Carol's Chickens

I went out at half past six this morning to separate the girls. My plan was to lure them all into the little girls side with some corn then steer the two big girls back out into their side. What a stupid plan. It was like a comedy farce.

Firstly I put the open corn tub down on my side of the gate forgetting that there was a gap under the old gate (since turning it round) that I had meant to fill with soil.

Sparkle and Amber squeezed under the gate and had their heads in the corn tub in seconds. I grabbed the corn tub and put the lid on then unlocked the garden shed and got the fork and spade.

I heaped soil against the gate and lured the two little girls back to their side with a little more corn.

Then the fun and games began. As soon as the big girls realized I wanted them out of that area they determined that it wasn’t going to happen. They evaded me and would go through the small gap where I couldn’t reach them. When I told my husband later he asked why I didn’t close off the gap to keep them out of there. In my efforts to persuade them out of that area I just hadn’t thought of that!

I tried digging for worms which always attracts the big girls but when I dug on my side of the gate they wouldn’t cross as if there was an invisible barrier.

In the end I had to scatter some corn on my side and let them all back out, then I lured the big girls further from the gate with corn and lured the little girls back in with a little more corn. Finally I had them in the correct areas but it had taken half an hour and more corn than I like them to have.

This is clearly not going to work so tomorrow morning I have another plan. I will open the store cabinet to get the corn which always makes the big girls jump on to the coop roof. I will then lift them down and pop them into the coop closing the door.

I will then get the little girls into their side with a sprinkle of corn then close the gate. Then I can let the big girls out of the coop and give them a little corn. I am sure this is a better plan.

The girls are now separated

They have chard from my friend Jackie’s allotment

The new gate is now closed

Later in the afternoon Dotty and Pepper were enjoying a lovely dust bath.

Dust bath

Topaz has found one of the new perches and discovered that she can reach the leaves on the tree from there.

Topaz

A little later still Sparkle was on the perch and Topaz was in the middle of the tree. She jumped down before I could take a photo.

Sparkle

The little girls gradually discovered all the perches and the big girls re-discovered the ladder and the perch next to it.

An hour before bedtime I let the girls mix in the whole space. Topaz usually puts herself to bed in the nest box an hour before the other girls and Sparkle settles on the top of store cabinet half an hour before the other girls get ready for bed. They are busy with their routine of topping up with food and water before bedtime and I don’t think they will be doing any plucking during this ritual bedtime routine.

I hope my plan for the morning works a bit easier than this morning but overall I am really pleased with how it is working out.

I started work on the run at six o’clock this morning as I wanted to get as much done as I could before delivering my lunches.

I dug out the two sleepers from the run which we used to use to walk down the veg plot. One was so rotten that it came out in bits but the other one just broke in half. I wanted to use it to make a path at the side of the run with the rambling rose so that we can get down that side to keep the rose maintained (or more to the point chopped back so that it doesn’t get to invasive).

After I had taken out the sleepers I dug the run over again to loosen the soil.

I went back indoors for a bath and breakfast then returned to start the next job. I dug over the compacted strip at the side of the run that is going to have veg and added some compost.

I then replanted the runner beans and chard that I had temporarily put in a grow bag.

The runner beans and chard are replanted

Next I set about getting the sleeper in place down the other side of the run. I dug a channel for it to sit in. This was hard work as there was very little room to manoeuvre and the rose kept grabbing me plus it was getting very warm. I did the best I could with it.

A path of sorts made with the sleepers

It was now time to go out on my deliveries. My husband had already left with his deliveries.

When I got back at lunch time my husband was busy making the frame for the opening between the old and new runs. He had already completed and fitted the new gate and turned the old gate to face the other way so that it wouldn’t obstruct the new opening.

The new gate to separate the two areas

The old gate now opens the other way

Meanwhile I set up a new feeding station with a bigger water bowl as the water was getting dirt flicked into it. I set up four tiles as a base and added a little dish of grit and the old water bowl as a bigger feed bowl.

The new feeding station

My husband had now fitted the new opening and the panel that drops in to close it hangs from a hook above the opening.

The opening to the new run with the closing panel hanging above

In the closed position if we ever need to separate new girls in the future

Sparkle’s bare bottom

I recently showed Amber and Honey’s bare neck, well this is Sparkle’s bare bottom. She had lovely fluffy bloomers when she arrived with us in the first week of April.

I went to collect my friend Jackie to see the progress on the run and while at her’s we foraged in the woodland at the back of her house for branches and logs for the run.

We bought back several branches and a large log.

Jackie was impressed with the space and with how much we had achieved in a short space of time. Once I had dropped her back home we decided to crack on and finish the run. I think my husband was on a mission to get it done today so that he can do other things at the weekend and also so that the girls can be separated as soon as possible.

We attached the galvanised chicken wire to the posts my husband had put in place. He then dug up and planted the three big shrubs from the garden that we wanted moved.

We then put up perches and the original ladder that my husband had made before we ran out of space for it. We added a few logs and the chicken play ground was complete.

We now have plants, perches, logs and a ladder

View from the outside

Tomorrow I will start separating the girls. My husband also suggested that we don’t have to stick with each having their own side but can alternate the girls space to give them variety. Now the run is completed we have many options and I am sure the girl’s will have a much happier life.

This morning I was itching to continue working on the run. I decided to get the little girls part of the run as ready for them as I could.

I closed off the gap at the patio end to start getting them used to it being closed. I moved buckets of soil from the centre of the run to the wire divider to make sure there is no gap underneath.

I put one of the little coops in the little girls side to be used as a nest box but this time I faced it towards the bush to make it darker inside and more secluded.

I set up a food dish and water. The girls soon explored the new feeding station but I wonder how long it will take to start using the nest box. I suppose if it is the only one they will soon get used to it.

The right hand side is the part that the little girls will have with an opening going out into the right hand side of the new run.

Nest box coop and feeding station

My reason for separating the big and little girls is to stop the little girls getting plucked. Honey and Amber now both have bare necks but poor little Amber looks the worst she has ever looked. She now has bare patches on her head and looks a sorry state. The new girls are also both getting bare patches on their bottoms.

Honey’s bare neck

Amber’s bare neck and bare patches on her head

I can’t wait to get them separated and stop this. I only hope their feathers grow back in before the next moult.

When I got back from my deliveries at lunch time the guys were back on the job. I shut the girls in the small separated part of the run so that the guys could make the opening between the two runs and get started on getting the roof on.

They used weld mesh until it run out then finished with a roll of very fine holed galvanised chicken wire.

Getting the roof on

The run is finished

I went over the run picking up any debris then I let the girls out of the small area. Honey and Amber soon found their way into the new part of the run.

Honey and Amber are the only ones brave enough to explore the new space

They look so lost in this big space. I let them have it to themselves for a few minutes and they soon found a few worms without competition.

The big girls haven’t yet stepped over the threshold

I’m not sure the big girls can work it out yet

Finally I scattered some corn to get them all in the new area

The weld mesh was sunk into the ground but as an extra precaution I dug a trench round the three new sides and laid some roof tiles in horizontally. They were left over from our loft extension. I then refilled the trench and while I did this the girls stayed close to get any worms I dug up.

The soil had got compacted by the guys working on it all afternoon so I then dug the whole area over to loosen the soil for the girls to scratch in. This turned up loads of worms and all the girls had quite a feast.

My husband dug over the strip that will have the runner beans in and laid some bricks to edge it. The bricks were the ones I took out from the border of the run and the veg plot originally.

Tomorrow I will replant the beans and chard in here but by now it was dinner time and I was shattered.

Over the next few days we will get the divider in place and my husband has started making the gate for it.

In the morning when the girls come out of the coop they will have the huge new area to scratch in. Once it’s divided we can start to put things of interest in. It is progressing really well and already the girls have a much better space.

The guys arrived at eight this morning to start work on the run. I kept them supplied with coffee and they worked really hard.

The first posts go in

It’s taking shape

The weld mesh is going on

All it needs now is the roof and then the openings between the two runs

This is the view from inside the original run

The posts are set in concrete and the weld mesh has been sunk below the ground. They dug out a trench all round and dropped the weld mesh in. There is also a row of bricks on the far side, a huge, deep, beam at the end and the concrete path on the near side.

Tomorrow the roof will go on then they will make the openings to join it up. At the weekend my husband and I will put the dividing wire fence inside and my husband will make a gate between the two areas. We are finishing the more manageable jobs ourselves to save money.

Once this is done we can put in perches and shrubs and any other bits to finish it off.

As soon as the roof is on and the openings are made the girls can go in and explore. They will have lots of new soil to scratch in and will get sun later in the day too.

The guys will return tomorrow afternoon as they have another job to do in the morning.

Sparkle, Honey and Amber all laid today and Amber didn’t struggle. Her egg didn’t have any blood on it again today so I am hopeful, that for now anyway, she is over her problem. Topaz still hasn’t started laying yet. Pepper also laid today.

The girls weren’t too happy about all the banging and sawing today and they spent a lot of time on the patio area staying away from the guys. They will love it though when they get to explore their new space.

I am so impatient that without thinking ahead I planted the runner beans and chard seedlings in the strip of veg plot that will be alongside the chicken run extension.

The guys are going to make a start tomorrow at eight o’clock in the morning but yesterday they called in to drop off the weld mesh. When our guy saw my beans his face fell. He asked how he was supposed to get weld mesh in place without damaging the beans.

I felt such an idiot. I told him not to worry because I would move them. I went to our nearest D.I.Y. store and bought a grow bag to plant them in as a temporary measure. They won’t have much space but it doesn’t matter because as soon as the run is in place I will replant them again.

A grow bag for the beans and chard

My vegetables are getting moved around rather a lot but I am sure they will be fine.

Next I cleared the veg plot ready for the guys. I took out the row of bricks that edged it at the chicken run end and the damp soil with loads of worms in went into the run for the girls.

I have cleared the veg plot

I have removed the bricks and my rusty chicken which forms the header for my blog. I will have to find a new home for it once the run is complete. The roll of weld mesh is on the veg plot ready to be put in place.

For the two separate areas we have decided to divide the veg plot length ways with wire and a gate. We will then put in a gap like a gateway but without a gate on what is the right hand side of this photo. This will give the big girls the patio area and the right half of the veg plot area.

We will make a chicken sized gap on the left side of the veg plot so that the little girls get the sheltered area with the big bush and the left half of the veg plot.

I intend to let the girls sleep together at night but separate them in the morning. It will be trial and error but I thought I could throw their morning treat in the little girls area to get them all in and close the gate. Then I will open it and try to steer the big girls into their area. My thinking is that it will be easier to move two big girls than four little girls. I can see some fun and games may take place with this!

I will then let all the girls mix together when I am with them to make sure there is no feather plucking. This way they will remain one flock and the mixing time will be a change of scene a bit like free ranging.

We will plant our tall shrubs in the run and reinstate the big girls ladder. We will put up perches and put in logs and anything we can find to keep them entertained. The space should be better for the all the girls and I think they will be happy with the separation. The little girls won’t be getting plucked and the big girls won’t have Topaz bossing them around.

The big girls are such a tightly bonded pair that I know they will be quite happy with just each others company. They will have no pecking order issues and will be relaxed together. They have never ever pecked each other and at bedtime they flutter their heads underneath each other strengthening their bond.

If I can break the feather pulling habit they can mix again but if not I will keep them separate. The new run layout also means that if we need to integrate new girls in the future we can block off the gap joining the area with the bush to the veg plot and create three separate areas.

We are going to put clear plastic sheeting under the roof like we have in the existing runs garden area to keep it dry as this is the quickest, easiest and cheapest option for now. Later when we have more time my husband will make some more plastic sliding panels so that they can be opened and closed according to the weather. At least this time we have a rectangular shape which will be easier to work with.

Since Amber laid the egg with the streak of blood on it I have stopped giving protein to see if this would help her. Amber had been laying every other day and since I stopped the protein she went four days before laying her next egg.

The good news is she laid it with no problem and without looking unwell before she laid. The egg also had no blood on it. When we had the egg for breakfast the shell was still very thin though which is what I think her problem is.

No matter how much limestone flour and crushed egg shells I feed them it makes no difference to Amber’s eggs. I think she is unable to absorb the calcium. I have read that cod liver oil helps them absorb the calcium better but have been unable to find any anywhere.

Amber hasn’t laid again for four days now and hasn’t looked unwell either so I am hopeful that the break in laying has helped her. It does mean egg laying is down a bit in general but it’s worth that to help Amber and once the girls are separated I could give the big girls some protein treats and the little girls corn instead.

I think this run extension is going to be better all round and I can’t wait for it to be completed.

There are three tall shrubs in the garden which I intend to try to dig up and plant in the chicken run extension. My husband said it would be best to do this when the run is complete or it will mean the guys having to work around the shrubs.

One of the shrubs is more like a tree and I decided to take the top out of it to make it more manageable. I put this branch in the run for the girls and they soon started stripping the leaves from it.

Honey and Amber’s necks are getting badly plucked and I am desperate to get the run extended so I can separate the big girls from the little girls. Topaz and Sparkle are having feathers plucked from their bottoms too.

I e-mailed our guy to see when they can start building the run and he e-mailed back that it will be Wednesday or Thursday.

A branch in the run

Honey and Amber have their necks plucked

Honey is in the foreground and Amber in the background. You can see how badly they are being plucked. This is much worse than it was last year and it breaks my heart to see this.

When I went in to the run at the end of the day the branch was just a bare stick without a single leaf left on it. It didn’t last as long as I thought it would but I should have known better.

I have asked advice on the “Down The Lane” forum about Amber’s egg laying problem. It was good to find that someone else had also experienced this. They had a bantam leghorn with the same problem even down to laying eggs in the run and some having streaks of blood on them. They said she was fine in between egg laying and sadly died but from a respiratory problem not her egg laying problem.

Some people suggested that I could try to stop Amber laying and that there are things a vet could do to stop her laying which I will look into. It was also suggested that I could stop giving protein to cause her to lay less often.

As an experiment I haven’t given the girls any protein since Amber’s last egg which was four days ago. I thought even if it just gives her a bit of a break it would help her.

She has been back to normal since her last egg but this morning is looking unwell again so I know the next egg is on it’s way soon.

I am finding that the feather plucking and Amber’s difficulty with egg laying is making my chicken keeping experience less of a pleasure and more of a worry at the moment. It’s a shame as integration of the new girls went so easily and the flock are happily settled together.

It’s just so sad to see Amber struggle with her eggs and all the little girls gradually losing feathers. I really hope the run extension will at least enable me to stop the feather plucking. I can’t wait for it to be started.

Amber has always struggled with her laying but whatever her problem is it seems to be getting worse. I said in a few posts back that her eggs had started getting a faint line around them which I thought may be blood.

Today her egg had a more pronounced line round it and on the other side it had what was obviously blood.

The line around Amber’s egg is more pronounced

Amber’s egg has blood on it

This is not good. Amber’s always had a problem with her egg laying but last summer she only laid once or twice a week. She stopped during her winter moult and was healthy.

In spring the problem returned and it seems that now she has matured she is laying more often. Honey now lays most days and Amber is laying every other day.

This seems to have made her problem worse and now her eggs have blood on them which I know is a bad sign.

After she has laid her egg she bounces back to her normal self again. I am reluctant to take her to a vet as I think they would advise that she be put to sleep. A chicken that struggles to lay eggs has a difficult life.

I don’t feel she is ready to give up yet though. I don’t want her to suffer but I wouldn’t want her to go before her time either. She is my favourite girl although I know we shouldn’t have favourites. She is feisty and funny and she isn’t bottom girl despite being the smallest. She runs to me the fastest on her tiny little legs and she chats to me all the time. She is such a sweetie that it breaks my heart to know there is something wrong with her and we will probably lose her sooner rather than later.

Tonight she ran to the late afternoon treat of sunflower hearts. There were a few cabbage leaves left in the run so I tore them into tiny pieces and dropped them in front of each of the girls (this is a game we play at the end of the day if there are any leaves left uneaten). Amber was quick to run for her bits of cabbage.

She is not ready to give up yet and neither am I.

We still had a mornings work to do again today but after that I was determined to finish getting the veg planted.

The new veg plot is planted

On the left are broad beans and peas. I have now dug up the onions that I had already planted in the old plot and put them down the edge of the path on the left.

I dug up the potatoes and have planted them on the right side of the right half. Next is purple sprouting broccoli then next to path are leeks which are tiny at the moment.

The view beyond the veg plot

The new veg plot from the other direction

The next thing I did was plant the runner beans in the strip of the veg plot that we are keeping (where I had dug the potatoes out from).

The runner beans are in

In the space at the end of this row of beans I am going to plant chard for the girls. I then dug over the ground that will become the chicken run making sure there was nothing harmful for the girls. I dug out any self seeded potatoes as they are poisonous to chickens.

I then dug out buckets of top soil and put it in the existing run for the girls to scratch through. They had a great time scratching and finding bugs and worms.

New soil for the girls

You can also see from this photo that when the veg plot becomes part of the run it will double their garden area. They will love having all that space with fresh soil to scratch in. I can’t wait for it to get started.

Today we had two functions to deliver so didn’t get back home until late afternoon.

The first thing I did was check on the girls and I found part of Amber’s egg shell in the run. The same thing happened the day before yesterday. Her eggs seem to catch her out and as the shells are so thin it breaks and gets eaten.

The good news is that at least she is passing them and she bounces back to normal once she has laid. On both occasions I knew it was Amber’s egg for many reasons. Honey had already laid on both days. I have actually seen Amber lay her egg in the run in the past. The shell is fragile and lastly she bounces back to her normal self.

The next thing we did was set to work on the new veg plot. It is quite time consuming because all the plants needed to be relocated. My husband dug out while I replanted. Some plants have gone into the garden and some into pots on the patio. The remaining thyme and any worms went to the girls.

My husband also laid a path through the middle as we walk through here all the time plus will need to be able to get to the veg. We felt really pleased with today’s progress especially as we had so little time.

The new veg plot is completed and just needs planting.

It was now time to get our Sunday roast on so we decided this was enough for today. Tomorrow I will dig up the potatoes and onions from the old veg plot and replant them in the new veg plot. We will also plant the purple sprouting broccoli and the leaks. We will then plant the runner beans in the remaining strip of the old veg plot.

There are also a few shrubs (more like trees really which just self seeded) that have got too tall for their position in the garden so I intend trying to dig these out and plant them in the new chicken run. Being tall they may survive the girls and at least they won’t have cost anything.

It’s been a productive weekend considering we had work to do too and I am looking forward to getting the veg planting finished tomorrow.

Yesterday we had quite a lot of work to do as we have two functions this weekend. A bank holiday weekend doesn’t always mean time off for us. We worked all morning and part of the afternoon.

As soon as we were done we were itching to get started on the new veg plot. As always these things are never straight forward and the first corner my husband started digging over revealed some buried brickwork. It looked like a former cesspit or well. It was very well built and went very deep. He broke up and removed enough of it to get a planting depth of soil over it.

My husband removed all the plants then added some topsoil with compost from the original veg plot and raked it over.

Progress

He took a well earned breather, it had been harder work than expected.

The new veg plot is started

An hour later and the first half is planted. We decided to do it a bit at a time to spread the hard work. The plants that have come out have been relocated and the thyme has gone in the chicken run for the girls to scratch through.

In the mean time Amber was looking really poorly again. She used to only lay one or two eggs a week but now seems to be laying every other day and this means she is feeling unwell more often. Each time she seems worse than before and each time I get scared we are going to lose her or I am going to have to make a difficult decision.

Amber looks so poorly

It breaks my heart to see her like this. As always though it seems she gets weak really quickly because once she feels poorly she stops eating. Once again I hand fed her some chopped grapes and sunflower seeds. I also found some worms from the new veg patch and dropped some in front of her.

Amber ate the worms and soon seemed to perk up and join in with scratching through the thyme.

The thyme goes in the chicken run

Topaz and Amber scratching and pecking through the thyme

Amber seems to quickly improve once she eats something and by bedtime she seemed better than earlier.

This morning I put two dishes of mash in to make sure Amber eats and she went straight to it and tucked in. I don’t know how much longer she can go on like this but we feel that it isn’t her time to go just yet and we can’t do any more for her than we are doing. I feel that I will know when it’s her time but just keep hoping she will get a reprieve. Amber is such a lovely little character and is a real fighter. I am willing her on with all my heart.