Pin feathers and egg laying

There always seems to be something. I felt elated that Butterscotch had pin feathers on her head meaning she was moulting and not having her feathers pulled. Then we saw Topaz pulling the pins from her head.

Each time we have seen this we have shouted at Topaz and moved her away. Unfortunately pins can be irresistible. I had been trying to photograph Butterscotch’s pins without much success (she bobs her head constantly) and today while she was in the nest box laying her egg I got the chance.

The bad news is that there are less than half the amount of pins she did have. I feel so disappointed.

Butterscotch in the nest box

The little white dots on her head are the pins but there are not nearly as many as there were a few days ago.

As soon as I look at a girl in the nest box another girl wants to look too. This time it is Honey who has started looking in the nest boxes over the last few days.

Honey comes in to take a look

Butterscotch and Honey

Honey started laying in the middle of March last year so I would expect it to be a bit longer before she starts laying.

When I lift the nest box lid to check on Butterscotch she doesn’t move or make a sound. When another girl looks in, or joins her like Honey in this photo, she merely turns her head to look at her.

When either I lift the nest box lid or a girl looks in at Topaz she comes out shouting her head off. Topaz really is an angry bird. She also spends a lot of time sitting in the nest box but not laying and also sitting on any other girl’s eggs once they have laid.

A little later Butterscotch gave the egg shout and I caught Topaz going in to sit on her egg. Once I removed the egg Topaz lost interest. This means I really can’t be sure if Topaz has laid any eggs or not.

I usually know who has laid by seeing them sitting in the nest box but so far I haven’t seen any girl sit in the nest box other than Topaz and Butterscotch. Barley was stood over the first egg next to the food dish so we were sure she had started laying. Topaz is often in the nest box but when she leaves there is no egg.

Butterscotch’s eggs are distinct so that’s easy but the rest of the eggs I am guessing at the moment between Barley and Topaz. We have had two days when we had two eggs which were Butterscotch’s and another. I have put the last two down to Topaz but I can’t be sure.

Last night’s bedtime line up

We have four very red combs belonging to Topaz, Speckles, Peaches and Barley. These are the girls that I would expect to be laying now or very soon but with the conundrum of Topaz in the mix it’s hard to say. Butterscotch has a black/purple comb but is a good egg layer between going broody.

Oh well, time will tell but an upswing in eggs is a bonus.