Carol's Chickens

Yesterday we altered the sensor on the timer of the automatic door closer, just a tiny bit, in the hope that it will give the chickens a longer gap, between them going to bed and the door closing. I also decided to go out and spend time with them earlier (before our evening meal instead of after), this is because I think that when I am with them at bed time, it distracts them and I think they will settle in more quickly if I am not there.

This does mean that they are not so receptive to sitting on my lap as they only do this when they are winding down for bed, but as the nights continue to draw in, the timing will change again. My husband suggested that I try giving some dried meal worms from my lap to encourage Pepper and Dotty to jump up. I thought this cheating as I want them to come without enticement, but as it was too early for them anyway, I decided just this once to give it a go. Treacle and Bluebell were involved scratching in the garden but Pepper and Dotty were hanging around by me, so I dropped a few meal worms on to my lap. Pepper reached up and took one but Dotty briefly jumped on to my lap and took a few.  It’s not quite the same but anything that gets them used to being handled by me is a good thing.

I spent time with them between half past six and seven, then went in to eat. We went out at half seven to check on them and were all in and very quiet, so were settled already. The door was still open and I went out at ten minute intervals to check on it. At eight it had shut, so I think half an hour is a good enough gap. I also think they settled more quickly because I wasn’t there to distract them. I will keep up the new routine and see how it works out. I may also go out early one morning and just check on what time it is opening.

Last night I decided that as Dotty had got shut out of the coop the night before, I would go back half an hour after the chickens went to bed, to make sure they were still all in.

Again it’s a good job I did. This time the door was closed and Treacle and Bluebell were settled on the roof of the coop. I tried calling them down but they were having none of it, they were nicely settled. Treacle was nearest me, so I lifted her down and tucked her under my arm so that I could open the door with the other hand. I pushed her in and shut the door. She wanted to come out again but no chance. I then did the same with Bluebell. At least it was easy to pick them up from the roof. This means we will have to tweak the sensor on the door, which is a bit of a nuisance because I will have to go out at ten minute intervals to see when it closes and it may take a little while to get it just right.

On a more positive note, Pepper looked like she really wanted to jump on to my lap last night. She had seemed to lose interest since that first time and I thought maybe that was a one off, but last night she kept circling me and rocking as if to jump, then changed her mind and went in to the coop. I think with the nights drawing in, the chickens and I are trying to adjust to a different routine, but I think when the timing is right Pepper will come to my lap again.

Despite a bit of pecking over the treats, afterwards the chickens settle really close together to preen and snooze. All disputes are soon forgotten and they just can’t get close enough. Pepper and Dotty are especially close as they have been together since less than a month old. Even when trying to get at the same treats, I have never once seen them peck at each other and find it hard to imagine that they ever would. They are completely tolerant of each other and are always together.

Dotty on the left and Pepper on the right

I love the way after a feed they all preen and snooze together.

They snooze

So close

Dotty is a month younger than the other girls and the only one who still has her baby twitter. Yesterday for the first time I heard her go “boc, boc boc”. She is finally getting her grown up voice.

Last night when I sat with the girls as they were ready to go to bed, my next door neighbour started mowing the lawn with his electric mower. It was pretty loud and really unsettled the girls. I think if it wasn’t bed time they wouldn’t have taken much notice but they kept going in, then coming out again when the noise was loudest.

At one point they all went in and I decided to retreat so as not to distract them further, and then half an hour later I decided to check on them to make sure they were all in okay. I am so glad I did, there was Dotty still wandering around the garden area of the enclosure after the coop door had shut.

I crouched by the coop and held the door open while calling her name and she casually came over to me and stepped in. I shut the door and retreated. She must have popped out again just before the door shut but she wasn’t panicked. I was quite pleased that she responded to being called though, she didn’t rush as if worried at all but did come when called which was a relief.

This is the first time this has happened but I will be checking on them each evening to see if the door closer needs adjusting or if this was just a one off. Dotty is quite a little character!

It’s really difficult getting these girls separate enough to take portrait photos, but I did my best.

Bluebell

Treacle

Pepper

Dotty

That’s my girls!

Treats seem to be the main cause of pecking, with Bluebell being the one who get’s pecked by everyone else. When I put treats in the two square feeders (usually lettuce and tomato), I have been sitting in front of them with the water spray to try to deter the pecking.

The water spray

I sit and hold this water spray on my lap and give a squirt of water to any chicken pecking Bluebell. Bluebell has never been sprayed because she has never, in all the time we have had her, ever pecked anyone. She therefore has no fear of the spray and will come up to it and peck at it. Treacle hates the spray and as soon as she sees it, she is wary. She seems to think I am trying to keep her from the feeder and doesn’t yet seem to have made the connection between her pecking Bluebell and then being sprayed. Bluebell and Dotty are the brightest. Dotty knows that when she pecks Bluebell she gets sprayed and never pecks her a second time while I am there. She has learned instead, that if she then gives a really intimidating look to Bluebell, it scares Bluebell away without me spraying her. I can’t spray for a look, it’s strictly just for pecking. Poor Bluebell, I wish she would toughen up and don’t know why she never pecks back. Bluebell then comes and stands in front of me and clucks as if to say “sort it out for me”. It tugs at my heart strings but I need them to sort it out themselves. Pepper occasionally pecks Bluebell but one squirt sends her away briefly and then she behaves, she seems the least bothered by being squirted.

The reason I  like to use the treat feeders is because it keeps the treat out of the dirt and gives the chickens something to work at.  If I put treats on the patio area as far away from the dirt as possible the chickens still take them to the dirt, then when completely covered they abandon the treat and I have to clear it up. The one thing that does work well on the ground is apple. I cut an apple in half and then cut a slice off the bottom to stop it being constantly flipped over and to allow access from either side. They peck at the inside of the apple, which stays quite clean and it lasts most of the day, by which time just a circle of skin remains to be thrown away. They always eat the pips first and will chase each other round for them, which is quite amusing as I can’t imagine the pips are very nice.

Apple

They also chase each other round for a piece of tomato if they manage to break a bit off. There is no etiquette when it comes to treats.

I also think they are getting to know their names. Yesterday I went in with some grapes and three came running, but Dotty was so busy scratching that she didn’t notice. I called out her name and she came running over. This is the second time this has happened but my husband said that perhaps she just knows my tone rather than her name. Even if  that is so, she is still bright enough to know she is being called and to respond. Yesterday I was throwing little pieces of tomato to the girls to try to make sure they all got a bit. Bluebell kept missing out as Dotty is so much quicker. Bluebell had her back to me, I called “Bluebell” before throwing a bit near her and she responded by turning towards me, although Dotty still beat her to it anyway!

Another thing I thought quite clever, when poop picking every day, the one spot I couldn’t get to was under the big shrub where they spend  lot of time (I am not crawling under a shrub), so I wondered if there was a lot of poop under there. When we pruned the shrub back a few days ago and could finally see under there, there was no sign of any poop. My husband said that as they sit under there such a lot maybe they know not to poop there. I wouldn’t have believed it but a few days ago, Treacle was sat on my lap, suddenly she jumped off, pooped then jumped back on again. We both said that it seemed she didn’t want to poop on me. So far, much to my surprise they have never pooped on me. Could it be they do have a sense of control about this?

Dotty is the youngest and the smallest but is the one to peck Bluebell the most, she is the greediest and the fastest. Treacle is the biggest and not so smart, but is the most affectionate and likes a cuddle in the evening. Bluebell is the smartest and finds anything new first, she looks to me to protect her and clucks crossly if she can’t get on my lap with Treacle. Pepper is the most talkative, she chatters all day long and if we have too many visitors invading her space she makes her displeasure known with a lot of loud “boc boc”. Pepper and Dotty have always disliked being touched, but are now gaining in confidence and allow a light stroke.  It is fascinating discovering their different personalities and watching them learn new things.

Last night the girls went to bed at half seven, which is half an hour earlier than a few weeks ago. We are still trying for the elusive photo of Pepper and Dotty on my lap but they are not going along with that one! From the first time that Bluebell, then Treacle sat on my lap they have done so every evening since, when I have sat in with them, but Pepper and Dotty have not yet repeated it and I am beginning to wonder if they will again. Last night they were very distracted by my husband being there with the camera and they behave differently when he is there as well (but of course I can’t get photos without him). First he was stood by the apple tree with his hand leaning on the tree. Suddenly Pepper, then Dotty jumped into the tree, which they like to do. They were not at all bothered by my husbands hand and sat on it, which a while back they would never have had the confidence to do.

Pepper sat on my husbands arm which was resting against the tree

My husband had the camera so took this himself. He then moved next to the coop. Lately the girls like to get on the roof of the coop at bedtime. Bluebell as usual was first up on the coop roof. My husband offered his arm as a perch and she stepped on.

Bluebell perches on husbands arm

Next up was Treacle, so husband offered his arm to her and she too hopped on.

Treacle on husbands arm

Both Treacle and Bluebell perch on husbands arm while Dotty joins them on the roof

Treacle on husbands shoulder

Treacle soon jumped to my husbands shoulder. Soon after this they all decided it was time for bed. I think it will take a lot of time and patience to get Pepper and Dotty to come to my lap again. They all seem to prefer the roof of the coop at the moment.

Summers end is suddenly upon us. We decided to take out the sweet peas from the front of the chicken enclosure. When we had the chicken enclosure built, my husband said that he wanted it to look good from the garden so I grew the sweet peas up the outside to make it look pretty. We realize now that it blocked out some of the light to the chicken enclosure and obscured our view looking in to them. Next year I will grow nasturtiums here instead which will be lower level and can tumble through for the chickens to peck at. This way they will have a row of them instead of just the pot they had this year. We also took out the hanging basket which was past it’s best and the pots of mint and nasturtiums. I have put the mint back on the patio to regrow and thrown away the nasturtiums which were pecked to just stalks. We then pruned back the big shrub in their enclosure which was taking up too much space. It all looks lighter and more open now.

Chicken enclosure without the sweet peas.

The girls always run to this corner when they hear my flip flops on the path.

Much easier to see in to the girls now

Inside the chicken enclosure after the big shrub has been pruned

The trays of grass that I have been giving the chickens each morning are working really well.

Grass supply for the chickens

The ones at the back haven’t yet been in, next to them are the ones recently used and the ones at the front went in first and are regrowing nicely. The girls have a tray a day for breakfast while I poop pick in the morning. This keeps them occupied while I clean up. The first day I didn’t put one in because I wanted the grass to settle first and Bluebell followed me around trying to see what was in my gloved hands (yuk!) and Treacle followed me around pecking at the hem of my clothes. Both the girls and I will miss the grass in the winter months but at least they get some each day in summer.

Later when we went up to see the chickens we saw a baby slow worm on the path sunning itself.

Young slow worm

We only see them occasionally in the garden, so were pleased that they are still here. The photo is slightly out of focus because unlike their name they are very quick and this was only photo I could get. They have become quite scarce in this part of the country so we were pleased to see it. Last year we saw tiny baby ones so they must breed here. This one was about half adult size.

I have been in the habit of spending time with the chickens after our evening meal which we have at seven o’clock. This was giving me half an hour with them before they go in to bed, however that has reduced to a quarter of an hour and last night even less. This meant Pepper would not come to my lap as she likes to go in to bed first and last night it all felt very rushed. I realize it’s summers end and the nights are drawing in, so I will have to alter my routine. If we want to get a photo of Pepper and Dotty on my lap we need to go out earlier and I can see that soon my time with them will before our evening meal instead of after. We have friends coming to dinner tonight, so it will have to wait a while but here some photos of last night.

Three girls up high!

Treacle takes her usual place on my shoulder and Dotty joins Bluebell on the roof of the coop. They seem obsessed with the roof at bedtime! Pepper is already making her way in to the coop.

Bluebell on my head

Bluebell wanted to join Treacle but couldn’t get on my shoulder as well so chose my head instead. This is not something that I want to allow but thought the photo too funny not to include.

Last night before the girls bedtime, I was hoping to get some photos of Pepper and Dotty on my lap, but it was not to be. Treacle and Bluebell were in my lap the whole time and I think Pepper will only come on to my lap if it’s empty. Pepper looked like she wanted to, but the moments when my lap was empty were not at the time that she was looking. My husband says he is sure we will get the photos, we just need to patient.

Treacle likes a cuddle

Treacle and Bluebell on my lap

Bluebell

Bluebell also likes to get on to the coop roof each evening. I don’t know why she does this but it has become part of her bedtime routine.

Yesterday we dug over a patch of the run to give the girls a softer patch to scratch in.

Fluffy bottoms up

Just after this Pepper jumped into the apple tree, she really likes to do this even though there is barely any room to perch.

Pepper looking awkward in the tree

Here’s looking at you

Pepper likes it in this tree

The thing I liked about these photos is the fact that Pepper has so much more trust in me now, that I can get really close to her. At one time she would have jumped down if I got this close to her.