Carol's Chickens

Yesterday we noticed Peppers breast looked a bit enlarged and lopsided. I was pretty sure that was her crop and remembered reading about impacted crop from other peoples blogs. I looked it up on the internet and sure enough I think I am right. The advice is to give live yogurt and live maggots. It also advised not to give bread which made me realise she has had too many noodles. I thought I was being careful as I had read a teaspoon per hen, morning and evening is okay but what I hadn’t taken into account is that pepper was getting the lions share, as she is always first and fastest when it comes to food. She may have been getting two teaspoons to the other two getting half a teaspoon each. The other two girls look fine and Pepper is eating, drinking and seems happy in herself. I am kicking myself at slipping up so early on.

I think Pepper has got impacted crop, this is her bulging right side

This morning I tried to tempt them with some live yogurt (there will be no more noodles for a long time). I tried some on it’s own and some mixed with chick crumb and even topped this with a few meal worms to try to get their interest but they were having none of it. I decided to leave the little pot with chick crumb and yogurt with them and go buy some maggots. I looked on the internet and found a fishing tackle shop that sold them.

I returned at lunch time, checked in on them and to my surprise the pot of yogurt and chick crumb was empty. After lunch we decided to try a small pot of the maggots. The advice is to give them, as their afternoon treat each day and it should fix the problem within about five days. At first they couldn’t get the hang of it but suddenly they got it and loved them. It’s the first time one of them would pick one up and run off so it couldn’t be taken from her. Once they realised there were enough to go round they steadily worked their way through them then all had a snooze.

Pepper has a maggot in her beak

I feel really bad that I hadn’t realised Pepper was getting too many noodles and am really cross with myself, but the good thing is that I was able to recognize the problem straight away because of all the information I have read from the blogs I follow, this information is invaluable.

After the maggots Pepper and Dotty settled together for a snooze. Dotty was constantly preening Pepper.They are so tight together whereas Poppy will wander on her own a bit. I wonder if Dotty is at the bottom of the pecking order, preening pepper who is at the top and Poppy in the middle does her thing some of the time.

Dotty is preening Pepper while Poppy does her own thing

Today Pepper managed to jump onto the lower branch of the apple tree. Poppy and Dotty were looking up at her as if to see if they could join her. Poppy jumped on to the same branch, knocking Pepper off (there is only room for one at a time). Dotty couldn’t manage it as she is too little at the moment. I then moved them toward the branch we have put in for them and Pepper soon perched on that. So now they have discovered something new in their world. Pepper returned to the perch later in the day. The other two don’t seem to have caught on yet but I am sure they soon will.

I had a few comments from the “Down the Lane” forum expressing worry that if my run was open topped  the chickens could escape via the tree or predators could get in. I just want to let everyone know that I have “Knowels Chicken Net” (which was recommended)  and is very tough, over the top and there are no gaps anywhere. I intend to keep the apple tree pruned beneath the net and if it proves a problem in the future will cut it down or take it out. At the moment I feel it adds some interest to their enclosure.

I thought it would be nice to show portraits of my girls. It was more difficult than I thought it would be, as they are such a tight trio that it was difficult to photograph them separately. I had to keep the camera on them and snap as soon as one left a slight gap between herself and her flock members.

Pepper

Poppy

Dotty

You can see that Dotty, being two weeks younger is less developed with a smaller tail. Don’t tell her that though as she acts as if there is no difference and is the fastest mover of the three.  They are adorable and I can’t imagine life without them already!

I took some noodles as a treat to the chickens first thing this morning, as so far it’s the only thing apart from their chick crumb that they will eat. They were not immediately visible, but I soon found them sitting behind the coop. I called to them and they came out to see if I had anything for them. I held out a piece of noodle and Pepper first, followed by Poppy came and gingerly took it from my fingers. Dotty was not brave enough yet but does like to take it from one of the bigger girls beaks.  Soon Pepper and Poppy were happily taking the noodle from my hand. In fact every time we go in now they come over and watch our hands to see if we have anything for them.

Dotty takes a bit of noodle from Poppys beak

My youngest son and his partner came to visit the chickens today. I think they thought they were pretty cute. We showed them how they took the noodles from our hands.

We also blocked off the nest box today so that they would learn to roost on the perches. When we checked in on them at bed time they were jumping on to the coop where the nest box was, as if to try to work out if there was another way in. Eventually they settled for the perches. I felt quite pleased that we have achieved this already. It was quite amusing to see Pepper, who has allocated herself as top hen at the moment, calling the other two to go in and settling them into place before getting herself into position.

We seem to have come a long way in a few days and I already love them so much. I so look forward to getting out each morning and to see what they are up to.

I checked on the chickens first thing and they were out happily in the dog crate. I decided to leave them and wait until the rest of the family were up to unleash them into the wider world.

My eldest son and his partner stayed with us last night to see the new arrivals as soon as possible and see how they react to their first day with us.

After breakfast we went in and removed the dog crate so they could enter their bigger world. They went straight to the feeder and water which I though was a good sign.

All three come out and head for the food

We decided to tackle putting on the leg rings, it was much more difficult to catch them than we thought it would be. We managed to pick up Pepper and get the purple ring on but the others were having none of it and either hid behind the coop or under the big shrub. We decided to leave it for another day as we didn’t want to stress them.

Putting a purple leg ring on Pepper

We gave them some noodles as a treat which they loved. I got this idea from “Spice Girls“. As the day progressed and we kept checking in on them, they became much braver and gradually explored the whole of the enclosure and were comfortable with us being close to them. In the afternoon they had their first dust bath under the shrub with Dotty the smallest and youngest being the first and most vigorous to do so.

The first dust bath

At 7.30pm we went to check on them again and found that they had already put themselves to bed. They were all in the nest box and chirruping away to each other. I do want them to use the perches eventually but as they are getting settled in, have decided to leave them be for now. We were pleased to hear them sounding so happy and feel they have come on in leaps and bounds for their first day.

We had an unexpected day off today, so decided to leave for Dorset at 7.30 am, which meant we arrived at Chalk Hill farm at 9.30am just as they they opened.

We collected our three Dominique Hens and arrived back home at 12.30pm. We transported them in a dog crate with pine shavings in the tray and a dish of chick crumbs. They were very good during the journey, one of them eating, all three dozing and sometimes gently cheeping. We had been advised to keep them in the coup the first day.

They were a bit anxious as we took them up the the garden to the pen and coup. We put the crate against the coop door, then opened it and they couldn’t get in the coup quick enough! We put a dish of water and a dish of chick crumbs in the coup but decided to leave the dog crate against the door as a small run if they decided they wanted to come out. Also we thought it would allow air and light in as it seemed a bit harsh to shut them in all afternoon.

They made a bee line for the nest box and we decided to have lunch, then check on them again. When we went back they were all three hanging in the doorway, eating, drinking and looking quite happy.

We kept checking on them throughout the afternoon and sometimes they bravely ventured out into the dog crate. If anything scared them such as when they stood in the food bowl and it tipped it up, they all scuttled back into the safety of the coop nest box area.

Our Dominique Hens First Hours in Their New Home

We have an automatic opener on our coup which reacts to light so I am going to leave the dog crate at the door (the coop door will shut at dusk and open at dawn), with food and water in it. This means at first light if they want to venture out they will have a small space with food and water but will have to wait for me to supervise them going out for the first time into the big, wide world of the big pen. I shall no doubt be out early to see what they are up to.

Two of them are ten weeks old and one is eight weeks old. The younger one is quite obvious as she hasn’t got all her feathers on her back yet and has a much smaller tail. One of the older girls is already more adventurous than the other two, but they hang together in a pretty tight trio.

I wanted names for them that describe their pretty, grey speckled appearance. I have decided on Dotty for the youngest and Pepper and Poppy (as in pepper corns and poppy seeds) for the older girls. Dotty will have no leg ring, but Pepper will have a purple leg ring and Poppy a green one so that I can tell them apart until their personalities come through. We may attempt to put the leg rings on tomorrow. I can’t wait to let them out properly tomorrow. When I last checked on them they were all happily exploring the dog crate and I think they will love getting out into their bigger world.

I have been in touch again with the farm breeding the Dominiques, and they have two strong chickens at two months old that are ready for me to take, as well as some further chicks that are a bit too young and need another couple of weeks to be ready to leave. As its a two hour journey each way at best, I said I would rather wait and take three together. They reassured me that the two are not going anywhere but with me, that its better for them to be a little older and they are happy to keep them until three are ready.

So with this in mind we are now thinking of collecting them on the last weekend of June or the first weekend of July. In the mean time I still feel like I am looking after invisible chickens, as I am attending to their space. I have pruned the apple tree to keep it from taking up too much of their space and as well as the pots of green things chickens like to peck at, I have planted them their own vegetable patch. I needed to thin the pak choi and chard from the vegetable plot, so I planted a seed tray of pak choi to grow on for them later and planted the extra pack choi, chard and a broccoli plant directly into their pen. They are spoiled before I even have them. The guy at the farm said they will be in chicken heaven with me. I so hope he is right!

While I was in the pen today with the gate open, I noticed a few bees came in. This led me to thinking that once I have chickens and the tree is in blossom, I could occupy the chickens with something tasty and leave the gate open for a bit. It’s a bit down to luck whether any bees come in but may be worth a try.

Two of the three apples on our tree

I am so excited about getting the chickens but as I have now invested so much time waiting, I have to hang on in there and focus on the fact that once I have them, I am in for the long game, so it will be worth the wait. They will be spoilt and I will love and appreciate them all the more for the wait.

This is a very brief update. I have just inspected the apple tree and we have three apples, which doesn’t match over thirty last year, but shows that some bees have been getting in. Maybe this means I could catch some and put them in next year to get a few more apples. All is not lost.

All I need now is chickens as well. hopefully not much longer to wait.

I have been in contact with the farm in Dorset that is breeding the Domoniques. We had a chat and and it seems I need to wait a bit longer as they lost a few of their first chicks because being a rare breed the gene pool is quite small, and some were too weak. They now have two at a month old and some more in a mixed flock. They said they will definitely be able to get me three, it’s just a case of being patient. As I am the only one waiting for them, they have said they won’t sell any until I have my three. This made me feel a bit better even though it’s frustrating having to keep on waiting.

It’s quite strange going in the chicken pen and looking after it without any chickens in there. I had planted a pot of nasturtiums and a pot of herbs for them to peck at, so they need watering. There is a jasmine which was already planted in a hole in the patio and is now in their dry sheltered area so that also needs watering and a hanging basket on the outside to water. I feel like I am looking after invisible chickens! I am allowing a fine crop of dandelions for them too as long as I don’t let them flower, my garden is as weed free as I can keep it but the chickens are allowed some weeds to keep them happy.

On a completely different subject, there has been another side effect of the chicken pen that I hadn’t expected. We have just realised that our apple tree inside the chicken pen has no apples this year, even though it has had plenty in the three years since we planted it. We realised that the bees are put off by the net and mesh. They can get in because we have seen the odd one in there and it made its way out again okay, but we have seen many fly up to the mesh then fly along side and away again without going in. We think some accidentally find their way in but most are put off by the mesh. I said earlier that we would sacrifice the lowest apples to the chickens but now it looks like we will be sacrificing  all the apples for the sake of the chickens. The daft thing is this year we could have left the gate open had we known but that wouldn’t help in future years. My next door neighbour suggested we get a butterfly net and catch some bees and take them in, I think this is probably easier said than done. I can imagine either getting stung or the bees panicking to get out again and ignoring the blossom. We may try to do this but are also resigned to the fact that we may have to have an apple tree with no apples. I did do a bit of research to see if I could pollinate myself with a fine brush, but this would mean collecting pollen from another apple tree which, as I don’t know of any near by would prove rather tricky.

Apart from the lack of chickens the pen is looking great. I am so ready for my chickens, and continue to try to wait with patience and imagine them in there every time I look in. These chickens are going to be so spoiled!

I am all ready and waiting for my chickens, and have been keeping in touch with the farm in Dorset that breeds Dominiques. They now have chicks but I need to wait until the end of May for them to be two months old when they can be sexed and will be strong enough for me to take to their new home.

I keep looking in at their home to be and imagining them in there. Since we finished it the hanging basket and pot of herbs have grown and the apple tree has blossomed. I am hoping that as the lower branches of the apple tree are quite vertical, we can sacrifice the bottom apples and the chickens won’t be able to get at the rest, otherwise we may have to put some netting round the underside of the tree. We shall cross that bridge when we come to it: It’s a small price to pay for the pleasure of having the chickens!

Looking in to the run

Inside looking out

Apple blossom and chicken coop

I have also added a fallen branch to the corner of the run to give them a natural perch. In front of the run I have my first chicken: It’s a rusty chicken for decoration and probably a similar size to what mine will be when I first get them (about the size of a pigeon).

Rusty chicken