Carol's Chickens

Yesterday both me and my husband had our eggs for breakfast. This was the first of our own eggs my husband has eaten. I thought they tasted fine but he said he thought there was just a slight hint of the musty taste.

I read recently that if your chickens are on a medication that advises not eating the eggs,  the vet recommends a full two weeks to clear their system. I hadn’t realized it would take so long to clear from their system. It’s been eleven days since I took the jasmine out, so it should be completely clear very soon now.

With salt and pepper they were fine though and I am going to start saving them for Christmas for our family breakfast.

Bluebell’s egg was laid before first light yesterday and Treacle’s at dusk the day before. It was touch and go to see if she was going to get her egg laid by bedtime and she then came out for a last feed and water and got shut out as in the mean time the coop door had closed. I had to hold it open and wait for her to go in.

Because the days are so short now and the coop door closes at quarter past four, the girls stay out as long as they can and quite often one or two of them get shut out. I either go up just after its shut and put them in or go up just before it shuts and hold it open while they go in.

In the morning the coop door opens between quarter to eight and eight o’clock depending on how overcast it is. I go out to them just before quarter to eight and hold the door up to let them out. It’s a bit dark for me to clean up so I am now taking a torch with me.

This morning both Treacle and Bluebell wanted to lay at about the same time and were both in and out of the nest box and sometimes both in there together. Eventually Treacle laid her egg at eight o’clock and Bluebell laid hers at half past nine.

We have now had a total of thirty two eggs, twenty one from Treacle and eleven from Bluebell. These have been laid over thirty three days for Treacle and seventeen days for Bluebell. They tend to both lay three days in a row then miss a day. I think this is very good for this time of year and it is a great shame that we have only eaten a few of these eggs. The important thing though, is that we will be able to eat them from now on.

Pepper is also looking like she will lay soon, she readily squats if I hold my hand near her and has just started taking an interest in the nest box. She sat in it yesterday as if trying it out so I think she will start to lay any day now.

Because we have been extremely busy and also the weather has been awful, I haven’t managed to get any good photos recently and my blog is sadly lacking pictures, so I decided to include this one.

Two fluffy bottoms, I think they look so cute.

At lunch time today we tasted both Bluebell’s egg which was laid yesterday and Treacle’s egg which was laid this morning. They were very near normal with only a hint of the musty taste. Treacle’s was better than Bluebell’s which makes sense as it was laid a day later and she had also not been able to reach the jasmine for as long as Bluebell. It’s now been eight days since I took the jasmine out.

I decided to put them on a slice of toast, add salt and pepper and eat them. With salt and pepper they were fine and the yolks were a really lovely, rich, orange colour. We have had twenty six eggs and these are the first two I have eaten. My husband had made himself a ham sandwich as he didn’t feel ready to eat them yet. I am going to eat them from now on but will wait until they are completely clear before giving some to our next door neighbour as promised.

I am feeling elated to be able to eat our eggs at last. Hurrah!

This morning we tasted Treacle’s and Bluebell’s eggs from yesterday and there really was an improvement, they tasted almost normal. Because the improvement has been gradual it has been difficult to tell if it is our imagination or wishful thinking but today there was a real improvement. We feel that in a few more days we should be able to eat the eggs. I am so pleased at last we should have normal eggs.

What a relief and what a lesson learned. The support from the “Down the Lane” forum has been amazing. We filled up the maximum seven pages and I had to start a new thread to continue. It has been great having them all cheering me on with this and I have said that we will all now remember forever that jasmine is bad for chickens.

I am now looking forward to tasting tomorrows egg (Bluebell has just laid) instead of dreading it. Hurrah!

We tasted Bluebells egg this morning (laid yesterday) and it really was less strong. I am now certain that it was the jasmine and is just taking time to leave their systems. I feel a lot more positive now and am hopeful that by the weekend we may at last be able to eat the eggs. Hurrah! This has been such a long process. If only we had realized sooner that it was the jasmine we could have been eating eggs by now, but hind sight is a wonderful thing as they say!

Today was the first day I checked for eggs (mid day) and found both Treacle’s and Bluebell’s side by side in the nest box. Treacle’s was still warm so just laid, Bluebell’s cold so the earlier one of the two.

It’s been very cold these past few days and the ground has been too frozen for me to be able to poop pick outside. I suppose if it is that frozen it is not going to come to any harm and when it gets warmer I will do a bigger pick up. I tried to pick up but it was too hard to move, it would need a chisel!

I worry about the girls only having frozen ground to walk on and nothing to scratch but they don’t seem bothered. They come out in the morning in the usual rush and have a quick feed and drink of water and huge poops then go off on to the frozen ground for a wander, looking like it’s not a problem. They do have the big dry perch which they use in between but they don’t seem to worry about the cold or frozen ground. When they jump on me in the evening, it amazes me that when they perch on my hands (as the rest of me is covered) their muddy feet are still much warmer than my hands. How do they stand on frozen ground or mud and still have warm feet? It’s amazing!

Now that I am sure it was the jasmine that has been the problem with the eggs, I have resumed some treats. I think in this cold weather and with frozen ground they need some treats. Today I gave them apples to peck and have given some tomato and occasionally dried meal worms and sun flower hearts as well as greens. They hoover up everything and look at me as if to say “more please”! And they give little grunts of satisfaction.

Yesterday when I went out to the chickens the automatic door was just opening and the chickens scrambled out, then I noticed Bluebell’s egg in the doorway. It’s the first egg not in the nest box  and I can imagine Bluebell being taken by surprise and in the rush to get out an egg arrives! Luckily she is always last out and it landed on the shavings, so was fine.

Today we tasted Treacle’s egg from yesterday and Bluebell’s egg from this morning (laid in the nest box at first light). They still taste the same and I felt quite depressed about this. I then realized that the only thing I hadn’t replaced was the sunflower hearts which I give as an occasional treat. I bought new and gave the existing ones to the garden birds so as not to waste them but the new ones have a two year date on them so I don’t think they could be the problem.

Bluebell’s egg this morning has caught up in size to Treacle’s and is so beautiful (such a shame)!

Bluebell’s egg on the left and Treacle’s egg on the right

It then struck me that I had found Bluebell’s egg stronger than Treacle’s even though it was more recent. This got me back to thinking it must be the jasmine because Bluebell had discovered that she could step across from the cabinet into the jasmine itself to reach more leaves whereas Treacle as my biggest and heaviest girl couldn’t do this as it wouldn’t take her weight. Maybe we just need to give it more time. If nothing has changed by the weekend I won’t know where else to go with this, but must remain positive that it may be better by then.

My husband says we will be the only people to keep chickens as pets with no eggs but I have to keep believing we will resolve this. I said we will look back at this and say “remember that awful time when we couldn’t eat our eggs?”.

Another improvement with the girls egg laying skills is that both Treacle yesterday and Bluebell today seem quite happy to settle in the nest box ready to lay while I do the morning poop pick in the coop. They now seem quite at ease with me being there while they go about their business.

Pepper also readily squats now when I hold my hand over her so she may start laying soon. This would give us a good comparison as only Treacle and Bluebell worked out that they could get at the jasmine from the cabinet and I never saw Pepper or Dotty do that.

The girl’s are doing so well at their job of egg laying that it seems so unfair that they can’t be eaten. I will keep up the daily tasting and hope for normal eggs soon.

There have been some subtle changes taking place with the girl’s. Since Treacle has matured she has easily taken the place as top hen and often shows Pepper that she no longer has the position. Pepper has given in easily and just runs away when Treacle gives a light peck or a hard stare.

This change in the pecking order has had a good effect on the other two girls. Dotty has completely stopped being a bully and with that Bluebell has grown in confidence. Bluebell is not nervous at all now and has become much more vocal. Bluebell is the smartest and the nosiest and wants to be a part of anything going on. They all know the treats are in the store cabinet and whenever I open the door even if it’s just to get my gloves they are all at my feet, but lately Bluebell pushes her way into the cabinet and pecks at the plastic container that holds the corn. If she could get the lid off, I know she would.

Pepper’s comb and wattles have finally started to mature and today whenever I went to stroke her she squatted. I felt quite surprised because I wasn’t expecting her to start laying until spring but now think that she may start laying soon. In contrast Dotty still has no comb and no adult voice. I wonder if perhaps she won’t develop an adult voice. Dotty loves to fly up to my shoulder and yet is still the only one of the girls that won’t allow me to stroke her. Pepper is the only one that doesn’t jump up on me yet she likes to be close to me and does allow me to stroke her. They are all so different.

Pepper’s comb and wattles

Because Pepper has a pea comb, it is difficult to see it in a photograph but the backward spike is developing now and her comb and wattles have become much more red in colour.

Dotty still has no comb

This picture shows the contrast between Pepper and Dotty, who has no comb yet and a much paler face. Dotty is only one month younger than Pepper yet doesn’t seem to be growing up. I often think she is stuck in a time warp destined to stay a baby (or teenager)!

Close up of Pepper

I thought this angle might show her comb a bit better.

Bluebell has a floppy comb

As Bluebell’s comb has matured it has become more floppy, like a leghorn it flops to one side.

Treacle’s comb and wattles

Treacle has an upright comb and long wattles. It is interesting watching these changes taking place.

We tasted both Treacle’s and Bluebell’s egg this morning and thought the woody taste was less strong than before. The jasmine has only been removed from them for three days so we are hopeful that a few more days should see an improvement.

This morning I tasted Treacle’s egg from yesterday and I thought it was less strong. Although the jasmine has only been unavailable to the chooks for two whole days, I think they would have been getting less in the days leading up to this, as they had stripped all the leaves they could reach. Bluebell laid an egg this morning which I will taste tomorrow morning but for the first time in ages I am feeling really positive about this.

This afternoon after all my weekly chook cleaning chores, I dug the jasmine out. It was planted in a small, half tile hole, so it was quite hard to get out. I had to cut some of the root as it went under the patio so I don’t know if it will survive. I have planted it in the garden anyway as it has two chances and there is nothing to lose by giving it a try.

The jasmine is no more!

Synchronized drinking from my two egg laying girls

I can’t wait for the day when we can start eating the eggs and start giving them away. I promised my neighbours some eggs when the chickens started laying but of course can’t give any away until this is resolved. Hopefully not too much longer.

We have been struggling to find out what has been making our eggs taste unpleasant. I have had lots of helpful ideas and support from the “Down the Lane” forum and also discovered fellow chicken keeper, Jackie, who lives very near me.

Yesterday we met up for a coffee, lots of chicken chat and to swap eggs. I gave her one each of Treacle’s and Bluebell’s to try and she gave me one of her lovely, huge, eggs and kindly some of her pellets to try.

I then bought her over to visit my chooks and take a look at my set up. While we were chatting with the chooks my husband joined us and suddenly had a light bulb moment. He took a jasmine leaf to wash and taste and said it tasted quite bitter. I then did the same and found it quite pungent. We are now convinced this is what the problem is. Originally I dismissed the jasmine as I thought the chooks couldn’t reach it to eat enough of it, but recently Treacle and Bluebell have learned that they can get up onto the storage cabinet and reach much more. They have stripped a good portion of it and yesterday morning when I was cleaning the coop, Bluebell stepped across from the cabinet and into the jasmine itself to reach even more.

By this time it was getting dark so I got some wire and tied it back out of reach. Today I chopped it down to a few feet in height with no green left on it and tomorrow I will dig it out altogether. Bluebell was very cross about it and was at my feet or on the coop roof going “bock bock” very loudly.

I had Jackies egg for breakfast this morning and it was lovely. It was so nice to have a “normal” tasting egg. Before poaching it I took a photo of her egg with my girl’s for comparison.

Jackie’s two year old chook’s egg in the middle and Treacle’s on the right, Bluebell’s on the left

Jackie reported back yesterday that she had tried Bluebell’s egg and found it musty with a back taste that lasted. It is good to have someone else’s opinion.

This afternoon I tasted Treacle’s egg from yesterday (she laid another today which I will try tomorrow) and Bluebell’s egg from this morning. Treacle’s tasted the same but I thought Bluebell’s was a little less strong. This makes me feel quite positive that this may be the cause, hurrah! I really hope so because this has been a long and trying process and it would be so good to be able to eat their eggs at last. I could also give them some of their treats back but won’t change the regime until we are sure. I am feeling quite excited that we may have sorted this at last, but know that only time will tell.

Yesterday Bluebell laid her first egg and mid morning today I found Bluebell’s second egg in the nest box. It was slightly bigger and more blue than her first, truly beautiful! I felt very proud of her.

Bluebell’s second egg

Bluebell’s egg is on the right and Treacle’s egg is on the left

They look so wonderful and I feel I could cry because we haven’t been able to eat any of the eggs due to the mouldy taste. I am at my wit’s end with this as I have been reading chicken blogs for the last two years or more and have only done things and given treats that I have read everyone else does and no one else has this problem. I just cannot understand why this is happening and the longer it goes on the worse I feel because I just don’t know what else I can do.

I am waiting until morning to taste Bluebells egg before I put out this post.

This morning we poached Bluebell’s egg and both tasted it. It was just the same, a strong mouldy, woody, unpleasant taste. I am beyond disappointed. We have now had twelve eggs from Treacle (there was one in the nest box this morning at first light) and two from Bluebell. I had never expected to finally get eggs and not be able to eat them, it’s heartbreaking.

I have e-mailed the farm that I got the chickens from, asking them if they have any ideas or advice. I just don’t know what else to do.

I felt for the last few days that Bluebell was getting ready to lay an egg. This morning I went into the chickens just before the coop door opened. It opened soon after half past seven and I proceeded to clean out the coop. I glanced up at the nest box and a pale egg stood out. Bluebell must have laid her egg early because it was already cold to the touch. I took a photo but retreated quickly with it as she was very interested in it, I wonder if she laid it in the dark and wanted a proper look at it.

Bluebell’s first egg in the nest box

It was small but perfect and I felt so proud of Bluebell but it’s also tinged with sadness as I dread tasting it after our recent problems with Treacle’s eggs.

Bluebell’s first egg

I poached it and tasted it on it’s own and it had the same mouldy, woody, taste that Treacle’s eggs have. It also had the same hard shell and lovely bright yolk. A perfect egg in all but taste. At least this means it must be something they are eating and not something wrong with Treacle. They are now on a regime of pellets with only corn before bedtime and greens for treats but have only been on this since the weekend so maybe it needs more time.

I do feel really down about it though as more feedback from “Down the Lane” says other people have given daily meal worms and the same treats as me with no problem. Other people say stop all treats but the chickens wait with such excitement that it makes me feel mean not to treat. “Down the Lane” has been really supportive though and they are encouraging me to hang in there and that it will be worth it when it’s resolved.

I will keep tasting daily and hope for an improvement. I love these girls so much and feel proud of them because they are doing what they should be doing which makes it seem all the more unfair that we can’t eat their eggs.