Carol's Chickens

We extended the girl’s run in the spring and fitted panels over the top so that they could be closed against rain but opened to allow the sun in. During the summer when it rained the panels leaked between the joins and rain blew in through the sides but it dried out again during the better weather so stayed dry most of the time.

We have been disappointed to find that during this winter the new part of the run has become completely wet and it no longer dries out between wet days. During heavy rain it has puddles and although I dig the run over at least once a week the soil is claggy and heavy and the girls constantly have muddy feet.

I had hoped that extending the run would give the girls more dry area during the winter but that has proved not to be the case and I have been getting fed up of all the mud.

Today we decided to put a tarpaulin over the top of the entire extended area to see if it keeps most of the area dry. It was inexpensive and we will take it off for the summer. My only concern was that as it’s not available in clear, it will make the run a little dark. We decided to try it for a few weeks and see how it goes.

I know that the run will take some time to dry out but I am hoping that this will help and although rain will still blow in I hope the middle area will stay dry.

Tarpaulin over the extended part of the run

It doesn’t look attractive but will only be there for a few months.

View of tarpaulin from the original part of the run

Tarpaulin from inside the extended part of the run

It was a dull and foggy day so I think it will be better during brighter days. The girls didn’t seem to mind the new look and spent as much time in this part of the run as usual.

We also made another change to the bedtime perches. Since we had put up a new bedtime perch, this had become a success, with the girls using the new perch each night. Honey likes the left hand side of the new perch and Emerald likes the right hand side of the new perch.

What I did find though was that the big perch was no longer used at all. I think that now there is more choice of perch space the girls favour the slimmer perches as they are easier for them grip (as bantam girls have little feet) and the big perch is now redundant.

We decided to replace the big perch with a slimmer one to match the rest.

A new slimmer perch on the left

This worked a treat and tonight three girls used the newest perch.

Bedtime line up

Amber is on the chair. Honey is almost hidden but is behind Peaches and Barley on the left hand side of the previous new perch. Peaches, Barley and Sparkle are on the newest perch (replacing the big perch). Topaz and Toffee are on the right hand perch and Emerald is on the right hand side of the previous new perch.

Closer shot of seven girls

To get Emerald in shot I couldn’t get too close so this shows the other seven in their positions.

It’s amazing how a simple change in the perches has made the bedtime routine so much easier. The girls all now find their spots on the perches quickly and easily without any hassle.

I think keeping the extended run area dry may be a trickier matter but only time will tell. At least the old part of the run is dry and gives them a good dust bath area but it would be great to have the girls with dry feet too.

It will be interesting to see how many eggs we get this year. I know that Honey is quite a good layer (97 eggs last year) and that Amber has always had a problem laying her eggs (35 eggs last year) and even when she does lay an egg it is usually broken and not able to be eaten by us.

I know that Sparkle is a really good layer (109 eggs since her arrival on 5th April) but Topaz is an unknown quantity (6 eggs from her arrival on 5th April). She was broody for three weeks and after laying one egg she started her moult so I don’t know if she will be prone to going broody or if she will hit her stride next year and start laying properly. That was a huge difference between these two girls.

I have no idea if the game girls will be good layers or constantly broody. They came to me  (on 11th June) after being broody for the farmer (he keeps them because they make good broodies for hatching eggs for the farm) and Emerald laid 1 egg and Toffee laid 6 eggs before they both started their moult.

The farmer needed them to go broody whereas I would try to discourage it but as I know from Topaz this year it isn’t always possible. So it will be a total surprise this year to see if they go broody a lot or if they lay well. I know that bantam game birds are not known for being good layers so we will see.

Peaches and Barley started laying in November at six months old and are quite good layers and may even improve in spring. In two months Peaches has laid 15 eggs and Barley has laid 18 eggs.

Altogether we had 286 eggs from the bantams last year but two girls came to me in April and four girls came to me in June so I would expect a higher number this year. It will be our first year with eight bantams from the start of the year it so will be interesting to see how they all do.

I am looking forward to seeing how the girls progress and to having more lovely eggs to eat. The only down side is that I dread Amber returning to egg laying again. You can never tell how things will go though as we had thought we were about to lose Amber so many times but she kept bouncing back. Every year I hope the next year will be easier on her. On the upside she isn’t being bullied and she does have all her feathers. She is now looking better than she has since we first had her.

Here’s to 2015 with happy chickens and lovely eggs and happy chicken keepers. Happy 2015 to every one.

As the year draws to a close I thought I would take a look back at the past year with our girls. It has been a year of drama and changes within the flock.

At the beginning of January last year we had three big girls, Pepper and Dotty (domoniques), Bluebell (chalkhill blue) and two little girls Honey and Amber (bantam vorwerks)

January

The feather plucking continued. It was heartbreaking seeing the girls go through their moult and growing back their feathers only to have them plucked out again. I had hoped that they would keep their feathers after the moult but knew from the previous year that it was unlikely and yet felt so disappointed and upset when it continued. This to me has been the worse ever problem with the flock and was spoiling my enjoyment of them.

The big girls were plucking the little girls heads and necks and also plucking each others heads, necks and bottoms. Bluebell also bullied the little girls.

February

All the girls started laying again after their moult. The next problem also continued with Amber laying soft shelled eggs again and struggling to lay them. The feather pulling and Amber’s problem laying, were both long standing problems, that I had tried to solve and failed.

March

I decided to add two more bantam girls to the flock in the hope that the balance between big girls and little girls would be better and may improve the problems amongst the flock.

April

I added two new bantams to the flock. Topaz a gold laced wyndotte and Sparkle a silver laced wyndotte. They were in the separate part of the run where they can all see each other but not get to each other.

From the first day Bluebell was a problem. She shouted non stop and Bluebell and Topaz pecked each others combs through the wire and both drew blood.

My good friend Jackie came to visit and I told her about the problems I was having and that I thought I may have made a terrible mistake as Bluebell may never except more little girls into the flock. Jackie said that Bluebell had always been her favourite and I was so fed up that I said that if she wanted her she could have her.

To my amazement she said that this may work for both of us and went home to run it by her husband. The next day I took Bluebell to Jackie and she started the integration process into her flock. Bluebell was re-named Blossom as Jackie already had a Bluebell.

Bluebell/Blossom settled really well into Jackie’s flock and Blossomed (hence her new name) while my flock settled with Topaz and Sparkle quickly joining the main flock and Topaz immediately establishing herself as new top girl.

May

The feather plucking continued with Sparkle having her bottom plucked bare. Topaz being top girl and formidable with it escaped the plucking apart from an occasional snatched feather. We decided to extend the run to try to resolve the problem.

There was another drama as I shut the gate one day and caught Honey’s eye (I hadn’t realised that she had put her head through the back of the gate) causing her eye to partially shut. I was horrified and we installed a child gate inside the main gate so that this sort of accident could never happen again. Luckily Honey bounced back and her eye healed really quickly.

June

I made the difficult decision to re-home Pepper and Dotty. Everything we tried didn’t stop the feather plucking. With the run extended we tried separating Pepper and Dotty during the day but they weren’t happy and Pepper constantly complained loudly every day. At bedtime she resumed plucking Amber and they also continued to pluck each other.

We re-homed Pepper and Dotty to a friend’s farm where they could free range with a large flock. We have visited them through out the year and they settled happily into their new flock and with more space they stopped plucking and regrew their feathers. It was the right decision for them and for my flock.

We then decided that with the extra space we had room to add more new girls.

We added two bantam game birds, Toffee and Emerald and they settled into the flock within a few days. This was our quickest ever integration.

We decided we had room for eight bantams so organised collecting two brown leghorns at the end of the month when the leghorns reached six weeks of age.

Another drama followed with Amber and Honey having a pecking order fight and Amber came off worse with a peck to her face causing it to swell up. Honey moved up the pecking order and it took a couple of months before Amber’s face gradually returned to normal.

At the end of the month we added Peaches and Barley and my flock of eight bantams was complete.

July

For the first time in two and a half years of chicken keeping we found worms shortly followed by red mite.

Honey had laid a soft shelled egg for the first time ever when I spotted a worm in her poop. I promptly set about worming the girls and found a few more worms then no more. At least that problem was easily solved unlike the red mite which proved more tricky.

I borrowed a plastic dog kennel from my friend Jackie (as a temporary coop for the girls) and we took our coop to bits and treated it repeatedly over the next month.

August

After returning from one night away for my eldest son’s wedding we found that Topaz had gone broody. She was an angry broody and I would move her from the nest box once a day to feed and poop while she fluffed herself up, shouted and growled and pecked at anyone who got near her.

September

After three weeks of being broody Topaz suddenly snapped out of it and a week later started to moult heavily.

Peaches and Barley developed a game of jumping on my back at any opportunity.

Emerald started gaping causing me to think she may have gape worm. I wormed the girls again. I noticed she wasn’t eating properly and was hand feeding her. I got some antibiotics from the vet and treated her with it while continuing to hand feed her and build her strength back up.

In hindsight I don’t think it was gape worm as it is rare and I never saw any worms. I think as she was moulting she may have swallowed a feather and scratched her throat. I continued to make sure she was eating and over the next couple of months she gradually returned to normal.

October

Peaches and Barley’s combs flopped in opposite directions meaning I could tell them apart at a glance.

We realised that rats were getting in the run and after securing any possible gaps and tightening the roof wire we discovered that they had chewed a hole through the fence behind the coop. Next door has decking up against the fence which makes a perfect home for rats. We blocked it and put down poison under our water barrel where nothing else can reach and we got rid of them.

I also found a very small patch of red mite in the coop (not again!) and started checking at first light and dusk each day and squashing any I found. This went on until December when I finally got rid of them completely after three months of my tedious, twice daily, routine.

November

Barley and Peaches started laying at six months of age.

We discovered another hole in the fence next to the coop. We blocked the hole only to find that overnight it had been extended. This time we needed to do something more permanent. We pinned chicken wire to the fence then nailed some thick planks to the fence in front of the wire. For good measure I stuffed chicken wire behind the planks to fill any gaps. We put out poison again and this time we haven’t seen any further sign of rats.

December

All the girls (except Peaches and Barley who are only in their first winter) have moulted and now are all fully feathered. It has been extra special to me this year to see them all with pristine feathers after the feather plucking problem.

Re-homing was the right decision as I now have a beautiful flock of eight bantam girls, all with lovely feathers and all getting along in harmony. I am so pleased with how my flock has developed and after a year, which was quite a journey for my flock, I look forward to a new year with a harmonious and happy flock.

It is so lovely when I go out to the run and find them all happily together. I thought I would end with some photos I took of them on Christmas Day.

Communal preening

A close group, Topaz is at the back behind toffee

Peaches is first to break from the group

From both of us and from our flock I would like to wish everyone a really Happy New Year.

I hope everyone has had a happy Christmas. I took some photos of the girls on Christmas Day but of course we are all too busy for blogging so I will put them out later.

The girls had scrambled egg and cooked sprouts for their Christmas Day treat which went down well. I found uncooked sprouts were too hard for them and ignored but when cooked, they all got eaten.

We have had a lovely time with family and had lovely gifts including some chicken themed gifts but I thought I would just put out one photo of the coffee mug my husband bought me which is now a favourite.

Christmas chicken mug

I think it is so pretty and the china is fine which makes it lovely to drink from.

I am sending everyone good wishes for the rest of the Christmas break and wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

Every morning at first light I poop pick the coop and like clockwork my little helpers join me. I wonder if it’s an age thing because last year Honey and Amber used to do this but they have now retired from the job and join the other girls mooching about the run.

Peaches and Barley at seven months old now have this job to do each morning. The routine is always the same. I start by cleaning the nest box then I remove it so that I can clean this side of the coop.

Peaches and Barley check out the nest box

Peaches and Barley always go straight to the nest box for an inspection. When I am ready to put the nest box back on I usually have to move them out of it first.

I then take the side panel off of the opposite end of the coop and proceed to clean there.

Peaches and Barley check out the coop

Has she missed a bit?

We can help her with this

How am I meant to see out from under this comb?

You can see by Barley’s open beak that there is always a running commentary going on.

A good job done we think

The entire time that I am cleaning up Peaches and Barley are helping me and chatting away to me. I say chatting, they actually squeak the whole time and I often call them “my squeaky girls”. It’s so sweet because I can feel their combs bobbing against my hands and I have to nudge their feet aside from time to time.

I am convinced that they think that I am doing the same thing that they are and it’s a shared mutual daily occupation. As soon as I put the side panel back on the coop they leave the coop and carry on with their day.

I will try not to keep going on about this but the extra bedtime perch has transformed the bedtime ritual from a bit of aggravation to an easy routine.

For now Toffee has decided that she wants the chair and this made Emerald vulnerable to being pushed away. Last night when Sparkle didn’t want her next to her on the perch Emerald stepped down to the new perch.

Emerald perches on the new perch

Emerald stayed there until the other girls had settled then stepped back up to the old perch. It seems that it’s while taking their places that the girls higher up the pecking order won’t tolerate the bottom girl close to them. Once they have settled down they become more tolerant.

Emerald moves back up to the old perch and is joined by Barley

Peaches manages to squeeze in next to Barley

I think the reason Peaches and Barley don’t have a problem is because they always perch up last when the other girls are settled. Emerald always goes to the perches first to try to secure a spot and gets moved around the most.

Now the extra perch has given a safe place to step on while the argy bargy is taking place and Emerald is no longer forced to the ground. A simple solution and a happier bedtime routine.

Once a week I dig the run over as it gets compacted. I am a bit disappointed that the newest part of the run doesn’t stay dry despite the panelled roof. Rain drips in and also blows in and although it is dry from above for the girls the soil is wet and compacts making it harder for me to poop pick and harder for the girls to scratch in.

Luckily the old part has a dry area under the tarpaulin which gives the girls plenty of space for dust baths.

Once a week I dig the run over and the girls follow me to see what goodies they might find. I feel like head hen with my little flock grouped around me following my every move.

Once the run is dug over the girls joyfully scratch together and it is so nice to see this.

All scratching together in the newly dug run

What do they find to peck at!

Scratching on both sides of the run

What are they finding!

I just love watching them scratch and peck, scratch and peck, scratch and peck again. It’s one of the things that chickens are really good at!

The new bedtime perch has really made choosing a bedtime position easier for the girls. Even though tonight none of the girls perched on it, it made the line up easier. It gives the girls somewhere else to step on to if they are moved along instead of being forced to drop down to the patio. Their positions got sorted out much more quickly and without any aggravation.

Honey at first went to the new perch like she did yesterday but then changed her mind. Amber checked out the other end of the new perch but then settled on the old perch.

Amber discovers the other end of the new perch

Toffee chose the chair once again. Peaches tried out the new perch.

Peaches checks out the new perch

Tonight’s final line up

They chose similar positions to last night except for Peaches and Barley who switched to the big perch. I think we can call this extra perch a success.

I’m not sure if it’s because the girls perch up earlier with the shorter days but lately finding their spot on the bedtime perches seems to have become a little more aggressive. During the day the flock stick close together with the colder weather and it’s heart warming to see them in various spots of the run in a tight group.

The pecking order is most noticeable during the day if any of the girls get in Topaz’s way either around the treats or during the pre bedtime scratching session. She leaves them in no doubt that she is top girl and not to be messed with.

When choosing the bedtime spot though the pecking order comes sharply into play. Topaz and Sparkle, first and second girls, will not tolerate any of the other girls too close to them and will chase Toffee and Emerald from the perch.

Honey and Amber, third and fourth girls, will also chase Toffee and Emerald away. Peaches and Barley being the youngest are always last to come to the perches, they spend longer pecking in the garden area, by which time the rest of the girls are settled and they don’t seem to have a problem finding a space and settling down.

Lately though I have seen Toffee and Emerald pushed from the perch and with a lot of wing flapping they land on the patio. This causes me to worry that they may get hurt so I decided we needed another perch. When I say pushed from the perch it’s not so much pushed really, Topaz will peck at them or peck at their legs and they move along the perch until there is nowhere left to go then drop down from the perch. I always wonder why they can’t just peck back but they never do, it’s not in their nature, or their pecking order status to do so.

Emerald being bottom girl apart from the two youngsters often used to sit on my little chair which hangs behind the perches. Lately though Amber has taken to sitting on the chair first and will not allow Emerald to get on it. This has caused more of a problem with Emerald getting pushed out. The last few nights Amber hasn’t bothered with the chair and Toffee has taken to sitting there instead.

This afternoon we put up a third perch. I felt that a little extra space would help the girls to find a spot with less aggravation.

A new bedtime perch

The new perch is of course the clean, pale one. I wondered how long it would take the girls to find it.

Toffee used the new perch to make her way to the little chair

Toffee was soon settled on the chair

Honey soon found the new perch and settled there

Honey is on the new perch, Topaz on the big perch and Sparkle and Amber on the right hand perch

Emerald settled further along the right hand perch and Peaches and Barley inspected the new perch

Final positions

Peaches and Barley finaly settled next to Emerald. From the left we have Toffee on the chair, then Honey on the new perch, Topaz on the bigger perch, then on the right hand perch we have Sparkle, then Amber, Emerald, Barley and Peaches. No girls got pushed down from the perches tonight and they all settled with less fuss. I think even if like tonight only one girl makes use of the new perch it will still help them to settle easier.

You would think they would have learned by now that all this hassle on the perches is a waste of time really because as soon as it is almost dark I go out and lift them all down one by one and pop them in the coop for the night. I put a torch in the coop so that they can all settle in position then I remove the torch and close the door.

It makes no difference though, the girls still go through this routine of finding their spot each night on the perches but I think the new perch will make it a little better for them.

Just over a year ago we decided to add a vintage crockery hire to our catering business. We had fun collecting the crockery from antique shops and fairs and charity shops and I keep a book of what we have, what we spent and what we have made from hiring it.

We now have enough crockery to cater for up to a hundred and forty and in a year it has paid for itself so from now on we are in profit. It is never going to make a huge amount but anything it does make is a bonus and we enjoy hiring it out.

Yesterday we did a small hire of the vintage crockery and were asked if we had any festive crockery. I said that we had one trio which my eldest son Steve and his wife gave me as one of my Christmas gifts last year. I said we would include it in the hire and was quite pleased to give it an outing.

Today after I had collected back the crockery and washed it up I decided that the festive trio should be included in my Christmas decorations.

Festive vintage trio incorporated into my Christmas decorations

My festive trio filled with baubles

I felt quite pleased that we can enjoy this gift over the Christmas period and that it has had an outing too.