Carol's Chickens

Mid morning I went in the girl’s run and saw about six feathers from Butterscotch. Uh oh! It looked as if she was going into the moult. By lunch time there was a pile of her feathers in the run. She is definitely moulting. Later after I had picked up all the feathers I saw her preening under the table surrounded by a circle of feathers.

It’s official, Butterscotch is moulting. This means that there will be no more eggs until spring. A little later Honey had one of her own feathers stuck to her foot. She must have walked in something, lost a feather and was walking around with it stuck to her foot. I crept up behind her and removed it.

This means she is the last of the flock to start her moult. I have never had eight girls moulting before because last year Peaches and Barley didn’t moult as it was their first year. This means it is the first year that I will have no eggs over the winter. Oh well, it had to happen eventually!

On a more positive note Honey seems to be looking happier so perhaps it was the impending moult that was making her feel a bit off her game.

I decided to put the rest of the turf in the run as it was beginning to turn a bit yellow. I rolled it out like a rug in the furthest part of the run and the girls have been enjoying it all day. At lunch time it had many of Butterscotch’s feathers on it.

The rest of the turf

Speckles and Butterscotch are enjoying the grass

A fluffy bottom

Butterscotch has such a fluffy bottom. She has taken over from Sparkle with the fluffiest bottom in the flock. Maybe not for much longer, depending on how her moult goes, but the girls will all look beautiful again once they have their lovely new feathers.

Today we went to the garden centre as we needed a few plants to fill a few boring patches in the garden. They had turfs reduced to a pound as they had had them a week so we bought one for the girls, bargain!

I put a few squares in the run and waited to see how long it would be before Butterscotch and Speckles tried them as they hadn’t seen them before.

The old girls went straight to the turfs

While the girls were occupied with the turfs Speckles eats some apple in peace

Speckles has the apple to herself

Speckles and Butterscotch try some grass

Speckles gets a chance at the grass and Peaches is caught mid scratch

Butterscotch tries the grass

The new girls soon got the hang of it. While we were putting in the plants we had an audience, as usual, waiting to see if we were going to turn up any worms. While the girls were distracted waiting for any possible worms, Speckles had the turf to herself.

I have noticed she uses this tactic a lot. She bides her time then gets whatever is on offer without the competition.

Another weird thing has happened with the pecking order. We have seen Speckles, who is at the bottom, chase Toffee away. Yet Toffee chases Emerald, Peaches and Barley and they never contest her. Emerald, Peaches and Barley all chase Speckles and she runs.

The pecking order is no longer a clear line like it used to be. I think Toffee is a timid girl but because Emerald, Peaches and Barley have always been below her, she has kept her position above them as they just accept it and don’t try to contest it. If they did maybe the order would change but they seem to accept that it’s always been this way.

Speckles who is below Emerald, Peaches and Barley, must have sensed the timid nature in Toffee and although Toffee is twice Speckles size, Speckles chases her off and Toffee runs from her.

So now, bare with me, we have Topaz firmly in first place and no other girl would dare to dispute that. We have Honey in second place and no one disputes that either.

Then it gets a bit odd because Butterscotch is above Toffee, Emerald and Speckles but below Peaches and Barley, who will chase her.

Toffee is above Emerald, Peaches and Barley but will be chased and back away from Butterscotch and Speckles.

Emerald, Peaches and Barley remain below Toffee but Emerald is only above Peaches, Barley and Speckles and she chases Speckles with no mercy to show that she is staying above her. Toffee will chase Emerald and then in turn Emerald will chase Speckles (pay it down again!).

Then Speckles who appeared afraid of her own shadow and firmly at the bottom has managed to have Toffee below her.

I have always seen a straight forward pecking order before and this is weird. You could say that instead of feeling so sorry for bottom girl, at least she has one girl below her. She seems really nervous but has worked out that she can get at the treats while the other girls are otherwise occupied and she does make it to the top perch each evening even though there is a bit of jostling and she ends up in one corner or another and she now definitely has Toffee running from her.

The flock also seem as one now whereas before they seemed to be the old flock and the two new girls. Now in the afternoons they all chill together and when I go up they all run to me together. They are one flock but with their own odd pecking order.

Other news is that Topaz started her moult a few days ago and just like last year I am finding piles of feathers in the chicken shed in the morning and in the run during the day. She doesn’t actually look any different and yet there are so many feathers you would expect her to be bare.

Only Honey is yet to start the moult (and Butterscotch who I assume won’t moult this year) and she continues to snooze a fair bit during the day but is as normal otherwise.

So picking up more feathers than poop has become the norm and all is good with a united flock that has it’s own peculiar pecking order.

My girls love nothing more than a patch of sun. Honey loves to sit in the sun while the rest of the girls love to dust bath in the sun while sticking close to Honey.

A patch of sun

Speckles makes a dust bath next to Honey and has to get the soil just right

After the pecking comes the scratching

Meanwhile on the other side of the divider Peaches and Toffee take a dust bath while Barley looks on

Toffee takes over Peaches hole

Emerald inspects Speckles hole

Honey and Peaches do their impression of dying chickens

Any one who didn’t know chickens would think there was something wrong with these two girls. They contort their bodies in the sun and have a mad glazed look in their eyes. We know, though, that this is shear pleasure.

Where ever there is a patch of sun the girls will find it.

I have been keeping a close and worried eye on Honey. She is snoozing an awful lot but otherwise is still doing all the usual chicken things. She feeds, poops, scratches, runs to the treats and perches on the top rung at bedtime.

Yet she can be found for a big proportion of the day dozing. I really do think she is feeling her age.

I did more research into the lifespan of chickens and the lifespan of bantams. I had read up and researched chickens before starting chicken keeping and had concluded that they could live up to twelve years.

Now that I have researched more intently it seems that although that is possible it is usually unlikely. Quite a few people that have kept chickens for twenty years said that the theoretical lifespan is twelve to thirteen years but that in their experience the average lifespan is five years.

I tried to find the average lifespan of bantam vorwerks but couldn’t pin that one down however I found information that gave bantam pekins a lifespan of four to five years.

The surprising difference between breeds was that game bantams came out the longest with a lifespan of ten to twelve years.

There were some stories of people having a hen for fifteen years and even a bantam hen for thirteen years but there were many others that had bantams for only three to five years. I have had to rethink my expectations and am now thinking that Honey may indeed be getting old for her breed.

Since she has been snoozing a lot Speckles can often be found by her side. Sometimes Butterscotch will sit near her too and Peaches and Barley often appear to be watching over her.

Speckles is still very wary of the camera though and when I tried to capture her sat next to Honey she was so fast to sprint away that she was just a streak. I thought it so typical of her that I decided to include it.

Speckles is a streak

Peaches, Barley and Honey

Barley watches over Honey

These five are often together

These four are even more often together

As she isn’t showing any other sign of illness other than snoozing a lot I think it must be her age although I shall keep an eye on her.

I would be interested to hear what age are your longest lived girls and what average age your girls live to.

There seems to be an end of summer feel to the flock at the moment. None of the girls are laying, they are all either moulting or about to moult and they seem to spend a lot of time chilling together.

Very much a united flock

Eight girls chilling together

Speckles stays close to Honey

Speckles can often be found sitting next to Honey and sometimes Butterscotch, Speckles and Honey sit together. Honey seems to like hanging out with the new girls.

Honey never bothered Speckles as she was no threat to her position in the pecking order. She did used to go after Butterscotch as she wanted to show her that she wasn’t going to move her from her number two spot. It seems though, that the lesson has been learned and now it’s okay to hang out together. Honey no longer bothers Butterscotch and seems to like hanging out with the new girls.

Lately Honey has been spending a lot more time sleeping during the day, sometimes with her head under her wing, sometimes just dozing in a patch of sun. It struck me that she is beginning to feel her age.

Honey will soon be three years old and has had three summers of egg laying. I researched the average lifespan of bantam hens and most people seem to think that it’s about four to six years which would mean that Honey is getting old. She is still fast to the treats and likes to scratch and run around with a worm but she is definitely looking older and dozing much more.

Honey is looking older

There are exceptions with some chickens living up to twelve years or more and some breeds living longer than others. I read that game birds live longer than most breeds so that is good to know. Since losing Amber I have grown more fond of Honey as my only older girl. I really hope she has some more years in her yet as I would to hate to lose her.

As I have been finding it so easy to lift Butterscotch from the nest box and as she has no longer been showing any stress when she can’t get back in I increased the amount of times I lifted her out yesterday to five times and I kept her out for longer each time. The last time I took her out it was only an hour before the bedtime treats so I left the coops closed.

She did briefly go and perch on the top rung of the ladder in the chicken shed but she was back out in the run before I went in to give the bedtime sunflower hearts.

Today I had no deliveries to do so decided to spend some time in with the girls. I lifted Butterscotch out mid morning and closed the coops. I then dug over the run and found the girls some worms. This also leaves the earth loose so that they can scratch and there was an added bonus of a bit of sun too. Butterscotch seemed quite happy out in the run and was scratching and preening.

I then swept the patio area and cleaned the food and water bowls. By now it was nearly lunch time and Butterscotch still seemed happy. She no longer went and sat near the nest box. I decided to leave the coops shut as none of the girls are laying at the moment and I thought it would be good for Butterscotch to stay out in the run.

I checked on her frequently and she seemed to be back as part of the flock again. It was so nice to see her joining in.

Honey and Speckles seem to have become allies and I have found them sitting together a few times lately. This afternoon they were sat really close together in a patch of sun. Speckles was almost laying on Honey and they looked really sweet together.

Honey and Speckles

Butterscotch came and sat by them

It has been wet lately and the girls have looked miserable but today the sun brought them all together in the run which was so nice to see.

A close group of seven girls

They have a communal preening session

Butterscotch joins the flock

All eight girls together

This was so lovely to see. Every time I went up to the girls Butterscotch ran to greet me with the rest of the flock. Every time I looked out of the window I could see her among the flock. It is the seventh day since she went broody so I feel really pleased at how quickly this has progressed.

Apart from quietly clucking to herself she seems back to normal. I am going to keep the coops closed for now and see how she is tomorrow. I think we might just be through it.

I promise I won’t record every day but I am still learning about having a different type of broody from the perpetual broody Topaz.

We had some over ripe strawberries today so I gave them to the girls. They didn’t seem at all interested in them until I got Butterscotch out for a quick feed. She seemed to like them.

Butterscotch likes the strawberries

I’m glad someone likes them

I got Butterscotch out again at lunch time. What I do is lift her out and put her on the patio. She stays in her totally flat broody state until I either give her a nudge or throw some treats in front of her.

Butterscotch is so flat

Then she is so round

Then she goes off and has some pellets

Followed by more strawberries

I am happy to see her eat anything at all and she tops up with water has a poop and a bit of a preen. She then goes back to the nest box clucking away to herself.

Butterscotch is a sweet broody in comparison to Topaz but I want to keep her healthy and although she is easy to manage I will be glad when she comes out the other side.

However although she has been sweet with me she does peck at any girl who gets too close to her so the broody anger isn’t too far away.

Yesterday was the fourth day of Butterscotch being broody and we have now got into an easy routine. She is so easy to pick up which makes the whole process that much calmer and easier.

If she isn’t out when I go in to the girls in the morning I lift her out and throw out the corn. I lift her at lunch time and close the little coops for an hour so that she has a proper feed and drink, poop and scratch.

I lift her again before five o’clock and close the coops again so she tops up before bedtime then she goes in to the chicken shed and roosts on the ladder.

She has become calm and the shouting only lasted for the first day. She now just clucks to herself.

Having just written my comparison post of the committed and non committed broody I thought I would update with a photo of Topaz looking so good with a really red comb and wattles. This is what you look like when you are healthy girl that doesn’t lay eggs.

A portrait of Topaz taken yesterday

She always has a bit of an angry gleam in her eye, it’s like she is asking why I have to shove a camera in her face.

When I have put Butterscotch out at lunch time I know when it’s time to let her back in again by her behaviour which has been exactly the same each day. If I didn’t shut the little coops she would have some water then go straight back in because she always heads back to the coop after a quick drink.

When she finds it shut she goes back to the apple, pellets and water and then goes into the run and poops and scratches for a bit. She repeats this a couple of times. Once she is in need of going back in she walks around the little coops and looks as if she is trying to work out where the door has gone.

If she can’t get in she will just sit down. I let her do this yesterday for the purpose of photographing her but will in future let her straight back in at this stage as I don’t want to cause her any stress.

Butterscotch is looking for the missing door

It’s got to be here somewhere

I’ll just sit here then

hurrah! I have found the door

I can get settled again

As soon as I open the door she finds it as if she has a sixth sense telling her it is open again. She was through the door so quick that the photo of her going in was the only shot that I managed to get.

Meanwhile the favourite spot for the rest of the girls in the afternoon is the table.

Group hang out

Topaz on this occasion is under the table (I am resisting an alcohol related comment here, you can supply your own!) but she is usually on the table too. It is a firm favourite for Topaz, Toffee, Emerald and Speckles. Butterscotch and Honey never bother with it and Peaches and Barley usually go for the perch next to it.

I think Butterscotch being heavier and less agile can’t be bothered and the same goes for Honey being an older girl. I have to say this table has been one of the things incorporated into the run that has proved most popular. Originally I put it there to shelter the bit of the run that gets the most wet when it rained but it soon proved to be such a favourite spot that I now wouldn’t dream of moving it.

And so we have a calm routine going and I think we will sail through Butterscotch being broody and will just wait it out until our super egg layer gets started again.

Last night after the bedtime corn, Butterscotch went to her usual roosting spot on the top rung of the ladder and stayed there this time.

This morning when I went out to the girls she was already in the little coop nest box. I lifted her out and sat her on the patio then threw out the morning hand full of corn. She ran to the corn then returned to the nest box.

Butterscotch is a committed broody unlike Topaz. The good thing is that she will probably lay well between bouts of being broody unlike Topaz who doesn’t lay beyond her first clutch of the year.

Butterscotch has already laid more eggs in three weeks than Topaz has laid in two years.

Anyone who keeps chickens will know all about hens going broody. Jackie recently sent me a link that someone had sent her about broody hens. He called it ” Broody hens, the ultimate guide with sixty one common questions answered” and described it as detailed information in six thousand words! Phew!

I read it all … Heavy!! It didn’t tell me anything that I didn’t already know and it didn’t touch on the conundrum that is Topaz.

But I am just going to answer the question my mum asked me yesterday for other non chicken keepers like her. She asked me why a broody sits when there is no egg to sit on.

It is a surge of hormones that causes a hen to go broody. To be successful in hatching eggs the hen must be committed (unlike Topaz) and the instinct must be strong.

There is no thought process to this. Butterscotch doesn’t wonder where her eggs are. If she was capable of thinking the process through she would know that even if there were any eggs, after a night roosting on the top rung of the ladder, her non existent eggs would now be cold and therefore could not hatch. She would also be able to suss out that yesterday when I closed the coops and she couldn’t get back in, there was no point in sitting next to the coop instead because the non existent eggs were not outside the coop.

There is no such logic from a hen she is just programmed to sit and sit to give any potential eggs the best chance of hatching.

I can’t believe that this summer I briefly considered giving Topaz away. My reasoning behind this was that she often seems angry while being perpetually broody and she may be more fulfilled if she had the chance to sit on some eggs. But unlike Butterscotch (who would probably make a great mum) Topaz doesn’t commit. She will sit on any of the girls eggs until I remove them then she will give up. She will sit in the nest box until she hears me come through the gate at lunch time. She knows I bring some fruit at this time so she leaves the nest box to peck at the treats and forgets about being broody.

Topaz would probably be a terrible mum. Like people some hens are really good mums, some manage it okay and some are not so good at it. I realised that Topaz is my unique girl and belongs here with her flock and it wouldn’t be the right thing for her to go somewhere else. I just needed to figure it out.

I am stuck with, I mean that in the nicest possible way, a hen that doesn’t lay eggs despite being in the peak of health but she is probably as happy a hen as she can be. This is the way life is for Topaz.

So there you have it, two different type of broodies. Many chicken keepers have broody hens like Butterscotch but I still have yet to come across anyone else who has a girl like Topaz. If any one does have a “Topaz” I would be interested to hear from you.

Today we made some new nest boxes for the chicken shed from some wooden wine boxes that we had.

A wooden wine box

Butterscotch was in the nest box in her trance like broody state so I picked her up and tried her in the wine box to see if it was big enough.

I tried Butterscotch in it for size

She allowed me to pick her up and put her in the wine box then pick her up again and return her to the nest box without moving a muscle.

We set about adapting the wine boxes

One of the new nest boxes

The other new nest box

We put one each side of the shed because we didn’t want them under the perch or ladder where they would get pooped on but we didn’t want them to restrict the ladder being lifted up for cleaning either.

I tried butterscotch in the new nest box

As butterscotch was so easy to move I decided to try her in the new box. I shut the shed door and to my surprise she stayed put in the new box. At lunch time she came out on her own.

I closed the little coop nest boxes so that she would stay out for a bit and she actually stayed out for an hour, eating, drinking, pooped, scratched and preened. She then walked all round the little coop nest boxes as if trying to work out where the door had gone. Finally she sat down next to the little coop nest box so I opened them up again and she went straight in. I didn’t want to stress her.

We decided the new nest boxes needed a bit of wood on their front to make the girls feel secure.

A little improvment

And the other one

The girls came in to investigate.

Honey takes a look

Peaches takes a look

Peaches did jump into the new nest box but she had jumped back out again before I managed to click the camera.

I am not sure that this will help with Butterscotch at the moment but I think it will help in the spring and it will give the girls plenty of time to get used to the new boxes. Also I think Butterscotch being my biggest girl, followed by Toffee and Topaz, may find the new boxes a bit small but I think the rest of the girls will fit in them easily and Peaches and Barley have already laid an egg each in the shed before now so they may take to the new boxes.

I will tempt Butterscotch out of the nest box with sunflower seeds again tonight at five o’clock and then close the little coop nest boxes. That way she can either roost on the ladder or go in one of the new boxes. I will report back tomorrow to update on how this works out.