Carol's Chickens

Last night the girls went in the chicken shed and all spent time looking up as if wondering where the high perches had gone. There was much squabbling with Toffee and Speckles being forced out a few times before they finally all settled in position.

The first girls are in

All in except Butterscotch and lots of looking up

They are all in with Peaches and Barley on the top rung of the ladder

I was glad that they still went in even with the lower perches and I think it’s better to put up with the squabbles if it makes it safer for them.

This morning I went out just as the automatic door had opened. I opened the door just a crack so that I could see in as there is no room inside for me now that the perches are lower.

One by one they took up the position in front of the door and jumped down. Butterscotch was still last and was still quite hesitant. Seeing this made me wonder how on earth she had been managing the jump before. This has got to be easier for her. I only got one, not very good, photo as I had to hold the camera through the crack of the door. Barley was just about to jump then it was a minute later before Butterscotch jumped.

Getting ready to jump down

I will keep the shavings deep where the girls land. I am so glad that we have done this as it must be a lot easier for the girls.

I have been taking photos each evening since we put in the higher perches to monitor how the girls were getting on with them.

The third evening with the new perches

The pattern seems set

Honey seems to favour the spot by the window. Once Butterscotch comes in she goes to the top and usually Toffee and Speckles drop down to the old perch.

As it is getting light later in the morning I have been in the run before the girls come out of the shed and over the last couple of mornings I have realised things were not as I expected.

I imagined the girls rushing to get through the pop hole as soon as it opened but when I went in the girls were still on the perches and the pop hole was open.

On the first morning I hooked back the door of the shed as I do each morning when I poop pick. The automatic door was open (it may have only just opened) but all the girls were still up on the perches.

One by one they came to a position in front of the door and flew out over the patio and into the garden part of the run.

They all came out except for Butterscotch who seemed agitated and didn’t appear to know how to get down.

Butterscotch can’t seem to work out how to get down

She was clucking loudly and seemed unsure how to get to the lower level

Butterscotch looked about to jump

She made it the lower perch like the rest of the girls and then also flew over the patio into the garden part of the run.

This quite unsettled me as I had always assumed that the girls just came down the ladder in the same way as they went up. I wondered if this behaviour was simply because the door was open and it was the quickest way down. It worried me though that Butterscotch was struggling to find her way down to the lower perch.

Another result of the higher perch was that once again Butterscotch had missed laying for a day then laid her egg at first light as usual. Because she was on the new higher perch her egg didn’t a stand a chance and lay broken beneath the perch.

I decided to take photos in the evening again and then to go out once more at first light but this time to watch the girls from inside the shed with the door shut so that I could see how they get down from the perches.

All the girls are on the top perch while Butterscotch has her extra half an hour out in the run

I thought that with no room for Butterscotch on the top perch it may at least stop her going so high. No such luck.

Butterscotch is now on top and Toffee and Emerald have been forced down to the old perch

There she was back on the top perch once more. Now it was a matter of seeing what happened in the morning.

I went in this morning before the girls were out. The automatic door was once more open but none of the girls were out. In the old coop the girls used to squeeze under the door as it opened.

I went inside and closed the door then crouched in the corner under the perch so that I was out of the girls way but could observe them. It was quite light from the window and the open pop door.

I had always assumed the girls would quickly come down the ladder and had imagined them behind the pop door waiting for it to open.

I was horrified by how difficult it was for them to get down. They didn’t use the ladder at all. They one by one took up a position in front of the door and took their time weighing up how to judge the jump down. They each dropped into the small space between the nest box and the bottom of the ladder. They landed with a thump and loose feathers flying. They then made their way round the ladder and out the pop door.

They were all down except Butterscotch who once more appeared to be struggling and agitated.

I couldn’t bear it any more and opened the door, hooked it back and stood out of her way. She once more flew over the patio and out into the garden part of the run.

I had no idea the girls didn’t use the ladder and wasn’t happy at all that they came down this way. I had to work out a better way and quick. I worried they could hurt themselves like this.

For a start I could see that the nest box must be moved as it’s in their way and making their landing spot smaller and more hazardous. I decided to thicken up the layer of shavings to soften their landing. Most important of all I felt the perches needed to be lower so that their jump down was much smaller, easier and safer.

The chicken shed before the changes

They were landing in the small gap between the nest box on the left and the ladder on the right.

The chicken shed as it is now after the changes

When I think about it in the wild they would roost in the top of trees but they would fly down. I think when first getting them used to the new shed they needed the perches high to encourage them to use them. I just hope that now they are used to going in the shed they will accept the lower perches.

The nest box is now in a new position behind the ladder on the right of the photo.

I will take photos again this evening and watch them jump down in the morning and then post again.

The round table under the big bush is one of the girls’ favourite places to hang out. There are usually one or two girls on it and sometimes four or five. But when it rains this table gets wet and is then avoided.

This is the only time that the girls hang out on the wooden table instead. There is usually, only occasionally, one girl on the wooden table. For some reason it just isn’t as popular as the other table until it’s a wet day. This table stays dry.

Our favourite table is wet so we will just have to hang out on here instead

Five girls on the wooden table

Speckles doesn’t get to share the dry table

Poor Speckles is bottom girl and isn’t allowed on either table at the same time as any of the other girls. She is often on either table when it is empty though. She has found a small dry edge to cling to. It doesn’t look very comfortable. I know someone has to be bottom girl but I do feel sorry for Speckles.

Every night there is a battle to see who can get on the high perches and who gets stuck on the top rung of the ladder. We hear a lot of clunking about and then usually a squawk and then either Toffee, Emerald or Speckles will come running out of the chicken shed.

Butterscotch has remained in the habit of going in last. She will wander around the run for up to half an hour after the other girls have gone in.

No one wants to end up on the top rung of the ladder. Occasionally all eight will make it to the top perch but usually it is Toffee, Butterscotch or Speckles that ends up on the top rung of the ladder looking a bit dejected.

This battle was a nightly occurrence with much protest and changing places before the girls settled for the night. We wondered if another high perch would help the situation.

There weren’t many options of where to put another perch as we needed it to be where it wouldn’t restrict the ladder being lifted up and also not too close to the shed walls. We decided to put it across a corner.

New perch

Topaz and Emerald went straight to the new perch

Peaches joined them

It quickly became obvious that all the girls now wanted to be on this new perch. My husband suggested that we put another one up in the opposite corner to give them more choice. I encouraged the girls back out with some corn while we put up another perch.

Two new perches

Honey finds the new perch

Four girls on the new perches

Five girls on the new perches

Butterscotch joins them

Speckles is out on her own

six girls on the new perches

Butterscotch makes it up to higher perch.

The final line up

We feel this is successful as although there is some changing of positions there was no squawking and girls coming back out. The highest perches are obviously the most sought after perches. This perch system is very similar to the arrangement we used to have over the patio area before we had the new chicken shed.

On the second evening the girls quite quickly took their places and once again there were six girls on the new perches. Toffee and Speckles ended up on the original perches so it is the same bottom girls that get left with the lower position but at least it is a step up from the ladder.

The second night with six girls on the new perches

Butterscotch had to go to bed with her punk hair do

Someone will always end up lower down but the bedtime routine is much quicker and smoother now so I think they like this change. It also shows that given the choice they want to perch as high as possible.

It’s been raining all day today. Half the run stays properly dry and half the run gets wet from rain coming in at the sides and dripping in from above in a few spots.

All the girls managed to stay dry except for Butterscotch. She must have spent some time standing under a drip because she looked a mess. Her usually bouffant hair style looked more like a punk rocker. Her feathered feet were muddy. She looked ridiculous.

Butterscotch

A punk hair style and muddy feet

What do think of my hair do?

My good side

what are you looking at?

My not so good side

I was a bit concerned for her but my husband pointed out that I couldn’t follow her around with an umbrella. All the other girls managed to stay dry so why is it the one with the fluffiest hair do that insists on standing under a drip!

She has no idea how ridiculous she looks but I can’t imagine it can feel very nice either. I hope she learns to stay out from under the drips in future.

We had a few lettuce in the garden and I decided to give them to the girls as I thought that if I didn’t use them soon there may be a frost and then they would be ruined.

I gave them half of them yesterday and the other half this morning. Yesterday I took a few photos and the lettuce was gone in a matter of moments.

Some lettuce for the girls

They make short work of the lettuce

It was gone in no time

I think we can safely say they enjoyed the lettuce.

Most of the girls are not looking bad now that they are nearly through their moult. Honey though, was the last to begin her moult and she is looking the most shabby of all.

Poor little Honey

She has an almost bare face

Her neck is full of quills

She does look a bit of a sight

Honey seems to look worse this year than I ever remember her looking so I looked back at how she looked last year. It was then that I realised that it’s because it’s the first year she has moulted from being fully feathered. Last year was after we had had the plucking problem and her head and neck had been plucked bare. Therefore there were no feathers to fall out and I could see the pin feathers emerging as tiny dots to start with. They seemed to take forever to grow back in.

This year the pins have been coming through as the neck feathers have been dropping out so the pin feathers are much more advanced. It looks messy but is a good thing as they will soon open out into lovely new feathers and she will be back to normal more quickly.

My friend Jackie gave me a bag of autumn leaves for the girls as well as bag of greens from the allotment for them. Yesterday afternoon I tipped the autumn leaves in the run for them to scratch through.

As always they approached with caution at first but soon started scratching, pecking and spreading them around. The leaves entertained them all afternoon right up until bedtime.

Toffee and Barley were the first to approach the leaves

Butterscotch, Emerald and Honey also investigate

Toffee and Honey soon have the leaves spread around

Toffee and Honey remained interested even after the leaves had been spread around

Before bedtime the girls have a last scratch in the leaves

They have now spread the leaves over the entire run

What a lot of fun can be had from a bag of leaves. The girls say “Thank you Jackie”.

On 28th July of this year I added Butterscotch and Speckles to my flock. Speckles started her moult within days of being with us and her tail promptly fell out.

Because of this I delayed adding the new girls to the page “Meet the flock”. I have been waiting for Speckles to grow her tail back so that I could get a good, true photo of her. Now she has finally got her tail back to it’s former glory I have updated the pages “Meet the flock” and “Some information about my bantam breeds”.

I felt that “The history of the flock” was getting rather long so I have now called it “The history of the flock part one” and have added a new page called “The history of the flock part two“. This continues the history from the point at which I added Butterscotch and Speckles to the flock.

Below are the photos that I have used on these updated pages.

Butterscotch

Speckles

At last my blog is all up to date.

I decided to get rid off the apple tree in the chicken run. The run was built around the existing apple tree but since the tree has been in the run it has never produced any apples as the weld mesh puts the bees off from coming in to pollinate it.

I have to prune it back every year to keep it below the height of the roof of the run. It’s leaves get covered in dust as it’s in the girl’s dry dust bath area. It gets strange unpleasant insects on it each year. I have to pick up the dead leaves as they fall and the girl’s have to swerve round it when they fly from the patio.

There are lots of big shrubs in the run and the apple tree serves no purpose so there seemed no point in keeping it.

The apple tree

Part gone

Almost gone

Last bit

The girls rush over to investigate

They are very interested

I think the girls approve

A job well done

The girls were fascinated by the stump and saw dust. They rushed over to look at it and peck at it.

I think this is definitely an improvement and it allows a lot more light in the run. I think the girls like it too.