Carol's Chickens

Freckles laid her fifth egg this morning, she is our best layer at the moment. I thought Emerald was getting ready to lay as her comb is now a lovely red colour and she has become more vocal. She was also looking in the nest box.

A little later this morning I heard some shouting and when I inspected Emerald was just coming out of the nest box with a little heap of pine shavings on her back. There was her warm, first egg, of the year. It is also another long egg. It seems that most of the bigger girls are laying a, long shaped, first egg.

Well done Emerald. This is five days earlier than last year.

Emerald’s first egg

A medium, shop bought, egg on the left for comparison, Emerald’s egg next and three of Freckles eggs on the right. If Freckles lays again on Saturday we will have two little eggs each for Sunday breakfast.

Emerald’s egg on the egg stand

After lunch I switched the girls to opposites sides again. Peaches and Barley enjoyed having their favourite dust bathing spot back.

Peaches and Barley dust bath on the other side of the run

The new girls perch

These three are a definite pair and an odd one. Apricot likes to perch on the ladders. The other two haven’t yet discovered that they can perch but are taking the in between step of sitting on the log.

I managed to lure Apricot to the patio area with some spinach. She has got the hang of jumping on to the wooden block and up to the patio. My husband suggested putting their own, familiar food and water dishes there so that they recognise them as they haven’t sussed out the bigger ones yet. April had some water.

Apricot has got it sorted

Dandelion and Cinnamon were watching Apricot but couldn’t seem to work out how to get up to the patio. I lifted Cinnamon to the patio and put her next to the food dish. She didn’t stay long as they seem to have make there own way there. If I put them there they just want to come back down again.

I put Cinnamon next to the food dish

I decided to make some steps from the other wooden blocks in the run. As a temporary measure this should make it easier for them. I guided Dandelion up the steps.

She does look funny but you have to allow for how much better she will look when her head and neck feathers open.

I have built some steps up to the patio area

She didn’t stay there either and I relented and moved their food and water into the run. They then had a good feed. I can see it is going to take a while to get them used to the patio area.

Just before bedtime I shut the main flock behind the gate on the new girls side and closed the hatch. I used corn to get them in. I then picked up Rusty and Freckles and carried them around, to the triangle part, next to the hatch. I thought this was the easiest way to separate these two.

Then I opened the gate and let the new girls and the bigger girls mix. I had the water spray to hand. There was mayhem and I squirted the bigger girls when they went for the new girls. It was pretty stressful but more like I am used to. The bigger girls attacked and the new girls ran away. This means as long as there are escape routes it’s not too bad.

The difference with the seramas yesterday was that there was no running away or backing down, just full on, brutal attacking. I can see now that the seramas are going to be the tricky ones to mix.

I only allowed about ten minutes of this as it was stressful. I got the new girls through the gate and returned all the areas back to normal. Whew, this is hard work. This is going to take time and patience.

Tomorrow I will continue with trying to get the new girls used to the patio area as the feeding station. I can see that I will need to leave out more food dishes when the girls are mixed but that is okay. I think we made a very small amount of progress today.

This afternoon I switched the girls to the opposite sides of the run. I closed the hatch and put the main flock behind the gate with the help of sunflower seeds. I then let the new girls into the main flock’s side and then opened the hatch.

I closed the new girl’s coop as I knew the main flock would soon scratch all the shavings from it. I put a dish of water and a dish on mash on top of the little coop so that the girls couldn’t fill it with dirt. I used mash instead of pellets so that they wouldn’t get flicked into the dirt.

Both sets of girls seemed to enjoy being in a different area. Peaches soon checked out the new shelter and the main flock reacquainted themselves with the table and perches and also checked out the top of the little coop and the top of the shelter.

The new girls explored most of the run but were very reluctant to go on to the patio. I really wanted them to find the food and water but if I put them on the patio they jumped straight down from it again.

Exploring the other side of the run

Finding the log

Apricot and Dandelion on the log

Apricot

Peaches inspects the shelter

I put Apricot on the patio

Exploring towards the patio area

Getting nearer to the patio

Cinnamon with her little ruff raised

Although Freckles is blurred I kept this photo as it captured Cinnamon with her ruff raised which is something she does a lot to all the main flock members. You would think this would indicate that she is feisty but I know from past experience that it tends to be the one who is going to be at the bottom that does this.

This was just what Speckles was like and once mixed she went straight to the bottom. Cinnamon is the most nervous of the new girls so I am sure she will end up bottom girl. Several times this afternoon she stood on a brick or a log and did this while making herself  appear taller. I didn’t manage to catch a shot though.

Apricot back on the patio

I persuaded Apricot back on to the patio with some spinach but she didn’t stay long enough to find the food and water.

I changed the girls to the opposite sides once more with the evening corn and let the new girls have a fill up on mash. Then I decided to try to Apricot with the main flock. I picked her up and set her down on the other side of the gate.

Oh my goodness, what a mistake. It was awful. Rusty and Apricot were full on fighting. They had hold of each other and were twisting and turning and circling and flapping. It was the most aggression that I have ever seen between two chickens. I sprayed Rusty with water but she wouldn’t let go. I tried to separate them but it was really hard to get hold of them. I managed to grab Rusty and open her beak from Apricot. I held Rusty up high and guided Apricot back through the gate with my foot.

They continued to try to peck at each other through the wire. I kept moving Rusty away but she kept bouncing back. Eventually Apricot made her way to the end of the run and straight up to the top of the ladder.

Apricot at the top of the ladder

A little later everything was back to normal. I was so wrong about the possibility of these two being friends. I think this is going to be a long, hard, slog. I was also wrong about getting the seramas together first. I think it might work better to separate Rusty and Freckles and try the new girls with the bigger girls.

Dave, the breeder, did tell me that seramas can be really aggressive to each other. He was surprised that I hadn’t yet experienced it. I am now beginning to understand what he meant.

Before, during integration, the seramas ran from the bigger girls and got out of the way. There has been ruff raising and directing pecks at each other in the past but I have never seen fighting like this. We are beginning to wonder if they will ever get used to each other.

I am feeling a bit disheartened at the moment. I think it’s going to be a long, slow, process.

Mid morning I looked out of the window and saw April perching on the bottom rung of the ladder. Later in the day I saw her on the ladder several times. She has now got the hang of perching. What a clever little girl she is.

A bit later Freckles was in the nest box and the main flock were dust bathing together. Apricot was dust bathing on the other side of the wire, opposite Rusty. They then had one of their friendly beak to beak moments. We really think that Apricot is ready to join the main flock.

Dust bathing on both sides of the wire

Is this friendship!

These two little girls are often like mirror images of each other. I think they are ready to become friends.

Freckles laid her fourth egg today, so far she is laying every other day.

Tomorrow afternoon I should have more time as at the moment I have no lunches booked for the next day. My plan is that after lunch I will switch the two flocks to the opposite sides to give the new girls a chance to explore the other side.

An hour before bedtime I will switch them back but will leave Apricot with the main flock while I stay to supervise and see how she gets on. I will then put her back on the new girl’s side for bedtime. It will be interesting to see if she is accepted by the main flock. If all goes well I will try integrating her at the weekend.

Cinnamon spends a lot of time going up against the wire with the main flock, raising her tiny ruff and trying to land pecks through the wire. This afternoon Rusty had blood, just above her beak, once more. Cinnamon had a, pin prick, spot of blood, on her comb. Rusty had fared the worse yet it has more of an effect on Cinnamon.

Cinnamon is a really nervous girl. At first I thought Dandelion was the most nervous of me but she has started getting used to me now whereas Cinnamon is still very wary. The day I put some tarpaulin, under the new girl’s roof in the corner by the hatch, Cinnamon looked hunched and miserable and I thought there was something wrong with her. She put herself to bed early. I worried.

The next morning she came out and got stuck into some mash and was right back to her usual self. I think putting up the tarpaulin had stressed her. This afternoon when I saw that Rusty had taken a peck, Cinnamon was once more hunched and miserable. I put a dish of mash in to try to tempt her. Once again when she got stuck into the mash she returned to normal.

It seems that she is really easily upset and it’s almost as if she forgets to eat. Once she eats again she returns to normal. You would think a girl that is easily upset would avoid conflict but of course a chicken’s logic doesn’t work that way.

I tried to photograph Rusty’s pecked comb but needed her, facing straight forward, to show it. That took a few shots but as they are so cute I left them in.

Rusty and Freckles

Rusty has taken a peck

The black spot at the base of her beak is dried blood.

A sorry state

Dried blood and now added to that some dirt on her beak too. Rusty, what do you look like! She seems unfazed by it though.

Some mash will help

The new girls at bedtime

Cinnamon looks fine by bedtime. The girls put themselves to bed again so that is one thing less to worry about.

I have always added two girls at a time, this being my first experience of adding three, and the dynamic is completely different. As time has gone along it has become apparent that we have a twosome and an odd one, that being Dandelion and Cinnamon pairing up and Apricot being the lone one. When Cinnamon has her, down moments, Dandelion sits with her. These two go to bed and chase Apricot out. She has to wait for dusk and for them to become docile before she is allowed in. Dandelion and Cinnamon venture into the new part of the run together and Apricot trails way behind.

Apricot however is really friendly with me. She also seems to want to hang out with the original flock. She runs along the wire with rusty and they have stood beak to beak through the wire in a friendly manner. She is also the only one of the three that gets up on the little coop roof. I think she is ready to learn to perch.

My husband suggested that she is ready to join the flock and that maybe we should integrate her and leave the other two together for longer to grow in confidence and be integrated a little later. He feels she may attach herself to Rusty and Freckles. At first I wasn’t sure about this idea but today I am thinking that it may be worth a try. As my husband says there is no rule that they have to all mix at the same time. We both feel she is much more ready that the other two.

I will switch the two lots to the opposite sides of the run later in the week and then I will think about trying Apricot with the main flock. It may be easier to get her settled then add two girls to the flock. If it doesn’t work out she can always go back. It is food for thought, a slightly different approach.

I thought it may have been Cinnamon who had been on top of the little coop but I realised last night it was Apricot. She jumped on top of the little coop several times. I wonder if my popping her on various perches has helped build her confidence.

Apricot’s new trick

Look at me

Last night was the first time that the new girls put themselves to bed. I had been putting them in at quarter to six as by then it starts getting cold and I worry about them being outside when it’s cold. Last night it was milder and I decided them to leave them a bit longer. At six o’clock they put themselves to bed and I just had to close up the little coop door. This is great news as I think they will probably do this from now on.

For breakfast this morning I decided on two eggs each as we wanted to try Freckles egg which was tiny.

Eggs in a pan

The two eggs on the left are medium sized, shop bought, eggs and the next one along is Peaches egg. The yolk is actually fractionally bigger than the standard hen’s egg yolks but it has a lot less white. Freckles little egg is on the right and is actually not a bad size for such a little girl, especially as it was her first egg.

Later in the morning Freckles settled in the nest box. We were in the cabin/kitchen preparing tomorrow’s lunches when I heard a loud, repetitive, squeak. I realised it was Freckles. I went to check on her and she was stood in the nest box, shouting, with her little egg beside her.

She has now laid three eggs, laying every other day. I am really impressed as that is more frequently than the bigger girls are laying.

Freckles third egg

I am trying to show the size of her sweet little egg. It measures one and a half inches in length. What a clever little girl she is.

By six o’clock this evening the new girls had put themselves to bed again. Hurrah, we have progress.

Today we replaced the tarpaulin over the triangular part of the chicken run. It had become brittle and cracked and was letting in water. The job seemed much easier this time maybe because it’s not the first time we have done this. It’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow so we were pleased to get this done today. A good job done.

This morning when I poop picked the chicken shed I had Rusty and Freckles keeping me company as they do every morning, but this time, they jumped from their bedtime perch to the bigger girl’s perch, to get on eye level with me. I have never seen them do this before. I happened to have my camera in my pocket.

My little helpers this morning

A few times today Dandelion had a little scratch around and  a sit down in the little coop. I wonder if she is getting ready to lay an egg. She has stopped dropping long feathers and the pins in her head are just beginning to open. It will be good to see her with head feathers.

Dandelion looked like she was thinking about laying an egg

The new girls made some progress today. I have put them in the bigger part of the run a few times and they just run straight back to their home part of the run but today they ventured out on their own. Maybe they just needed to discover it for themselves. A few times today they were hanging out on the other side of the wire from the main flock.

They were all hanging out together without any aggravation so maybe they are now getting used to each other. The main flock were all lined up on the log.

Six girls in a row

I love this line up

I love seeing them like this. The new girls were on the other side of this line up but didn’t stay there for me to take photos.

It’s been a week today since we collected the new girls. They had been in Dave’s shed for six months so it’s not surprising that it’s taking them time to get used to this change in environment. That’s why I am taking my time and letting them grow in confidence first.

It’s taken them three days to venture out into the bigger part of the run on their own. I am really pleased with how they are settling in. I know we will get there in time.

It’s all been happening on the egg front over the last few days. Yesterday Speckles laid her second egg of the year, five days after the first. Once again she made a meal of it, going in and out of the nest box all morning and finally settling with a little pile of pine shavings on her back.

She came out shouting and I went to inspect and found it broken with Emerald attempting to eat it. The shell was good and hard but the dented break looked as if it had been trampled on. All the bigger girls were trying to get at it and I had to close the nest box and remove all trace before opening up again. We have been getting few enough eggs without breakages.

This morning I went out at quarter past seven as this is when the automatic door is now opening. Under Freckles perch was a broken little egg. This one had a partly soft shell. Freckles only laid her first egg two days ago so this was quicker than I would have expected.

It was definitely hers though as she did the thing they often do when this happens. She didn’t realised she had laid it and spent the morning shouting and going in the nest box. It must have fallen from her while she was on the perch and the fall, plus the thinness of the shell, caused it to break. Now adding to our lack of eggs we have two broken in two days.

I spent some time in the run as I had no lunch deliveries and I was putting up some tarpaulin under the roof panels in the new girls part of the run, by the hatch, to try to keep it drier. The panels at this end drip and I am hoping that this will keep it dry so we that we can take our time with integrating the new girls.

All the time that I was working Freckles and Peaches were shouting their heads off. It seemed that they both wanted to sit in the nest box at the same time. I wished that I could explain to Freckles that she had already laid her egg and didn’t need to be doing this.

Eventually they decided to share the nest box and it all calmed down.

Freckles and Peaches share the nest box

Peaches finally laid her first egg of the year. This is two weeks later than last year. It had her tell tale blob of poop on the end, I don’t know why, but she is the only girl always to do this. It was also really long. Peaches always has laid bigger eggs than Barley but not so many of them.

Peaches egg is in front of Freckles

I picked up the egg and Freckles started shouting as if it was her egg. I have a comparison coming up later which made me smile.

Freckles is shouting

After this Freckles seemed to accept that her job was done and she came out of the nest box and attacked a bit of melon then took herself off for a dust bath.

Freckles and Rusty have a dust bath together

They are soon joined by Peaches and Barley

Peaches first egg of the year in the middle

Freckles first egg is on the right, Peaches long egg is in the middle and a medium shop bought egg is on the left. Freckles is a slightly yellow/cream colour compared to Peaches white egg. Peaches egg is impressive in size compared to a standard hens egg.

Egg on the stand for comparison

Pointy end up

I always store eggs pointy end down but thought I would show them pointy end up to compare the length of Peaches egg. Now you can see why I smiled at the thought that Freckles could imagine that was her egg.

At least I have one out of three eggs to keep. Hopefully eggs will be more abundant soon and the girls will settle into egg laying without quite so much drama.

I didn’t end up putting the girls together before bedtime last night. I chickened out, excuse the pun! I decided to stick with my usual plan and go slowly with the integration. I thought I would give the new girls all of their half of the run to get them used to a bigger space.

When they have got used to this I will switch them to the other side of the run to get used to that, find their way around and discover the feeding station, nest box, and chicken shed.  I want them to grow in confidence before I do any mixing. Apricot has already become more confident and is no longer spending her time in the little coop.

Cinnamon was having a dust bath this afternoon which was really good to see and there was poop on the little coop roof so the girls have found that they can get up there. I suspect that was Cinnamon too as she has been looking like she wanted to jump up there and straight feathered girls are best at getting to higher spots.

I  have also decided that when I start mixing them I will put Rusty and Freckles in with them at first. This will mean that they will be starting with girls their own size, it worked with Pebbles, Rusty and Freckles. If I can get these five used to each other it will then mean that the new girls will only have four instead of six to contend with when they are eventually all mixed.

For the first time in ages there was some sun in the garden and as well as prompting dust bathing it meant the crocus was finally starting to open.

The crocus are opening at last

Some of the miniature daffodils are almost open

I closed the gate and the wire at the far end of the run so that the new girls half is separated from the other half. I then opened the hatch and ushered the girls through it.

Cinnamon and Dandelion explore

They stick closer together in the strange new space

Apricot joins Cinnamon just outside the hatch

Three new girls in a corner

Apricot is the least brave and didn’t want to wander far. I picked her up and put her on the perch at the end of the run.

I put Apricot on a perch

She turned around and jumped down

I did this because I want them to know where the perches are if they need to escape the attentions of the other girls. They are not used to perching yet though and Apricot was very wobbly and made her way down as fast as she could.

She must wonder why I am always doing things like this to her but it’s simply because she is so easy to pick up unlike the other two.

I had closed the hatch to encourage them to explore but they were soon, all three, looking through the hatch trying to get back to their familiar area. I relented and opened the hatch. I don’t think they will explore without encouragement. It is going to be baby steps. They have been used to being kept in a small space and are older than Rusty and Freckles were, when I got them, so I think it will take longer for them to become more adventurous.

It did make me realise that they think of their small area as home now. They were all three quick to get back to their familiar space.

I will close the hatch before bedtime to make it easier to get them in for the night but will leave it open the rest of the time so that as they become braver they may start spending time in the bigger area.

It also means I can now separate all three areas which will be handy for switching the groups to the different sides. I can contain the original flock in the bottom third while I let the new girls in to the other side, then open the hatch and the two groups will then be on opposite sides. I will reverse this procedure to return the new girls to their part at the end of the day.

Sometimes this whole procedure has only taken a week but I think with these girls it will take at least a couple of weeks or maybe longer. It doesn’t matter how long it takes though so I am going to take my time.

I have known for days that Freckles was going to lay soon. She has been very vocal, squats if I put my hands near her, and has been going in and out of the nest box. This morning I felt that today was the day.

Before I went out to deliver my lunches she was shouting. I didn’t know she would be, or could be, that loud! For a little girl she has suddenly found a big voice.

When I got back at lunch time my husband said that she had finally laid her egg. He had no deliveries today and could hear her shouting from inside our cabin (work kitchen). He left the egg where it was for me to see.

Freckles first egg

She had laid it in the right place, clever girl.

Comparison with a medium sized shop bought egg

On the egg stand

Side view

Freckles egg is half the size of our other bantam eggs, it almost falls through the egg stand. I would always be able to tell the little girl’s eggs now that I have seen one. It had a little streak of blood on it, which is often the case, with a first egg. What a clever little girl she is.

I am thinking of starting the integrating process very soon but I knew that if I let the main flock into the new girls area they would go straight to the new shelter and scratch all the shavings out. I suddenly had a light bulb moment! I took the shavings out and put them in the main chicken shed and then I took the card board out too. I then filled the tray with dry soil.

This can now become a permanent winter feature and it won’t matter how much scratching goes on. It may even be used as a dust bath. It might also be more attractive to the new girls. I put Apricot in to try it out and she did have a little peck at the soil before coming back out. A small improvement.

An alteration to the shelter

I should have thought of this in the first place but I put pine shavings in it because that was what the new girls had been used to before.

If I am brave enough I may give the girls a little bit of supervised time together before bedtime. Watch this space.

This morning when I opened up the little coop Apricot was first out. The new girls now come out straight away in the morning and head to the food dish.

This morning when I opened the coop

I added a bamboo perch to the new shelter and put Apricot on it to try it out.

I put Apricot on the perch

She wasn’t at all sure about that. She wobbled a bit then managed to turn herself around and jump down. She was out of there at speed. I am not sure the new girls are going to get the hang of the shelter any time soon.

When I put them to bed tonight Apricot ran in to the shelter, had a buzz round, then ran back out again. I think she was a bit confused but at least she now knows that she can go in and out again. I am not sure these girls will ever use it but I know the rest of the flock would love to get in and have a scratch around.