Carol's Chickens

This morning when I was cleaning up under the ladder with the girls following as usual, Bluebell hopped up onto the bottom rung. This made me think that they were ready to be encouraged onto the ladder.

In the afternoon I took some grapes into the girls and lined them up at the top of the ladder.

The girls can see the grapes at the top of the ladder

Pepper was the first one to jump onto the ladder.

Pepper gets a grape

Pepper has got the hang of this

The one thing I did realise was that the ladder needs some extra rungs. Pepper was walking up and down the support rather then being able to step from rung to rung. I decided to buy another tree support and my husband is going to add the extra rungs.

Bluebell has a go

Bluebell gets a grape

My husband didn’t want me to include this photo as he thinks he looks rather glum. I think he was just absorbed and liked the photo as it captures bluebell grabbing the grape.

Pepper about to grab another grape

At the top of the ladder

About to jump down

I am impatient to add the extra rungs so am off to the garden centre for another tree support.

We applied the ant-peck spray on Friday, five days ago. The instructions say to reapply after five days so we sprayed them again today. It says pecking should stop within a week. I was disappointed to find there were still dominique feathers in the chicken run yesterday and today and I am sure both Pepper and Dotty’s bottom are getting more bare and also Dotty’s neck. Bluebell seems unchanged and I haven’t seen any of her feathers.

Bluebell hasn’t lost any more feathers

Even her bare neck isn’t noticeable unless she stretches upwards. We didn’t spray her again as we felt it wasn’t necessary.

Bare bottomed Pepper

Pepper’s bare patch has got bigger and I feel sorry for her in these freezing temperatures. We sprayed her bottom again.

Missing feathers on Dotty’s bottom

Dotty has some missing feathers from her bottom and under her wing but not as bad as Pepper.

Bluebell’s fluffy bottom

Bluebell is lucky, she is the most feathered and didn’t need spraying.

Bare necked Dotty

Dotty has a bare neck and I feel really sorry for her because we had to spray both her bottom and her neck and I think having the unpleasant smell under her face can’t be very nice. I really hope this spray works soon as Pepper and Dotty are beginning to look really shabby.

I have been trying to make their space more interesting. We put this ladder in at the weekend but none of the girls have ventured on to it yet. I put some grapes above the ladder and on the top rungs to try to encourage them on to it (this is why Dotty is looking up). It didn’t work, they jumped up to ones they could reach and gave up on the rest.

My husband said to try picking one of them up and perching them on the ladder. I picked up Pepper and put her on the middle rung, she promptly jumped down and ran off.

Maybe they just need to find it in their own time.

We also put in two plants in pots four days ago. The girls are enjoying stripping them.

The outer branches are quickly getting stripped of their leaves

I am not sure that these are going to last long in here. I will move them back out to recover once they are half stripped as they may not recover from completely bare.

Roll on summer when I can grow more green things to give to the girls and they can scratch and dust bath in the garden area and sit in the sun. We all need some sun!

I bought a chicken toy back when we first had our chickens. You put sun flower hearts in it and they have to roll it to get them out. I have tried it a few times with them when they were younger but they were scared of it and wouldn’t go near it.

I am trying to keep things interesting for the girls while the weather is so awful and also distract them from feather picking. I haven’t seen any feather picking today so that’s a good sign.

I tried the chicken toy again today and Pepper and Dotty wouldn’t go near it. Bluebell is our most inquisitive and brightest girl and she was intrigued by it. She cautiously approached it and looked at it carefully. She could see the sunflower hearts inside and gave it a couple of quick pecks and she managed to get a few sunflower hearts out before she lost interest. I shall put it out again tomorrow and am sure over time they will get the hang of it.

What is this?

Bluebell is taking a look

Bluebell takes a closer look from the other side

Well done Bluebell, I am sure she will do even better tomorrow and the other girls will soon follow her lead.

Last night we sprayed the girls with the anti-peck spray and it went a lot easier then I thought it would. We put on disposable gloves and shook the spray as instructed.

I picked up Bluebell first as she just needed her neck spraying. I held her while my husband protected her face with one hand and sprayed her neck with the other. I then picked up Dotty and we repeated the procedure on her neck, then I held her out while my husband sprayed her bottom. Next I picked up Pepper and also held her out while my husband sprayed her bottom. Job done and the girls didn’t seem too upset by it.

The smell and taste is supposed to put them off pecking at the feathers. The instructions say to repeat in five days and pecking should cease in a week at most.

Bluebell has pecked at Dotty and Pepper’s bottom giving Pepper a bare bottom on one side. Pepper has pecked at Bluebell and Dotty’s neck giving Dotty a bare neck. Dotty who used to be bit of a bully when she was little hasn’t pecked at any of the girls but has come off worse by getting pecked at both ends. Bluebell alone has a lovely fluffy, untouched bottom and Pepper alone has a lovely fluffy untouched neck. It is sad to see their scruffy bare parts but hopefully this will stop it going any further.

Yesterday we went to the garden centre to see if we could find some big plants for the girls run to make it more interesting for them. Now that the large hebe has died (it was old and had been looking quite sad for a long time) there is only one big shrub and the apple tree left in their run. They have stripped everything else.

We soon realised that the few big plants we could find were far too expensive, especially if they are likely to get stripped by the girls. We decided instead of buying something new we would try to find something we already have. We settled on two shrubs that were in pots in our front garden. I had bought them off a clearance table a few years ago for one pound each so if they get stripped they haven’t cost us much. Also if they get stripped we can just move the pots back out of the run to recover.

Two new plants in the run

The hebe that died is in front of this pot and I have left the bottom branches for the girls to perch on.

Dotty and Bluebell investigating one of the new plants

Then they investigate the other new plant

Pepper was busy in the nest box laying her egg while this was going on.

I am hoping the ladder and the plants will add some interest for the girls. We have snow again today so it’s dark in the run and the snow is blowing in. This weather is forecast to last about a week which is a bit depressing. We are are so looking forward to better weather and I know the girls would appreciate it too.

I went back in to the girls to see if Pepper had discovered the plants after she had laid her egg.

All on the coop roof, Dotty in the foreground

As yet Pepper hasn’t shown any interest but I am sure she soon will.  The girls were more interested in getting on the coop roof and jumping from there to my shoulder. They jump on me if they can, every time I go in. I like this interaction with them though.

Since the girls have been feather pulling, I have been worried that they are bored. I have been giving them things to peck at, digging their run for worms and collecting the wood chip that gets scratched out onto the veg plot and heaping it back in the run for them to scratch through.

We had also been looking out for a second hand pair of steps to give them some new perches but haven’t managed to find anything suitable. While at the garden centre today my husband saw some tree supports and decided to make the girls a ladder. We bought three which didn’t cost very much and was probably cheaper than steps would have been. My husband used two for the supports and cut the other one into three for the rungs. He then screwed it to the beam in the run so that it won’t move.

As always with anything new the girl’s retreated to the top of the coop and refused to go into the garden area. I decided to entice them by sprinkling some dried meal worms under the ladder. This worked but I think it will be some time before they pluck up the courage to perch on the ladder. I will try to get some photos when that happens.

Chicken ladder

The girl’s are enticed under the ladder by some dried meal worms

The anti-peck spray arrived through the post today. I will wait until near bedtime, when the girl’s are easiest to handle, before applying it.

This afternoon when I went up to see the girls, Pepper and Dotty came running to greet me but there was no sign of Bluebell. I knew she wouldn’t be in the coop because she had already laid her egg earlier.

I went to investigate and found her having a lovely time in the dust bath. If you have never seen a chicken having a dust bath you would be forgiven for thinking there was something wrong with them. They close their eyes and twist and writhe around. Suddenly Bluebell opens her eyes and casually looks up at me.

Bluebell having a lovely dust bath

Being watched

I love the way the other girls go over to see what is going on. A chicken and her flock members are never far from each other.

I said right back at the beginning of this blog that the dominiques have a pea comb. Recently Pepper’s comb has been getting very dirty so I did some research to see if anyone else has this problem. I didn’t find anything about dirty combs but what I did find was that I was mistaken about the pea comb. The dominiques actually have a rose comb. The difference is that the rose comb ends in a backward facing spike while the pea comb has no spike, just a rounded blunt edge. I am surprised that I haven’t realised this before as I have read loads about the dominiques.

My research about the dominiques comb stated that it should be fairly smooth which Dotty’s is but when I looked at lots of photos of dominiques, some had more knobbly combs like Pepper’s. Pepper’s comb has some deep grooves in it which is where the dirt collects.

Pepper’s dirty comb

This photo shows how black Pepper’s comb has become since we last washed it. I decided to wash it again last night and this time put some vaseline on it in the hope that this will protect it a bit from the dirt.

Pepper’s comb after it’s wash

Pepper’s comb looking much cleaner. It remains to be seen if it stays that way.

Dotty’s smoother comb

This photo shows Dotty’s comb which has less notches on it and stays much cleaner. It also shows her bare neck where Pepper has pulled the feathers out.

I have researched anti-peck sprays and read good reviews about them. They have a bad taste and smell and everyone that had used them said that it really worked at deterring the pecking. It can also be applied with cotton wool rather than spraying which would be better for the neck area as you don’t want to get it in the chickens eyes.

They cost between five and twelve pounds and there are many brands. My son, Steve, who is my I.T. guy has ordered a spray for me. I hope it comes quickly and we can stop this feather picking habit as soon as possible.

Seeing Pepper and Dotty beak to beak yesterday, brought back memories of when I first had them at only a month old.

Dotty and Pepper beak to beak yesterday

Pepper on the right and Dotty on the left.

Dotty and Pepper beak to beak at a month old

Pepper on the right and Dotty on the left (they even seem to keep to the same position)

Dotty and Poppy beak to beak

Dotty in the foreground and Poppy facing the camera.

Poppy turned out to be a roo and had to be returned to the farm where I had got her from (they were going to breed from Poppy) and I then bought home Treacle and Bluebell. Pepper and Dotty have been really close since these early days and this early behaviour still exists between them. I love that I can look back at them at only a month old and yet see this behaviour replicated now when they are adult. These two girls are still a tight pair and I don’t think this early bond will easily be broken.

I sometimes scramble some of the girls eggs in a little olive oil and water and give this to them, to give back some of their own goodness and a little protein boost. They love scrambled egg and like the tuna, they fall on it as if they haven’t eaten for days and it’s gone in about a minute.

When they have finished Pepper and Dotty gently peck any specks of egg from each others beaks. They look so sweet, they used to this when they were babies.

Scrambled egg

Cleaning each others beaks and combs

Pepper is on the right, Dotty on the left.

Beak to beak

I always think this looks like a chicken kiss. That’s Pepper on the right and Dotty on the left again.

Just when everything settles down nicely, a new problem arises. A few days ago I noticed that when Bluebell stretched her neck she had a bare batch on her neck. I then noticed that when Dotty stretched her neck she too had a bare patch. Pepper was as fluffy as ever.

My husband then said he had seen Pepper pulling neck feathers from Bluebell and Dotty while they sat in front of her just letting her do it. Their bare patches were getting bigger and I then saw Pepper plucking feathers from them but only from the window and couldn’t catch her in the act which makes it difficult to do anything about it.

This morning however when doing my early morning clean up I saw the three of them sitting together under the bush and Pepper was plucking their necks. They just sat passively and let her do it. I told her off and pushed her away. This is so frustrating because they were all looking pristine and healthy and now Bluebell and Dotty are looking scruffy and bare in parts. Pepper has never ever pecked at Dotty (they were babies together and have always been tight) but this isn’t a bullying thing it’s more of a habit. They sit together as if Pepper is preening them. It’s difficult to stop her doing this because we can only stop her when we are with them.

I thought of using the blue spray on their necks but think it probably won’t make any difference as it’s not the bareness that’s attracting her but the feathers themselves. I know it’s not lack of protein (they can eat feathers for protein) because I give them plenty. As well as daily greens and some fruit I alternate between giving them scrambled egg, tuna, dried meal worms, sunflower hearts and digging them worms from the veg plot.

I have heard of this happening to others but I don’t know how to stop it. You can fit a chicken saddle or apron to protect a chicken if pecked on their backs but there isn’t anything to protect their necks. I can hardly give them a scarf or neckerchief. We have freezing temperatures at the moment too which isn’t a good time to be bare.

I have also read that when the feathers molt, new one grow back in but when feathers are plucked they don’t regrow until the next molt. They won’t molt until next autumn so that’s a long time to be bare.

Dotty’s bare neck

Bluebell’s missing neck feathers

Dotty’s bare neck close up

Bluebell’s bare neck close up

I took these yesterday with difficulty because it’s hard to catch then stretching their necks. Every time me or my husband have been out to them this morning Pepper has been plucking them. I wonder how bare they will get before she stops. This is really upsetting. It has started since we lost Treacle and I don’t know if that has triggered it. Treacle was a more aggressive top hen than Pepper when it came to pecking the girl’s and showing who was boss but she never plucked feathers. I am finding this really sad to see.