Carol's Chickens

Although we put some extra perches in the chicken’s shed the girls always perch on the main back perch. I think the side perches were used at first by the lower ranking girls because it got them away from being pecked at but as the flock have settled down and also perhaps with the colder weather they have all taken to perching together on the back perch.

Butterscotch always goes in last and often quite a while after the other girls but she is a confident girl and once in she quickly pushes her way to a spot around the middle of the perch.

Peaches and Barley are the only girls that choose to perch next to each other and if they can’t manage to find a space next to each other they do a lot of jumping up and down from the perches and they make a sound that sounds like they are crying.

Last night I could hear this whimpering sound that they make and I looked in and saw that Topaz was so close to Peaches that Barley couldn’t find a space to get in. I thought that she stood no chance of moving the formidable Topaz along.

A few minutes later the shed was quiet and I looked in again. Barley had managed to squeeze herself next to Peaches and Topaz had a stern look on her face but all the girls were settled.

This is the usual bedtime line up

Peaches and Barley are together and Topaz looks stern

Their combs are looking lovely and red and I keep thinking that we may get some eggs soon. Last year Topaz started laying half way through January and Peaches and Barley at the end of January. Honey and Emerald started in March and Toffee in April. Speckles is the unknown quantity so it will be interesting to see how she does.

I can only imagine the chaos when all the girls are either laying or going broody (you two know who you are). I am sure it will be interesting!

Since I said that I would keep adding sand to the run, one bag at a time, we have got quite busy with work and I hadn’t found the time to go and get another bag. Yesterday afternoon I finished work early so I decided to go and get another bag of sand.

We dumped the bag of sand in the run.

Speckles is once again the first girl to check out the sand

Toffee photo bombed the shot.

Topaz and Butterscotch seem to like scratching in the sand and soon spread it around

The odd thing is that Honey doesn’t like the sand. After we put the sand in the run last time she wouldn’t go down to the run for the bedtime corn. I started giving her some corn on the patio instead. Once the sand had got mixed in with the soil and changed colour she was happy to go back down for the corn.

Last night when I threw the bedtime corn out into the run Honey wouldn’t leave the patio area once more. I again gave her the corn on the patio. It seems that she doesn’t like the colour of the sand.

Honey doesn’t like the sand

Honey has her bedtime corn on the patio

We wondered if it was because she is the same colour as the sand although I don’t see why that should bother her. All the other girls are happy to scratch in the sand but when Honey goes into the run during the day she goes via the wooden block and stays off the sand until it gets mixed with the soil and changes colour. At bedtime when it is getting dark she won’t go down to the run at all.

I find this very odd but who knows what goes on in those little chicken brains.

While we are having a cold frosty spell the girls are spending a lot of time perching. I think they like to get off of the frozen ground and they often sit all fluffed up to keep warm. The one constant is that Peaches and Barley can always be found perching together.

Peaches and Barley perch together

These two girls are kindred spirits and are never far from each others side.

Speckles is always too nervous to join the other girls at the mash but I never worry as I know that as soon as they tire of it she moves in for her share. Every time this happens I can’t get to my camera in time to catch the shot.

Today I left my camera in the chicken store cupboard and was at last able to capture the shot.

Speckles has some mash

Speckles and Butterscotch have some mash together

Speckles and Butterscotch

It is good to see Speckles getting her share of the mash and also good to see that Butterscotch is the one girl who doesn’t intimidate her. During this cold spell these two girls can often be found perching together. It is good to have a friend.

Recently it’s either been cold and frosty or cold and wet and muddy. On days like this I like to give the girls warm mash. I do this to give them a treat and to help occupy them. They spend a lot time fluffed up on the perches and the ladder when it’s like this.

Some mash for the girls

Emerald seems less fussed by the mash than the other girls and is often either at the pellet dish or pecking at the shavings which is something she likes to do a lot.

Emerald is busy pecking at the shavings

Topaz abandoned the mash to go and practice laying an egg

I have never known any girl to need as much practice as Topaz does. She has now been practising for a month. Most days she will sit in the nest box for half an hour then come out shouting. I go and check and there is no egg and that was the case again on this occasion.

It was at this time of the year she that started laying last year so I am expecting her to start any day soon.

Emerald decides to join the girls and Speckles would really like to join in too

Speckles is getting brave

Speckles is getting much braver although a stern look from Peaches or Barley will still send her running. She returned to the dish when the other girls had tired of the mash so she still got her fair share.

By lunch time the mash was all gone and I know that the girls enjoyed this simple treat.

I know other countries, such as America, have had a lot of snow. I know that even in the North of England there has been some snow but down here in the South of England we haven’t had any snow until now.

It came as a surprise to look out of the window this morning and see some snow. This is not only the first snow this year but the first snow this winter. Some years we have had lots of snow as early as November and some years we have had a sprinkle of snow as late as May but this morning we awoke to our first snow this winter.

I felt it needed to be photographed.

Our first snow this winter

Snow in front of the run

View from the top of the garden

It wasn’t much and by lunch time it was gone except for a few patches but it was still our first snow of the winter.

I love the coasters that Yu Lee made me for Christmas. I think they are far too good to use as coasters and wondered if we could somehow frame them. The fact that there is an odd number would make it difficult.

Chicken coasters

We were talking about this while Jackie was looking at them on a recent visit and between us came up with the idea of putting them in a straight line.

My husband had the idea of gluing them to a strip of wood as they don’t actually need a frame. He had a bit of wood in the shed left over from the new chicken nest boxes that was exactly the right width.

The coasters and a strip of wood

The coasters on the strip of wood

He used a strong glue and we left them on the windowsill overnight to set.

On the windowsill to dry

He also had a mirror plate that he could attach to the back to hang it up. As Steve and Yu Lee know we have a huge number of paintings all over the house and so don’t have much spare wall space.

Another advantage of having these in a strip is that we have a strip of wall by our front door where they will fit perfectly.

The coasters are on the wall

The coasters are now displayed on the wall by the front door. It would have been a shame to have them in a drawer and I am really pleased with the result.

I decided to put my Christmas chicken on the step in front of the chicken run. As soon as I had put it in position all the girls came to inspect it.

Barley has a look at the chicken

Honey takes a look

Toffee takes a look

Speckles takes a look

I thought Speckles was being quite brave but she got this close and then ran away at speed whereas the other girls took no notice of the chicken. I think this a good home for my Christmas chicken.

After four years of poop picking the soil level in the run has dropped considerably. Although the girls scratch in it all day they only move the soil about and don’t remove it from the run so it must just be me picking up three times a day that has removed all this soil.

The soil level in the run has dropped

When I dig the run I always add a bucket of soil from other parts of the run to this spot and I have added bags of sand in the past but these things have made little impression. Steve, my eldest son, thought this was a block of concrete. In fact it is rock hard soil where I have allowed it to be compacted as it provides a step down into the run. I dig over the rest of the run at least once a week.

A small bag of sand only costs two pounds but even a small bag is heavy. I decided to buy two bags today even though I knew it would be a drop in the ocean. Even so every little helps.

I have a plan to keep on buying one bag of sand at a time and adding it until eventually I can build the level back up. I would like to put sand in the whole of the run to help it to be less boggy but the run is so big that this would be an impossible task.

We put the sand in the run and waited to see what the girls made of it.

Topaz, Toffee and Emerald were the first to approach the sand

Speckles was quite brave

I left them to it and when I returned a little later the girls all ran to the patio to see if I was going to give them their pre bedtime corn.

All the girls on the patio

I felt like the pied piper as I was stepping backwards to try to get a photo while the girls were all moving towards me. It did give me a chance to get all the girls in shot though and I liked this photo. Butterscotch had just laid her egg so she was catching up on pecking at the apple.

A little later I threw their bedtime corn into the sand to encourage them onto it.

The girls scratching in the sand

The sand is getting spread around

Topaz has the sand to herself

After the other girls had tired of the sand Topaz continued to scratch in it. She was scratching in the sand until bedtime. At least this is a start to building up the soil level and I think the girls like the sand.

Today there was a communal dust bathing session going on in the run. As usual each girl was in her own spot except for Peaches and Barley. As allways they were as close together as they could get.

Communal dust bathing

Peaches and Barley dust bath together

These two girls are such twin spirits. Note their combs are now getting red again. I am hopeful of some egg laying soon.