Carol's Chickens

I haven’t seen the new girls eat any pellets yet and wondered if this isn’t what they were used to. They had been eating the corn cob and spinach and later on a bit of apple and melon. I decided to make two dishes of mash, one for each side of the wire.

A dish of mash on each side of the wire

One of the new girls eating the mash

Bluebell and Dotty are keeping an eye on the new girls

By the afternoon I could tell one of the new girls wanted to lay her egg because up until now she had been quite happy in her area but was suddenly agitated, pacing the boundary and clucking. I realised she wouldn’t go in the cardboard nest box I had made for her because it was inside the cage and she was in no hurry to go back in there! I took the cage out and put a tray of pine shavings in the bottom of the crisp box. This worked and in she went.

New girl in the temporary nest box

Bluebell and the new girl take a good look at each other

I don’t want to keep them calling them the new girls so need to sort out who is which. One of them has some white flecks on her collar so this is Honey and the other is much more feisty so she is going to be Amber. Somehow Amber seems a more feisty name to me or Honey a more gentle name.

My husband made a divider to separate off the nest box when our girls were little and we were trying to train them out of the habit of sleeping in there. He suggested that I reinstate this at night and put the banty girls in the nest box to sleep. This would mean they would be safe from the other girls and would also mean the coop door could open automatically for the big girls and I could go out at six instead of half five. Also it would make it easier for me to pick the bantys up to move them to their area.

The main problem now is to how to get them in to the nest box. I was originally going to let all the girls out at dusk to go in to the coop but my husband is now going to be out for the evening and I am worried about letting the girls out together again while here on my own.

I am going to play it by ear a bit and see if I can catch them and put them in. The other problem is my girls like to go on the coop roof at dusk and I lift them down and put them in which adds to the difficulty. This isn’t going to be easy!

Well that wasn’t easy but everyone is now in bed. At quarter to nine I decided to put the big girls in even though they would like to stay out a bit longer as it was still a bit light. I then let the bantys out into the main part of the run and closed off their area. I cleaned their area while giving them a bit of time to roam. I think if the coop door was open they would have gone in but as it was closed they didn’t know where to go.

I caught one of them fairly easily and put her in the nest box. Then it got tricky as the other one didn’t want to be caught. I felt awful because if I have to chase her around trying to catch her I will make her scared of me but I didn’t want her to sleep out alone. I left her for  bit to see if she would choose somewhere to roost. When I went back she was on the coop roof. I lift the big girls down from there so easily but when I tried to lift her down she flew off. I left her again thinking that as it got dark it would be easier to catch her.

When I went back in she was on top of the wire of the newly sectioned off part of the run. I tried to pick her up and she jumped into the bush where I managed to grab her. I put her into the nest box. It was now quarter past nine so had taken half an hour. I feel guilty for scaring her but didn’t know what else to do.

When my husband is home with me we will try letting them find their own way in at dusk but today I had to the best I could on my own. I am not sure I handled this right but even so I am glad that they are both now safely in the nest box.

This has been quite a traumatic day. I really hope it gets easier. Tomorrow my husband is going to make a more permanent separate area with a door to it. This way we can separate this area when we need to and fold the door back when we don’t need it.

I hope I haven’t traumatised these new girls too much. I hate to think that I am letting them down by putting them through this. I will try to manage the situation better tomorrow.

I went out at half past five this morning to let the girls out. The old girls came straight out but the new girls stayed put. After a few minutes I reached through the nest box to encourage them out.

Coming out

One of the new girls came out and went into the garden area. To my horror the three old girls instantly attacked her. They all went for her neck and I spayed them with water to separate them. The new girl hid behind the bush.

In the mean time the second new girl came out. The three of them did the same to her but she is a feisty little thing and stood up for herself, pecking at them in return before joining the other one behind the bush.

The new girls find a safe place to hide.

I was horrified at how aggressive our girls were, all three going for the new girls necks. I had thought that Bluebell wouldn’t peck another girl as she is so docile but I think she saw her chance to move up from being bottom girl. This was much worse than I expected and I realise now that I was being naive in thinking that they could all be together straight away. I knew now that they would have to be separated.

I watched them for half an hour and Dotty and Bluebell went to check out the new girls but oddly enough our top girl, Pepper wasn’t showing an interest but was busying herself with a corn cob. Bluebell was strutting around and shouting at the top of her voice.

Dotty and Bluebell check out the new girls

I knew I couldn’t let the new girls stay behind the bush for much longer but was unsure what to do next. I decided the easiest thing to do was to put the old girls back in the coop. They are used to me picking them up so it wasn’t a problem to pop them back in the coop and close the door.

I then enticed the new girls out with some corn. I let them have a little time to explore and they were happily scratching about and pecking at the corn cob. I could see that they would be happy in this space if they were allowed some peace. It seemed a shame to have spoil their fun but I couldn’t leave the other girls shut in the coop.

I decided the best thing to do next would be to put the new girls back in the cage for their own safety so that we could set about rigging up a separate area for them. Catching them was the tricky bit. Luckily for me while I was trying to catch them one flew into the cage. I shut the door and she vocally let me know that she wasn’t happy.

They are very flighty and a few times the remaining new girl flew over my head but I managed to corner her, scoop her up and put her in the cage. By now an hour had passed and my husband was still in bed. I didn’t want to get him up if I felt I could manage the situation myself.

I let the old girls out of the coop. I then put food and water in the cage and attached it to the coop again. The new girls retreated to the safety of the coop.

It was now time to enlist my husbands help as I knew the old girls would be wanting to go into the nest box to lay their eggs soon.

Luckily we had plenty of chicken wire in the shed so we removed the umbrella and the ladder for now and rolled the chicken wire across in front of the bush. I felt the new girls needed the security of the bush. We stapled the wire to the wooden posts and put some canes through at intervals for support. We put the cage inside with the upturned cardboard box in it to provide a makeshift nest box. We added the food and water, the corn cob and some spinach leaves. We then rolled the wire over the top to keep the new girls in and the old girls out. This is bit make shift but hopefully it’s only temporary so we will try to just make do at the moment.

The separated area for the new girls

The new girls in their own area

Once we had completed this things soon settled down. Bluebell and Dotty went into the nest box together and laid their eggs side by side as usual. Pepper went in and laid her egg shortly afterwards. The new girls settled in their area and pecked at the corn cob and leaves.

We have decided that we will make sure one of us is at home at all times to keep an eye the girls (going out in turns) and we will check on them frequently.

When I went up later I was pleased to see the three old girls sat one side of the wire and the two new girls sat on the other side of the wire. I could get lulled by this like last night but after this morning I am going to be much more wary. No one is shouting though and as long as there is wire between them they all seem happy. I would have liked a photo but after chasing the new girls and catching them this morning, they are now wary of me and moved away as soon as I went towards them with my camera.

Sort of together

This was the best shot I could get for now.

I will let them out together just before dark so that they can all go to bed together. I will also continue to go out to them at first light. I am not sure how I will get the new girls back into their area in the morning but will cross that bridge when I get to it.

We were going to collect the new girls on Thursday but I just couldn’t wait any longer and as the week is looking fairly quiet we decided to go and collect them at four o’clock today.

They sat quietly in the cage on the way home and I then put the cage against the coop door giving them a small run with food and water plus access to the coop. They went straight into the coop and stayed there. I put a halved apple and tomato in with them.

When we bought our original girls home we did this and they too went straight in the coop so I’m not worried. I know they feel more secure in there and it gets them used to where the safe place for sleeping is.

I am staying with descriptive names and am calling them Honey and Amber. I will sort out who is which tomorrow when I can see them together outside.

Honey and Amber

The set up

This gives them a small run if they want to venture out but I think they will stay in the coop until bedtime like our other girls did on the first afternoon.

I went back to check on them at intervals and they were still sat in the same spot.

Staying in the coop

The run

I have put a cardboard box in the run for the bantams to hide behind if they need to get out of the way. The girls are taking no notice of the newcomers yet.

When I next went out to check on them, I knew the new girls had been out in the cage because there was some poop outside, the tomato had gone and there were just a few small bits of apple outside plus some pellets in the water. This is a good sign that they are eating and drinking.

When I went back out again about an hour before dark the new girls were out in the cage and the old girls were lined up watching them. I was pleased as all was calm, no shouting just curious looking. By the time I got my camera only Dotty was still nearby and the other two had gone back to the garden area.

Venturing out of the coop

Why not stand in the food bowl before going back in!

Dotty inspects the new girls

I’m making this up as I go along, half an hour before dark the new girls have settled on the coop floor and look to be dozing so I have decided to shut the coop door manually and remove the cage. This leaves the old girls to carry out their usual bedtime routine and as they want to roost on the coop roof at the moment I am going to let them assume the position. I will then lift them down and pop them in the coop and wait to see what happens.

At dusk we went up and popped the old girls into the coop. There was the usual little bit of gentle chatter but nothing out of the ordinary. I had taken a torch with me, and lifted the nest box to take a peek in at them. I shine the torch on the ground outside so that it gives me a little light to see in but doesn’t disturb the girls. I was pleased to see the girls in their usual positions, with Pepper and Dotty on the bottom perch, Bluebell on the floor in front of them and the new girls on the floor between Bluebell and the back wall of the coop. They are in their usual spots but with the new girls beside Bluebell. All is peaceful so at this stage I am really pleased with how it’s going.

I am going to go out at half past five in the morning to let them out and watch over them for a bit to see how they get on. I was slightly nervous about tonight but it couldn’t have gone better and I am a bit nervous about tomorrow but really hoping it continues to go this well. We will see what happens in the morning but at the moment I am feeling really happy.

One of the advantages of having chickens is that garden weeds have now become chicken treats.

Lovely weeds

Dotty and Bluebell check out the weeds while Pepper is in the nest box laying her egg.

Dotty and Bluebell have stayed in sync with their egg laying for over a week now. Every morning they both go into the nest box together and a short while later there are two eggs side by side.

Pepper lays her egg late in the afternoon and is much more erratic with her egg laying. Bluebell will lay about twenty days in a row and Dotty about ten days in a row before missing one day and repeating the pattern. Pepper will lay two or three days in a row then take one, two or three days off at a time. She is happy and healthy though so I’m not worried.

I am looking forward to seeing bantam eggs soon and it will be interesting to see if they will be able to share the nest box or if we will have to add another.

Now that I have made my decision to get the two bantam vorwerks that I have reserved to collect on Friday, I am overwhelmed with excitement and impatience. I keep visualising them in the run with my girls and wondering how my girls are going to react to the newcomers.

I feel quite lucky to have this chance to have them, as like the dominiques they are a rare breed and the lady at the farm said her husband breeds them to perfection as a hobby but the two she has at the moment don’t have the exact perfect markings for showing or breeding, hence she still has them while he is in the process of breeding some with perfect colouration. This is why when I first rang her she said there weren’t any ready for sale yet.

I said that perfect colour doesn’t matter to me as they are to be back garden pets, to be loved and give their bonus of eggs and I thought they were beautiful and would be happy to have them. Being healthy is far more important to me than perfect markings, which really doesn’t matter a jot to me.

The vorwerk is a rare German breed developed in Hamburg by Oskar Vorwerk. He chose the unique colouring apparently, not to show the dirt.

They are bright, active, busy and economical eaters, pecking up most of their food from their surroundings. They lay cream coloured eggs.

The chicks are born strangely, with their colouring in reverse, a ginger head and black body which changes as they feather up.

They are hardy and good fliers and in a mixed group are always the first to try anything new.

I am in love with them already. I know lot’s of people integrate their new chickens slowly but the lady at the farm said to put them in the coop with our girls as it gets dark and they should be fine. Bantams tend to be feisty and as long as there are small spaces to hide and perches to escape to, they will just get out of the way of trouble.

This is how I am going to do it but have chosen the long bank holiday weekend so that I will be around for four days solid to keep an eye on them. If there are problems we will work on some separation but I am hoping that they will all just get on with it.

Of course I could be kidding myself and letting myself in for a rough ride but somehow I just believe it’s going to be okay. Watch this space to see if I am being naive!

Today we went to a farm in Amersham which is about twenty miles from us, to look at some bantams. We had already decided that we wouldn’t bring any back with us today because we have now been asked to babysit our grandchildren aged four and one tomorrow afternoon at their house. Also next weekend is a long weekend as it’s May day bank holiday so this would be a good time to integrate new girls, as we would have more time to spend with them.

I have now discounted a wyndotte as they only had white ones. The thing I love about wyndottes is the pretty colours and especially the laced ones with different coloured edges to their feathers. I love the vorwerks and the brown leghorns are pretty too. The thing I am not sure of with the leghorns is that I have read that they can be loud and I have to bare in mind the neighbours. Also the brown leghorn is very similar looking to Bluebell and I wanted to add variety.

I did wonder whether to have two vorwerks and a brown leghorn so that I would be adding three to the existing three and would have three pairs of similar looking girls. My husband said his only concern with this is that they could be noisy (again thinking of the neighbours) so now I am thinking we may go for two vorwerks. The lady only had two vorwerks to sell (loads of brown leghorns) so I have asked her to reserve them for me.

I took some photos of them so that I could refer to them once back home.

Bantam brown leghorn on the bottom perch

Bantam vorwerk with the dark neck, centre of photo

It was hard not to bring them home today but it will give me a week to think about it. They were hatched late last summer so are just past point of lay. They mature slower when hatched late in the year (which I experienced with Dotty) and have just started laying. I liked the idea of younger ones but am thinking at this age they will probably integrate easier and can also have the same feed and treats so easier all round really.

I am excited but nervous as I am about to rock our girls world! I really hope that once they are used to the change they will be happier in a bigger flock.

At the moment Bluebell and Dotty seem to be totally in sync with each other when it comes to their egg laying. For the last three days they have both gone into the nest box together and a short while later I have found their eggs side by side.

Dotty and Bluebell share the nest box

Pepper likes to see what is going on

The dogwood shrub that I planted in the run recently is just getting leaves and flower buds after being just bare sticks for ages. I have had to move the log close to it as the girls keep scratching at the roots despite the pebbles around it.

Dog wood shrub

I thought I would photograph it now, then again later when its in flower to chart it’s progress. I am pleased that it is surviving the girls attentions.

I have been mulling over the idea of adding to our flock ever since we lost Treacle. At first I decided it would be a bit selfish of me as it would be for me rather than for the girls and I felt they needed time to adjust to being just three. But since we lost Treacle the dynamic of the flock has changed. The girls lost their leader and I am sure the stress of that triggered the feather pulling. We haven’t managed to stamp this out even though it has improved somewhat.

The other change is that they were two pairs, Pepper and Dotty, Treacle and Bluebell. Now they are a pair and one! Pepper and Dotty, then Bluebell a bit pushed out on her own sometimes. This has become noticeable at bedtime.

As the weather has warmed up, Pepper and Dotty have decided they would like to sleep out on the coop roof. I have gone out to check on them just after dark and found Pepper and Dotty on the coop roof and Bluebell inside, sometimes in the nest box. I lift Pepper and Dotty down and pop them in and Bluebell must join them as there is never any poop in the nest box. I assumed Bluebell was more sensible than her flock mates and therefore putting herself to bed inside.

Last night I decided to go out at dusk to see if I could break this habit. Pepper and Dotty were sat on the coop roof and Bluebell tried several times over, to join them. Pepper wouldn’t allow her to. She would boc her on the head causing her to slide back down the sloping roof and jump down. I now think she goes into the nest box because she doesn’t want to sleep alone and feels more secure there, but would like to roost with them and isn’t allowed to. In the coop Pepper and Dotty always roost on the bottom perch and Bluebell always sleeps on the floor next to them.

Bluebell is very much bottom girl. I feel sorry for her sometimes, she has lost an ally in losing Treacle. She has never ever pecked another which is why she is bottom girl, but Treacle never pecked her as she was no threat to her leadership so they were a pair of friends.

I had thought that if we ever got down to two girls, I would like to add two bantams. My husband said that perhaps we should think of adding to them now as it could give the girls something else to think about and would make the flock more interesting. It could also just as easily upset them which is why I have been holding off of this idea so far. My husband suggested it would probably be better to add two rather than one in case one got picked on. This took me back to thinking that we could add two bantams now.

My husband thinks it would help with the girls behaviour as well as making the flock more interesting. I worry it could also land us with more problems to overcome but feel excited at the prospect of expanding our little flock. It has felt as if there is something missing ever since we lost Treacle.

I like the idea of bantams as my research says that they are quick and if there are plenty of places for them to hide behind and places to perch out of the way, they will usually just avoid trouble. Being so small means there will be plenty of room for them to fit in. Being small also means they won’t be a threat to our existing girls and I am quite sure that Bluebell wouldn’t be a threat even to a mouse! I also just like the fact that they are small making them adorable.

I like the idea of small eggs too. Apparently they have a similar sized yolk but less white so are really good fried or poached and are also handy if you need half an egg such as for an egg wash. You can otherwise use two bantam eggs in place of one normal sized egg.

My criteria is that they must have bare legs otherwise there can be problems with mud especially as they are lower to the ground. My research has led me to a farm fairly near to us and I have narrowed it down to two breeds that I would really like. I fancy a bantam vorwerk and wandotte. I rang the farm and the lady wasn’t sure if she had these ready yet but was happy for us to come and take a look on Friday afternoon and reserve the ones we would like if they are not readily available. I am beginning to get excited about this. I may be about to rock my girls world! Probably about to rock our world too!

I stayed out with the girls at dusk again tonight and it’s quite sad to see, Pepper and Dotty settled themselves on the coop roof and Bluebell tried three times to join them. Each time Pepper bocced her down. It’s not so much a peck as a movement towards her head as if to peck, but enough to make Bluebell back down. Bluebell gave up and went into the coop, straight into the nest box. I took a photo of the naughty girls then lifted them down and put them in, closing the door. I checked through the nest box and Bluebell had already joined them. This shows she doesn’t want to sleep in the nest box but doesn’t want to sleep in the coop on her own.

This is where we want to sleep

Never mind Bluebell, you might soon have some bantam friends to sleep next to. This is another bad habit to challenge me! Why, after a year of sleeping in the coop have these two decided they want to sleep here? Will adding to the flock make things better or worse? I guess only time will tell.

I decided to try giving the girls mash as a treat yesterday, thank you “flock mistress” for the suggestion. Mash is just the pellets that the chickens eat all the time but with warm water added to them to make a smooth mixture. Giving them this as a treat is good for them because they are just getting their normal food but they love it because it’s a different texture.

I put the mash in the white dish that they recognise as their treats dish. The girl’s went crazy for it and would have licked the dish clean if they could. I think I will give them this once a week.

A dish of mash

We love this

Almost gone

The girl’s enjoyed the mash as much as they do fish or scrambled egg. I think they must like the smooth texture and I suppose compared to dry pellets it is a nice change for them. It has the advantage of giving them a treat that’s good for them because it is the well balanced feed that they should be having, definitely a treat that I will make a regular for them.

As we have been having some much welcomed warm and sunny weather the girls have been enjoying some lovely dust baths. Unfortunately the girls use dust bathing as a time for pulling feathers from each other.  They seem to see it as a lovely social activity, dust bath together, preen together and a friendly pulling of feathers together. What could possibly be wrong with that!

This is so frustrating because Dotty’s head has just started to get feathers back and now her bare neck patch is getting wider. They seem to target the area with existing bare parts which are Dotty and Bluebell’s neck and Dotty and Pepper’s bottom. Bluebell still has a lovely fluffy bottom and Pepper still has a lovely fluffy neck.

At the weekend when Bluebell and Dotty were in a dust bath Pepper would just casually scratch and peck nearby, then when she thought I wouldn’t notice she would sneak closer and try to pull a feather. I would tell her off and spray her with the water spray. She would then run off looking as if I had hurt her feelings but then casually creep back like a naughty child and try again. Eventually we had to go out and I had the feeling that as soon as my back was turned she would probably be at it again.

Today it was much more communal with all three in a dust bath close together and each just leaning across to pull the downy under feathers from each other. I told them off and they broke away making me feel like a meanie breaking up a lovely party!

It’s obviously not a problem to them but it’s so frustrating to me to see them spoiling each others looks. Separating them is not an option as they are all three doing this. I am beginning to think I will never be able to stop them completely.

Dotty shakes her feathers

Dust bath in the sun

Togetherness

Bluebell stretches her leg

Pepper looks casual

They were enjoying this so much that they were purring. I hate to spoil it for them but I hate to see the feather pulling. I don’t know what else I can do but keep telling them off and spraying them with water when I catch them. I can’t watch them all the time though.