon had settled in the corner of the chicken shed nearest the pop hole. Salmon was picking up pine shavings and placing them around her. I felt that this time she was going to lay properly.

Salmon is in the corner of the chicken shed moving shavings around

Salmon settles down to lay her egg

The next time I checked on her Salmon was just leaving the chicken shed. I checked her corner and there was a good shelled egg. It was smaller than the other girls’ eggs but I was so pleased that it had a good shell.

I am hopeful that Salmon will be okay from now on and that it was just a problem getting started. Hurrah! Well done Salmon.

Yesterday Ebony and Smoke were sharing a nest box again. Once more they both laid their eggs together. Flame had also laid in the same nest box a little earlier. These three have their timings in tune at the moment.

Ebony and Smoke share a nest box

A little later both their eggs were in the same nest box

This was our second, six egg, day. Flame, Ebony, Smoke, Jasmine, Spangle and Marmite all laid.

Speckles hasn’t laid again since her first, blood streaked, egg nine days ago. Coinciding with laying her first egg she has been drinking lots of water and doing sloppy poops again. I think that she must have an internal problem but she looks absolutely fine in herself.

Speckles is about six years old. This happened last year when she started laying but completely stopped over winter. I thought it was a one off problem but she is just the same again as last summer and it has started with her starting to lay again the same as last year. I think the problem must have to do with her starting to lay and may be a kidney problem.

She is eating well and behaving the same as ever so I am not too worried. I think it may be a sign of her ageing. She laid twelve eggs last year and I am sort of expecting about six eggs this year if she follows her previous pattern. Her comb isn’t as huge as it used to be. She seems happy and is doing all the usual chicken things so I am not going to worry.

Only Sienna has yet to lay her first egg and I think that may be soon as she has been a bit more vocal than usual. Jasmine and Sienna are the same age and Jasmine started laying six weeks ago so Sienna is quite a late starter.

I think Dandelion and Cinnamon are about to start laying soon as well as they have also been very vocal recently. Last year Cinnamon started at the beginning of March and Dandelion in April.

Jasmine’s egg laying has improved and she looks fine when she is about to lay now. Salmon’s last two eggs have been soft shelled, both laid in the chicken shed in the early morning and about a week apart.

We have an abundance of eggs but the important thing for me is to have the girls healthy and happy. I hope that like Dandelion, before her, Salmon will improve in time.

I was surprised to see Ebony and Flame sharing a nest box.

Flame and Ebony share a nest box

The next minute Smoke had joined them.

Smoke decides there is room for her too

Three girls in a nest box

The girls seem a lot more cosy than usual at the moment. When I next checked their eggs were side by side.

There are more and more splashes of colour in the garden now.

Hyacinths growing through pulmonaria

Anemones with primulas

A pot of vinca

Raspberry canes on the veg plot

T had bought too many raspberry canes for the allotment. He wanted just one row of canes so he gave us the spare ones. We decided to plant a row of canes at the back of the veg plot. We aren’t sure if they have enough space here but we are going to try it and see how it works out.

We like the idea of a few permanent plants on the veg plot so are planning putting in some strawberries on the opposite strip at the top. That way the top portion of the veg plot will be filled all year round. We don’t need so much space as we will have produce from the allotment as well as the garden.

We have never grown raspberry canes before so this will be an experiment. It would be great to have some fruit from the garden. It will be interesting to see what this summer brings.

One of the reasons that I knew Vanilla was about to start laying was because I had seen her on a couple of different days with Flame in the corner of the chicken shed. Vanilla seems to want to lay her egg wherever flame does but I didn’t manage to get a photograph as when I returned with my camera they had both left the shed.

Today I caught them laying their eggs together in the chicken shed.

Vanilla and Flame together

They laid their eggs side by side

You never know which unlikely pair of girls will choose to lay their eggs together.