Carol's Chickens

I hope everyone has had a happy Christmas. I took some photos of the girls on Christmas Day but of course we are all too busy for blogging so I will put them out later.

The girls had scrambled egg and cooked sprouts for their Christmas Day treat which went down well. I found uncooked sprouts were too hard for them and ignored but when cooked, they all got eaten.

We have had a lovely time with family and had lovely gifts including some chicken themed gifts but I thought I would just put out one photo of the coffee mug my husband bought me which is now a favourite.

Christmas chicken mug

I think it is so pretty and the china is fine which makes it lovely to drink from.

I am sending everyone good wishes for the rest of the Christmas break and wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

Every morning at first light I poop pick the coop and like clockwork my little helpers join me. I wonder if it’s an age thing because last year Honey and Amber used to do this but they have now retired from the job and join the other girls mooching about the run.

Peaches and Barley at seven months old now have this job to do each morning. The routine is always the same. I start by cleaning the nest box then I remove it so that I can clean this side of the coop.

Peaches and Barley check out the nest box

Peaches and Barley always go straight to the nest box for an inspection. When I am ready to put the nest box back on I usually have to move them out of it first.

I then take the side panel off of the opposite end of the coop and proceed to clean there.

Peaches and Barley check out the coop

Has she missed a bit?

We can help her with this

How am I meant to see out from under this comb?

You can see by Barley’s open beak that there is always a running commentary going on.

A good job done we think

The entire time that I am cleaning up Peaches and Barley are helping me and chatting away to me. I say chatting, they actually squeak the whole time and I often call them “my squeaky girls”. It’s so sweet because I can feel their combs bobbing against my hands and I have to nudge their feet aside from time to time.

I am convinced that they think that I am doing the same thing that they are and it’s a shared mutual daily occupation. As soon as I put the side panel back on the coop they leave the coop and carry on with their day.

I will try not to keep going on about this but the extra bedtime perch has transformed the bedtime ritual from a bit of aggravation to an easy routine.

For now Toffee has decided that she wants the chair and this made Emerald vulnerable to being pushed away. Last night when Sparkle didn’t want her next to her on the perch Emerald stepped down to the new perch.

Emerald perches on the new perch

Emerald stayed there until the other girls had settled then stepped back up to the old perch. It seems that it’s while taking their places that the girls higher up the pecking order won’t tolerate the bottom girl close to them. Once they have settled down they become more tolerant.

Emerald moves back up to the old perch and is joined by Barley

Peaches manages to squeeze in next to Barley

I think the reason Peaches and Barley don’t have a problem is because they always perch up last when the other girls are settled. Emerald always goes to the perches first to try to secure a spot and gets moved around the most.

Now the extra perch has given a safe place to step on while the argy bargy is taking place and Emerald is no longer forced to the ground. A simple solution and a happier bedtime routine.

Once a week I dig the run over as it gets compacted. I am a bit disappointed that the newest part of the run doesn’t stay dry despite the panelled roof. Rain drips in and also blows in and although it is dry from above for the girls the soil is wet and compacts making it harder for me to poop pick and harder for the girls to scratch in.

Luckily the old part has a dry area under the tarpaulin which gives the girls plenty of space for dust baths.

Once a week I dig the run over and the girls follow me to see what goodies they might find. I feel like head hen with my little flock grouped around me following my every move.

Once the run is dug over the girls joyfully scratch together and it is so nice to see this.

All scratching together in the newly dug run

What do they find to peck at!

Scratching on both sides of the run

What are they finding!

I just love watching them scratch and peck, scratch and peck, scratch and peck again. It’s one of the things that chickens are really good at!

The new bedtime perch has really made choosing a bedtime position easier for the girls. Even though tonight none of the girls perched on it, it made the line up easier. It gives the girls somewhere else to step on to if they are moved along instead of being forced to drop down to the patio. Their positions got sorted out much more quickly and without any aggravation.

Honey at first went to the new perch like she did yesterday but then changed her mind. Amber checked out the other end of the new perch but then settled on the old perch.

Amber discovers the other end of the new perch

Toffee chose the chair once again. Peaches tried out the new perch.

Peaches checks out the new perch

Tonight’s final line up

They chose similar positions to last night except for Peaches and Barley who switched to the big perch. I think we can call this extra perch a success.

I’m not sure if it’s because the girls perch up earlier with the shorter days but lately finding their spot on the bedtime perches seems to have become a little more aggressive. During the day the flock stick close together with the colder weather and it’s heart warming to see them in various spots of the run in a tight group.

The pecking order is most noticeable during the day if any of the girls get in Topaz’s way either around the treats or during the pre bedtime scratching session. She leaves them in no doubt that she is top girl and not to be messed with.

When choosing the bedtime spot though the pecking order comes sharply into play. Topaz and Sparkle, first and second girls, will not tolerate any of the other girls too close to them and will chase Toffee and Emerald from the perch.

Honey and Amber, third and fourth girls, will also chase Toffee and Emerald away. Peaches and Barley being the youngest are always last to come to the perches, they spend longer pecking in the garden area, by which time the rest of the girls are settled and they don’t seem to have a problem finding a space and settling down.

Lately though I have seen Toffee and Emerald pushed from the perch and with a lot of wing flapping they land on the patio. This causes me to worry that they may get hurt so I decided we needed another perch. When I say pushed from the perch it’s not so much pushed really, Topaz will peck at them or peck at their legs and they move along the perch until there is nowhere left to go then drop down from the perch. I always wonder why they can’t just peck back but they never do, it’s not in their nature, or their pecking order status to do so.

Emerald being bottom girl apart from the two youngsters often used to sit on my little chair which hangs behind the perches. Lately though Amber has taken to sitting on the chair first and will not allow Emerald to get on it. This has caused more of a problem with Emerald getting pushed out. The last few nights Amber hasn’t bothered with the chair and Toffee has taken to sitting there instead.

This afternoon we put up a third perch. I felt that a little extra space would help the girls to find a spot with less aggravation.

A new bedtime perch

The new perch is of course the clean, pale one. I wondered how long it would take the girls to find it.

Toffee used the new perch to make her way to the little chair

Toffee was soon settled on the chair

Honey soon found the new perch and settled there

Honey is on the new perch, Topaz on the big perch and Sparkle and Amber on the right hand perch

Emerald settled further along the right hand perch and Peaches and Barley inspected the new perch

Final positions

Peaches and Barley finaly settled next to Emerald. From the left we have Toffee on the chair, then Honey on the new perch, Topaz on the bigger perch, then on the right hand perch we have Sparkle, then Amber, Emerald, Barley and Peaches. No girls got pushed down from the perches tonight and they all settled with less fuss. I think even if like tonight only one girl makes use of the new perch it will still help them to settle easier.

You would think they would have learned by now that all this hassle on the perches is a waste of time really because as soon as it is almost dark I go out and lift them all down one by one and pop them in the coop for the night. I put a torch in the coop so that they can all settle in position then I remove the torch and close the door.

It makes no difference though, the girls still go through this routine of finding their spot each night on the perches but I think the new perch will make it a little better for them.

Just over a year ago we decided to add a vintage crockery hire to our catering business. We had fun collecting the crockery from antique shops and fairs and charity shops and I keep a book of what we have, what we spent and what we have made from hiring it.

We now have enough crockery to cater for up to a hundred and forty and in a year it has paid for itself so from now on we are in profit. It is never going to make a huge amount but anything it does make is a bonus and we enjoy hiring it out.

Yesterday we did a small hire of the vintage crockery and were asked if we had any festive crockery. I said that we had one trio which my eldest son Steve and his wife gave me as one of my Christmas gifts last year. I said we would include it in the hire and was quite pleased to give it an outing.

Today after I had collected back the crockery and washed it up I decided that the festive trio should be included in my Christmas decorations.

Festive vintage trio incorporated into my Christmas decorations

My festive trio filled with baubles

I felt quite pleased that we can enjoy this gift over the Christmas period and that it has had an outing too.

My good friend Jackie is going to a warmer climate for Christmas so we recently met up and did our Christmas gift swap early. Oddly enough she gave me two chicken gifts and I gave her two chicken gifts. Now wasn’t that surprising!

Yesterday we met up with family and Grandchildren for swapping Christmas gifts as they are also going to a warmer climate for Christmas. Oddly enough I received a gift with chickens on. I do so love my chicken based gifts.

Today we bought our Christmas tree and I decorated it this afternoon. We usually have it in the dining room but once we got it home we realised it was bigger then usual. We decided to put it in the sitting room in front of the window.

As well as decorating the tree I decided to use some of my chicken themed things as part of my Christmas decorations.

I recently posted about the chicken jug I bought myself for putting flowers in. Here it is as part of our Christmas decorations.

Christmas chicken jug

Here are my Christmas mugs, part of my gift from our family, also part of our decorations.

Christmas chicken mugs

Jackie put my recent group photo of my girls on a mug and a book for my lovely Christmas gift.

My girls

Lastly here is our Christmas tree.

Christmas tree

I am usually so last minute with these things but this year we have decided to give up working at weekends and it has made such a difference. I am so much more organised this year. I am now looking forward to Christmas.

My flock are now on the very tail end of the moult which seems to have been going on forever but they are looking amazing. I am still finding a few feathers and can still feel some pins when I pick them up at night to put them in the coop. I can still see a few loose feathers too but no bare patches on any of the girls now.

Sparkle was the last to stop laying eggs and to moult but she is looking pristine now apart from a few pins on her head. Topaz also has a few pins on her head so perhaps that is the way the wyndottes moult.

Sparkle now has a really fluffy bottom

Sparkle is looking really good with just a few pins on her head

Topaz is two tone and still has a few pins on her head

Emerald still has a loose wing feather, Toffee is pristine and seemed to moult the quickest.

Emerald looks great although that wing feather looks a little loose

Toffee is looking great

Honey is completely feathered and Amber has taken the longest of all to get through the moult. She still has some loose feathers on her breast and I am still picking up gold feathers but she has no bare patches. I worried when Topaz pulled a couple of pins from her neck that she wouldn’t end up fully feathered but I am really pleased that all her neck feathers have grown back in.

Honey has all her feathers

Amber is looking great

Amber just has a few loose feathers on her breast but her neck feathers are complete now

Barley as usual is ready for her close up

Barley has amazing wattles and comb

Peaches is looking great

Peaches wanted a close up too and also has amazing wattles and comb

I am so thrilled that the feather pulling is finally behind us and my flock are all fully feathered once more. It has been extra special to me this year and I am so happy to see these girls looking so beautiful.

Yesterday Jackie and I visited each others girls for the last time this year as Jackie and her husband go away to warmer climes for Christmas. Jackie has a friend who looks after her chickens while she is away.

I didn’t get many good shots of the girls as they were not cooperating and kept turning away just as I clicked.

Blossom is looking amazing

Blossom now has ginger neck feathers

Blossom has a fluffy bottom again

Blossom now has all her feathers back in. Her neck feathers have come back ginger instead of pale peach and her little head crest is back as well as fluffy feathers on her bottom and a lovely tail. It is lovely seeing her looking so good after a year of missing neck feathers.

As part of Jackie’s flock she has thrived and away from the previous feather plucking has now had her first proper moult and at last regrown all her feathers.

The same thing is happening in my flock. The girls that had feathers pulled have now moulted and got all their feathers back for the first time in a year.

Jackie and I discussed how lovely both flocks are looking and how well we have done with them. We both know that the difficult decisions we made for our flocks were without doubt the right ones.

I will update with photos of my girls soon as they have changed so much recently. I know that both Jackie and I are really happy with our two quite different but equally beautiful flocks.