Carol's Chickens

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.

I have had a feeling for the last few days that Pepper would like to sit on my lap. She has got much closer to me lately and seems more confident. Last night Treacle sat on my lap as usual then moved up to my shoulder. Pepper kept circling me and looking, I talked to her trying to encourage her. Suddenly she jumped up and sat while I stroked her. When Dotty saw her on my lap, she ran over and leaped on too. I stroked them both and they seemed quite happy. It was funny because Dotty had shown no interest before this moment, but it’s as if anything Pepper can do is okay for Dotty too. This was a real breakthrough as Pepper and Dotty are far more shy than the other two and I wasn’t sure that they would ever get this close. I was so pleased and excited by this moment. Pepper and Dotty feel so different from the other two, where they are robust and Treacle is heavy, Pepper and Dotty felt so light and delicate and very soft. After a while they jumped down and went to bed and as usual Treacle lingered with me for a while. She likes to snuggle her head under my arm which seems strange as I would have thought that would make her feel trapped, but she seems to like the closeness. She then jumps down and goes in and out a few times, watching me. At that point, I hang up my chair, say my goodnight’s and leave so that she will go in and settle. What a lovely feeling that was tonight. I hope to get my husband to take some photos of this soon.

Since I have been using the water spray when the chickens are at the feeders, I haven’t seen Dotty do any pecking at all, hurrah! The problem now is that Treacle has started pecking instead and when I spayed her she seemed to think that I was trying to keep her away from the feeders rather than associating it with the pecking. She would run off and stay away and sometimes it panicked them all into running away. Looks like we have a way to go with this!

Since the evening when the door of the coop automatically closed, really soon after the chickens went in, I have been going up to check at five minute intervals to try to establish the gap between them going in and the door closing. Last night the girls went in at seven forty five and the door closed at ten past eight so I think the gap is okay. Looking back at the photos of that evening, I can see that it was darker than usual as it had been a stormy day. I also think if I am not there to distract the chickens they tend to go in sooner anyway.

One of the nice thing about chickens is that they don’t bare a grudge and even though I sprayed Treacle with water during the day she still came to my lap and snuggled in close to me. She stays with me until the rest have all gone to bed. Pepper really looked like she wanted to jump up too, she kept circling me and rocking as if about to but couldn’t quite pluck up enough courage. It would be so nice if she does come to me as she is the most timid of them all, but she has been getting much closer to me lately.

Today I gave them an apple, cut in half. Pepper seemed to like it best followed by Bluebell. Occasionally Dotty would have a peck of it but Treacle seemed completely uninterested.

Pepper is the first to try the apple

Bluebell is next to try the apple

Pepper likes the apple best

I wonder how long the apple will last!

The bullying at the feeders continues. I thought Dotty may have learned her lesson but that only lasted a day and yesterday Pepper joined in with pecking Bluebell away. Bluebell and Treacle also squared up to each other with chests out and ruffs raised. I was surprised at Bluebells bravery, yet she never pecks at anyone. Later at the feeder, Treacle was pecking Bluebell away too. I feel so sorry for her as everyone picks on her. She comes and stands by me and clucks as if to say “sort this out for me” and I can’t resist, so move the others away and let her back in. She looks to me as her protector. I decided that this had gone on long enough and it was time to use the water spray (thank you for the tip, Flock Mistress). I sat in front of them and every time any of them pecked Bluebell I said “no” and squirted them. They would run off and sulk and soon were very wary of the spray. Only Bluebell is unafraid of the spray as she knows it’s not for her. I think it will take a little while to work but am hopeful that they will get the message in time.

Later we threw in some leaves for the chickens to scratch through, which they had great fun with.

Fun scratching in the leaves

Today I decided to give them one of the pots of lettuce that I have been growing for them, to give them a break from the feeders and spraying.

Bluebell is always the first to spot something new

Dotty is next to spot the lettuce

Bluebells loose tail feathers have now fallen out and she looks much neater.

Soon they all join in

The lettuce rapidly disappears

In this photo you can see how different Dotty and Pepper look. Dotty is on the right and is about a month younger than Pepper. She still has her baby shape and is the only one who still has her baby voice, yet despite this she is the worse bully. I did see Treacle peck Pepper out of her way today for the first time so wonder if Treacle is now trying to take top hen position. I only wish Bluebell would stand up for herself, she is the only one that I have never seen peck at any of the others.

Not much left now

This was what was left when I returned an hour later.

All gone

I think they enjoyed that.

I like to sit with the chickens at bedtime when I have time and usually Treacle and Bluebell come and sit on my lap. Lately though Bluebell also likes to stand on the coop roof, they all do from time to time but she likes to do this at bedtime and Treacle likes to stand or sit on my shoulder. At first I used to try to discourage her and keep her to my lap but so far she has been very gentle so I have started to allow her. She likes to rub her beak in my hair but does so softly and has never pecked me yet, if she did, I would stop her going up. It’s as if she thinks she is preening me and seems quite affectionate.

Bluebell on the coop roof

She likes it up there

Queen of the castle

Treacle likes to stand on my shoulder

Treacle likes to sit on my shoulder

Treacle and me having some close time

At this point all the girls had gone in, in fact that’s Pepper in the background having a last look out of the door. Treacle often stays with me until they are all in, then she jumps down and joins them. This was about fifteen minutes earlier than usual but it had been a dull cloudy day with some showers. Within a few minutes of Treacle going in the automatic door shut. This is the first time we have seen it shut so quickly after they have gone to bed.  I wonder how they know so accurately when it’s time to go. I will also be keeping a check on it to make sure they don’t get shut out. The automatic door sensor can be adjusted and I think the roof extension has made it a little darker but also the nights are drawing in.

Bluebell and Pepper go to bed

Treacle goes to bed

Once Treacle has gone in they all settle for the night. Once the door closed it all went very quiet.

This morning at about fifteen minutes before my usual time to get up and go out to the chickens we heard them making a terrible din. We both leapt out of bed and ran up the garden to them, thinking they were being attacked. Bluebell was stood up on the big perch, shouting her head off. I had never heard her so loud before. The other three were beneath the perch. I went in and calmed them down and had a good look round. They all seemed okay and nothing seemed out of place. Bluebells tail looked a bit strange and I was worried something had had a go at her. We searched for gaps in the enclosure and there was no where anything could get in.

We then searched the outside of the enclosure. Then we found the cause of the hysteria. We had put a net over the ground of the veg plot where the veg had been harvested because if any soil is exposed the neighbourhood cats use it as a toilet. This has been a long standing problem in our garden. A hedgehog had got entangled in the net. It had pulled the entire net away and made a hole beneath itself the size of chickens a dust bath. I read yesterday about someone rescuing a hedgehog after her dogs alerted her to something  and she said it was squealing and screaming. I can only imagine the noise the poor hedgehog was making, which would have caused the chickens to think it was being attacked.

I ran indoors and got the scissors and while my husband held it, I snipped at the netting. Once we had got a lot of it off, the hedgehog rolled up tightly and we couldn’t get to the remaining bit of net wrapped round it’s foot. We decided to put it in the dog crate with a dish of food and water and leave it to calm down so that we could have another go when it uncurled.

I continued with my chicken cleaning chores and soon after heard the hedgehog walking about in the crate. It was desperately trying to get out. My husband put on gardening gloves and held it while I snipped the last bit of net from it’s legs. It curled back up again and we set it down in the garden with the dish of food.

When we returned about half an hour later there was no sign of the hedgehog, so we hope it was okay after it’s ordeal. We felt guilty about the net and will pin it down more carefully in future but this was the first time we have ever seen a hedgehog in this garden.

The chickens alarm call certainly works and may have saved the hedgehogs life by alerting us to it’s plight straight away.

All the chickens have been losing feathers in a partial baby moult, so I think Bluebells loose tail feathers must be just a part of this. I decided to photograph her tail and try to get portraits of all the girls. They hang so close that it’s tricky to get separate photos of them. While taking these portraits, I realised that Treacle has also lost some of her tail feathers. It’s shorter than it was and I am picking up feathers every day.

Bluebell with her loose tail feathers

Treacle with her shorter tail

Pepper

Dotty

This was a dramatic start to our bank holiday Monday morning.