Carol's Chickens

Today Silver laid her second egg, two days after her first egg. I knew she was ready to lay when she started going in the nest box. I thought I would try to get a photo of her in the nest box this time. The first photo I got of her she was standing just inside the nest box.

I decided to give her a bit of time to settle in the nest box and then try to get another photo. When I returned Silver had already laid her egg and was standing beside it. She laid her egg very quickly.

Silver’s second egg is on the left and her first egg is on the right. The second egg doesn’t have a blood streak on it which is good and is just a bit longer than her first egg.

What a clever girl!

Silver has been squatting for a few weeks now but yesterday for the first time she started investigating the nest boxes. She spent a lot of time flicking the pine shavings out and going in and out.

This morning Silver was again going in and out of the nest boxes. I didn’t manage to get a photo because every time I would lift the nest box lid Silver would run out. I only managed to get a blurred photo of her running down the ramp.

However when I checked the nest boxes at lunch time there was Silver’s first egg with the little blood streak that first eggs often have.

It is a surprising time of year to start laying but as ever I felt so proud of her. It is lovely that we will start having our own eggs again. Well done Silver.

Silver drops into a squat whenever I come up behind her and especially if I lightly touch her back. It’s been difficult to show in a photograph though because she is very low to the ground anyway, but you can see by the shape of her wings that she is squatting.

I have also seen Ginger go to the grit. Neither girl is showing an interest in the nest boxes as yet but I feel sure these two will start laying quite early.

This morning I gave the girls a fish treat. It was another frosty morning and I thought they could do with a little protein boost. They spend so much time in the shelter when the weather is horrible that it is good to see them enjoying a treat.

Ginger and Silver are now eight months old. This last week Silver has started squatting when I come up behind her. I am rather surprised at this time of year as it would be an odd time to start laying. She hasn’t shown any interest in the nest boxes as yet so maybe it’s just a sign of maturity.

Ginger has been losing feathers a few at a time for ages now and Silver hasn’t so maybe that’s why she is squatting and Ginger isn’t. I think Silver will probably be the first girl to start laying in the spring or maybe even earlier. I shall keep an eye on her and keep a check on the nest boxes. I look forward to having our own eggs again.

There isn’t much news in the chicken run at the moment which isn’t a bad thing. Things slow down at this time of the year. The days become shorter for the girls and when the weather is bad they spend time in the shelter.

Treats become the highlight of their day and give me a chance to take group photos. So this afternoon I gave the girls some yogurt.

A few hours later I collected the dishes and you would think that they had been licked clean. I love to see the girls enjoying a treat.

Ginger is always straight up to the camera. Both Ginger and Silver are so inquisitive and friendly.

It’s interesting how the pecking order has changed as Ginger and Silver have matured. When they first joined the flock Silver was very obviously the top girl between her and Ginger and when they joined the main flock they were the bottom two.

This changed when Ginger starting laying. It’s often as if egg laying gives the girls confidence. The pecking order changed between these two and Ginger moved up above Silver. They have always had little sessions of running at each other and it’s now Silver that backs down instead of Ginger.

These two also moved up above Mango and Cloud. Silver chases Cloud and Cloud has dropped into bottom place behind Mango in the pecking order.

The pecking order now seems to be Snow still as top girl with Storm close behind her. Gold is next with Red close behind her. Next is Ginger then Silver then Mango and then Cloud at the bottom.

But despite Ginger and Silver being nearer the bottom half of the pecking order they have grown in confidence and when It comes to bedtime they now choose where they want to perch. They have long since abandoned the side perch which is where Mango and Cloud perch. They sometimes perch at the back but mostly perch on the corner perch.

Gold has tolerated Ginger and Silver on the corner perch with her despite not letting any of the other girls perch near her. Then tonight Ginger and Silver had the corner perch to themselves with Gold on the back perch nearest them. I think these two are giving Gold a bit of a run around. She is no longer queen of the bedtime perches.

Ginger and Silver are very bold girls and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them move further up the pecking order in time.

After fifteen years of poop picking in the run the level of the soil has dropped drastically year by year. Every year I top up the soil a bit when I see top soil on offer.

The original level of the soil was up to the chickens’ patio. Over time I added one step and then two steps. Six months ago I added the three stakes to stop the steps moving gradually forward each time I step on them.

Whenever I dig over the run I spade up the soil towards the steps but it gradually gets scratched away again. The block and the log are there to stop the soil being scratched away from the patio.

I tipped in the four bags of top soil. The girls love having fresh soil to scratch in. I leave it for them to gradually spread the soil.

For now the level is much improved but it’s something that needs doing several times a year. The girls love the process of the soil being added so it gives them a bit of fun as well reducing the drop for a while.

Ginger seems to have had almost a proper moult which is unusual for a first year girl. As well as dropping lots of small feathers she has also been dropping long feathers. This morning I noticed Ginger had only two tail feathers left at the angle of an open pair of scissors.

By the time I went back with my camera Ginger had only one tail feather remaining. It was difficult to get a side on photo as Ginger likes to get her beak right up to the camera. Some girls are shy of the camera but not Ginger. She wants to get up close to anything I have in my hands.

I am sure Ginger’s tail will soon be back to normal as tail feathers seem to grow the quickest. Ginger and Silver are such characters and are super friendly.

You can tell they are younger than the rest of the flock because they are always zooming around the run and are up and down the ladders and on top of the shelter and metal table. They are very curious. They follow me around the run when I am picking up and Ginger likes to get on eye level with me. She has jumped on my back a few times and she likes to tweak my hair and peck my fingers, toes and flip flops or boots.

They are funny little girls, quite adorable.

Snow laid her last egg on 27th September. At the time I wasn’t sure if she was at the end of her season or going broody. In the end she went broody for only one day then gave up. She spent one day in the nest box all day and settled in the corner of the chicken shed at bedtime and I perched her at dusk.

The following day Snow didn’t bother with the nest box again and she perched at bedtime. I think she gave up quickly as it’s so late in the year and she has now finished laying for this year.

Ginger laid her last egg on 25th September after laying nine eggs. I wasn’t sure if she was just taking a break but I realise now that she has stopped altogether. First she stopped squatting when I put my hand over her and her comb was less red than before.

Then over the last three or four days Ginger has been having a partial baby moult. I have been finding small piles of her feathers in the chicken shed and the run although she doesn’t look any different. I think this means she is finished laying until spring.

Ginger and Silver are now six months old but Silver hasn’t shown any signs of getting ready to lay. Sometimes when they mature too late in the year they don’t start laying until the spring. I think both Ginger and Silver now won’t lay until spring.

It seems we are not going to get any winter eggs this year and will have to wait for spring before egg laying starts up again.

I decided to take some up to date portraits of each of the girls. They are in the order that the girls came to us.

Gold’s tail feathers look a bit scruffy. She is still dropping the occasional feather. Red still has some loose fluffy feathers and is also still dropping the occasional feather. Ginger is dropping mostly tiny feathers and the occasional long one but doesn’t look any different.

It is good to get the moulting over in plenty of time before winter. The girls are looking lovely.

The new girls hadn’t had mash yet so I thought I would give the girls some mash and see how they got on. It is useful if they like mash because that’s how I worm the girls. Anyway Ginger and Silver got stuck into the mash straight away along with the rest of the girls.

As I mentioned in my last post Red still has a fluffy bottom as you can see above. Despite looking tatty her bottom feathers never seem to change.

By lunch time all the mash was gone so I think I can say that they all enjoyed that.