Carol's Chickens

There is always a bit of drama when several girls want to lay at once but it’s more difficult now that Cinnamon is laying too as she gets chased away by the other girls. Yesterday afternoon Barley, Emerald, Freckles and Cinnamon all wanted to lay at the same time.

Barley was shouting for a bit and then settled in the right hand nest box. Emerald did her manic running about and then decided she wanted the same nest box. Barley growled at her but Emerald was undeterred and settled in there with her.

Freckles was doing a lot of shouting and looking in both nest boxes but not going in. Poor Cinnamon was the same as the day she laid her first egg and was running everywhere.

The problem was every time she tried to enter the empty nest box Freckles would chase her away. She was once again going to the new shelter and going to the highest perch in the chicken shed. I decided to intervene again. I shut her in the empty nest box. I had tried shutting her in the chicken shed but she kept going to the highest perch so I decided the best thing was to shut her in the left hand nest box.

As soon as I did this she settled down. I kept checking on her and she was scratching around for a bit then settled down and methodically threw pine shavings over her back. She hasn’t got the hang of actually getting any of the shavings on her tiny back.

In the meantime Barley came out of the nest box shouting her head off. I checked and her white egg was underneath Emerald. I took it away and five minutes later I checked on Cinnamon again and she had laid her egg. She seems to lay quickly once she settles down.

I then checked on Emerald again and there was her beige egg and she came out of the nest box. Phew! Three out of four and just one to go. Freckles went into the right hand nest box. The next time I checked Freckles was out and her tiny egg was in the nest box. Four out of four done and peace returned once more. Freckles egg was eight days after her, three day broody spell, which was exactly the same as last time. Her eggs are small and are beige in colour and almost round in shape.

Today’s eggs

Freckles round egg is on the left, then Cinnamon’s, which is a bit smaller than her last one. This may be because she has laid two days running this time. Next is Barley’s white egg and then on the right Emerald’s beige egg.

The colour differences don’t show as well in photos but Peaches, Barley’s and Speckles eggs are white and Emerald’s are easy to identify as they are beige.

The problem now is how the three amigos get to a nest box without my help on the occasions when several girls want to lay at once.

We have toyed with the idea of making another nest box but if the other girls chase them from it, it won’t help. My husband suggested putting some crisp boxes in for the moment, to see if they get used, before he embarks on making wooden ones. Crisp boxes have worked in the past.

There always seems to be some drama playing out at the moment and we still have Apricot to start laying yet.

When I got back at lunch time yesterday and checked the nest boxes I found what must be Cinnamon’s second egg.

I have several reasons that I think it has to be Cinnamon’s egg. Dandelion had laid another thin shelled egg under her roost spot in the morning. Her first egg was laid in the run. Her second egg was laid eight days later under her roost spot and this one five days later under her roost spot. All her eggs have had pale, thin shells. I think she is having a problem with her laying and I am beginning to wonder if, like Amber, she is going to remain a problem layer. I hope that I am wrong and that she improves in time.

Rusty and Freckles have both had short broody spells. After three days of constantly lifting them from the nest box they have come out of it. Last time Freckles did this she took eight days off. This time she hasn’t laid for seven days so far. Rusty hasn’t laid for eleven days. Both girls lay small, round, beige shelled, eggs.

Apricot still isn’t squatting or showing any signs of wanting to lay and her comb is still small and pale. Silkie feathered girls are slower to mature and Rusty started laying a month later than Freckles so I expect Apricot to lay a month later than Dandelion and Cinnamon.

This egg was in the same nest box that Cinnamon laid her first egg in. There were deep nest, wells, in the corners of the chicken shed so I assume she tried several spots like last time and also this egg is pale shelled and the biggest, serama egg, laid so far.

It looks as if Cinnamon is going to be a good layer like Freckles. I wonder if straight feathered girls are better layers.

Cinnamon’s second egg on the left

From left to right is Cinnamon’s second egg, Cinnamon’s first egg, Freckles last egg and Rusty’s last egg.

Cinnamon’s second egg on the left

Cinnamon’s second, then first egg, on the left of the stand. The first egg is often either very small or very large so it will be interesting to see if her eggs remain a good size. We often joked that we thought her eggs would be tiny because she is such a tiny girl but I know from past experience that the size of the girl doesn’t always relate to the size of the egg.

It is good to know that she chose the nest box this time without any help from me. What a clever little girl she is.

We have a metal hopper for grit and oyster shell on the chicken’s patio. This means it is available at all times. Chickens need grit to help grind their food as they have no teeth to do the job and oyster shell gives them calcium to help make strong egg shells.

The three amigos don’t go to the patio so I put a little dish of grit and oyster shell in the run. The problem is that if it is on the ground it will get dirt scratched into it so I put it on the block behind their food and water dish but when it rained it filled up with water. The rain drips on to the block.

What I needed was another hopper similar to the one on the patio. I bought this from a pet shop six years ago. It is meant as a rabbit feeder. I have since looked for another one, in all the pet shops around us, but haven’t been able to find this sort of hopper again. My husband said he would make me one out of wood.

We put it near the three amigos feeding station, in a part of the run that stays dry (since we recently had the new roof on this part), except for rain blowing in through the weld mesh. The roof of the hopper will keep, wind blown rain, out.

We fixed it quite low so that it is the right height for the little girls. As usual the nosiest girls investigated it straight away.

A box for grit and oyster shell

The four bigger girls investigated it straight away

Emerald pecked at the grit

Barley pecked at the grit

Freckles has a look at the grit

I also saw Apricot have a peck at it too but I was too far away from her to get a photograph. I think once again, when the novelty wears off for the bigger girls, the rest of the little girls will have a chance to investigate. I hope this will mean that Dandelion will take some and her egg shells will improve.

I am pleased with the new grit dispenser. I think it is perfectly placed for the three amigos to find it.

I have known that Cinnamon was getting ready to lay her first egg for a few days. She has been squatting for a while but over the last few days she has been coming up to the patio area, without persuasion, which she has never done before. She has also been much more vocal.

Yesterday afternoon I felt that she wanted to lay her first egg. She just couldn’t work out which was the best and the safest place to lay it. She would go into one nest box then the other nest box. She would go into the chicken shed. She would go to the roof of the little coop nest boxes and chat to me as if she wanted me to help her.

She would have a spin round each nest box and then march into the run at speed. She jumped to the roof of the new chicken shelter and looked up as if she would like to go higher. She went to the shelf of the chicken new shelter and then to the perch.

She went to each corner of the chicken shed then to the bigger girls’ perch and again looked up as if she wanted to go higher.

She went back to the roof of the little coop and seemed to be asking me what to do. I made the decision to put her in the little coop nest box and close it up.

I didn’t want to shut her in the chicken shed where she was going to the highest perch which is not suitable for egg laying. I didn’t want to have her stressing about this any longer. I stayed by her while she scratched and scratched and scratched. I had already put an extra layer of pine shavings in the nest box because, knowing how deep she likes her dust holes, I knew she would want a deep nest for her egg.

I waited until she had stopped scratching and had settled down and then I quietly and gently opened the nest box. I didn’t want to leave her shut in, but just wanted her to settle.  When she stayed put I withdrew and returned a short time later.

She was still trying to flick pine shavings on her back but missing it and I could see her egg underneath her.

Cinnamon on top of the new shelter

In one of the nest boxes

In the chicken shed

On the shelf of the new shelter

On the perch of the new shelter

Cinnamon in the nest box

She finally gets her egg laid

Cinnamon’s first egg on the left, Freckles in the middle and Rusty’s on the right

Cinnamon’s egg on the left of the egg stand

It is longer but slimmer than Freckles and Rusty’s round eggs. It is paler shelled like Dandelion’s eggs and so narrow that it drops through the egg stand. It’s a good sized egg for her tiny size though.

That wasn’t half a drama but let’s hope finding the right place to lay the next egg comes easier. Well done Cinnamon!

Cinnamon has developed a habit of popping out to see me when I check that the girls are all in the chicken shed at bedtime. I go up and check on them after dinner and they will all be in their usual spots. The bigger girls on the higher back perch, Rusty and Freckles on the perch on the left and the three amigos on the perch on the right.

Cinnamon will then pop back out and she always goes and stands on the little coop nest box and chats away to me. It is quite heart warming that this tiny, shy girl, now seems to seek me out at bedtime.

Sometimes she goes back in on her own and sometimes I pick her up and place her back on her perch. I know that if I wasn’t there she would just stay in the chicken shed so it isn’t a problem.

Cinnamon looks at me

Cinnamon chats to me

She is such a sweet, tiny girl, but she has unusually big feet for her size. These are her amazing, digger, feet. We think all the digging she does has made her feet big for her size.

I love these little moments with this sweet girl.

We just happened t be in the chicken run when there was a sudden hail storm. I had my camera in my pocket. The hail on the roof was really loud and the entire flock moved from the far part of the run to the part of the run by the patio.

The bigger girls and Rusty headed straight for the new shelter. Emerald ended up beside it rather than inside it but the other three bigger girls and Rusty went straight inside.

Some of the girls run straight to the new shelter during a hail storm

They must feel safe in here

Freckles and the three amigos were hanging out on the other side of the wire just opposite the new shelter.

It was quite a good moment because it showed that some of the girls felt the shelter would protect them even though this part of the run is all covered and dry anyway. My husband remarked that they could always go to the patio or chicken shed but as I have always thought, they prefer a sheltered spot in the run, to the cover of the patio.

It makes me think that in poor conditions they may actually use the shelter, conditions such as windy or frosty days. Time will tell but at least there is now a choice of two shelters and it was interesting to see how quickly some of the girls ran to this shelter when the hail was really loud.

It’s good to think that they felt this was a safe haven. I am really pleased with this new shelter. It has only been in the run a few days and all new things take time for chickens to get used to but this shows that this shelter may prove to be a future hit with the girls.

While I was washing all the chicken feed and water dishes I could hear Emerald scratching around in the chicken shed. I checked both nest boxes and they were empty. I checked on Emerald and she had made a nest underneath Rusty and Freckles bedtime perch in the opposite corner to where Dandelion sat a few days ago.

This seems to be a new trend. She looked quite settled with a little pile of pine shavings on her back. I went indoors to collect my camera.

By the time I returned she was standing in the egg laying position. I was just in time to see an egg laid before my eyes once more.

Emerald is just about to lay her egg

And she has laid it

With seven girls now laying, and a future potential of all nine girls laying, it won’t be a bad thing if some of them are happy to lay in the chicken shed. I always keep it clean and it’s a large space and dark enough for them to feel happy to lay in .

I wonder why Emerald chose to lay there but she can be funny sometimes about the nest boxes. Sometimes when she wants to lay she runs about looking a bit manic as if she can’t find the right place to lay. Maybe she gets fed up of the nosey girls (Peaches and Barley) always looking in on her.

It will be interesting to see where she decides to lay her next egg. She is a good layer, laying every other day and sometimes two days in a row. She and Freckles lay a similar amount of eggs each week. Emerald always stops laying at the end of May though. Game girls have a short season.

I am happy for any of the girls to lay in the chicken shed and we feel that we really don’t need to make another nest box now. The chances are it wouldn’t get used anyway. None of the girls went in the cat box except to flick out the shavings. It will be much better if some of the girls use the shed than having a nest box out in the run. It looks as if the girls have solved the problem for themselves.

We are always trying to improve things for the girls and I decided that we should add a perch to the new shelter, nearer the front and lower down. I wanted to make it easy for them to use the shelter.

I try Rusty on the new perch

Emerald checks it out

I try Freckles on the new shelf

And the perch

Rusty and Freckles are my guinea pigs because they are so easy to pick up and they stay where I put them.

A little later Barley perched on the spot where Freckles is in the photo above but I didn’t have my camera with me.

I can’t wait for some of the little girls to find the shelter for themselves. I am sure that it is only a matter of time.

It has been a week since Dandelion laid her first egg. She seems to be struggling to get started with the egg laying routine. For the last few days she has looked a bit down again and I felt that another egg was on it’s way. She spends a lot of time sitting with her head down into her ruffles.

Yesterday morning when I went out to clean the chicken shed there was a tiny, pale shelled, egg under Dandelion’s roost spot. When I picked it up I found that is was cracked.

Dandelion’s cracked egg on the left

Rusty’s egg is in the middle and Freckles egg is on the right for comparison. Dandelion’s egg has a very thin shell and she may have dropped it from the perch causing it to crack.

Just like last time she didn’t seem to know that she had laid it. I found her a couple of times on the ramp to one of the nest boxes. Emerald and Barley laid their eggs and this intimated her. Freckles sat in the nest box for a while too and Dandelion didn’t have the courage to enter.

The next I time checked I saw Dandelion go in to the chicken shed. She settled herself into a corner of the shed.

Dandelion settles in the corner of the chicken shed

She arranges the pine shavings around her

She came out a little later shouting as if she had laid an egg. When I checked there was no egg. She was back to her normal self though and had decided the job had been done.

The really good thing about this is that if she is too nervous to go to the nest boxes she can go to the chicken shed instead. She is familiar with the shed and it is as good a place to lay as a nest box.

We have decided not to make another nest box for now. If the three amigos will be happy to lay their eggs in the chicken shed then that will be fine. That will be another problem solved. It just remains to be seen if the other two do the same.

With the wood removed from the old fence my husband made a new chicken shelter to replace the dog crate shelter.

This is much better as it can stay permanently in the run and the girls can dust bath underneath it, sit on the shelf inside or sit on the top. This means that they still have the same space but would be sheltered from cold and wind in winter, that is if they would go in it.

Peaches and Barley liked to sit in the old shelter on cold, wet, days so this would mean the little girls would have another place to go.

Emerald is the first to scratch in the shelter

The bigger girls go in to investigate

Speckles, Emerald and Barley check out the top of the new shelter

The bigger girls are always the nosiest but I am sure the little girls will find it eventually. It will be interesting to see if any of the girls use it.