Carol's Chickens

Late afternoon I checked in on the girls and found Honey in the penguin position. I recognised this from Amber’s egg laying problems but Honey has never had a problem with her eggs. She had laid yesterday and generally lays every other day and sometimes two or three days in a row and all with good hard shells.

Honey had her wings down and a concentrated look on her face. The next thing I saw was egg white dripping out from her vent. I was alarmed as I thought this meant an egg had broken inside her and that would be a very bad thing.

I called my husband and we both watched her and we could see that she was straining. Then her egg dropped out and I picked it up quickly before the other girls descended on it.

I was relieved to see that it was complete but with a small tear in it which was where the white was leaking out and it was soft shelled. This is the first time Honey has ever laid a soft shelled egg. I don’t know why this should be as nothing has changed with their diet.

Tomorrow the girls will be back on mash with limestone flour and cod liver oil and I will be keeping their egg shells to dry and crush and add to future mash.

I hope this is just a one off.

Amber meanwhile still has a very swollen face and isn’t laying (which is a good thing) but other than that she is completely her normal self. She seems brighter than she was at first and is eager and fast to the treats, is eating, drinking and pooping normally, is scratching, dust bathing and pecking at the lower ranking girls. I think this means she is feeling better but I think her face will take time to get back to normal and I am not even sure if it will get back to normal.

It feels very solid and the farmer said it is possible that it could burst. Amber is impossible to pick up other than at bedtime or in the nest box (which she is not going to at the moment). She hates being handled and I don’t think it would therefore be possible to take her to a vet. I have shown her photo to the vet and the farmers and they agreed that I was doing the right thing for her.

I have researched and some with a similar swelling had it lanced by a vet but it just filled up again. The general opinion seems to be if the hen is fine in herself to leave her be so we are going to wait and see how she goes. At the moment she seems happy but it just looks awful. She wouldn’t win any beauty prizes.

Meanwhile all the other girls are fine and the chicks seem settled in their new home. They are scratching, dust bathing and sitting in the sun in their favourite spot on top of the hatch. They are eating and drinking and chirping and are just so cute.

There always seems to be something else around the next corner to challenge us.

My husband fitted a perch for Peaches and Barley to roost on at bedtime. When I spent time with them before bedtime it soon became obvious that this wasn’t going to work. They hadn’t discovered the new perch but more to the point that wasn’t where they wanted to roost.

As soon as the main flock settled on their high perch the chicks started to franticly try to join them. They would fly at the wire and cling on really high up. They were also putting their head through the wire which worried me. At ground level I had doubled the wire to stop this happening but didn’t think I would need to do this up here.

We wondered if they were missing their mum or if they thought she was on the other side.

I quickly improvised and made a perch from bamboo canes which I attached with wire at the height they were getting too. I would never have thought that such little chicks could get so high.

The chicks soon got the hang of jumping on the coop roof and then up to their new perch.

Before bedtime Peaches and Barley on my makeshift perch

I then attached three bin bags to the outside of the wire to form a curtain. This meant they couldn’t see the other girls and they couldn’t put their head through the wire.

I left them to settle and returned after dark. At first I couldn’t see them but then realised that they were above the perch in the plant pots. They had settled on the two highest plant pots. They were easy to lift from the pots to the coop and then I took the “curtain” down.

I am happy for them to roost in the plant pots and thought that now they had discovered a bedtime spot they would return here the next night.

Last night I tied the bin bag curtain to the wire before bedtime. I returned at the time that the girls usually settle into their bedtime positions. The main flock were all in their usual spots.

Peaches and Barley were settled on their plant pots and were chirping happily and preening. I felt pleased that they were happily settled without any stress this time. I easily lifted them down to put them in the coop.

I am happy with their chosen bedtime position as long as they are happy. Sometimes the girls dictate what they want rather doing what we expect them to but that’s okay as long as they are happy and safe.

I let the chicks out at quarter to five this morning

The one of the left is the biggest of the two and is also the top girl of these two as she lightly pecks the other one if she gets in her way. I have decided the bigger girl is Peaches and the little one is Barley. I don’t know how I will tell them apart if Barley catches up but maybe their personalities will show by then.

Honey and Amber were identical when little but as they grew up they became more and more different.

Topaz had a brief look at them through the wire

They soon found the food

Peaches and Barley explore

Last night at the same time as the main flock settled into their usual positions Peaches and Barley also realised it was time to settle for bedtime. Instead of going into the coop though they got very agitated and started flying at the top of the dog crate.

I realised that they must be used to perching at bedtime and were looking for the highest spot. For their safety I put my arm into the dog crate causing them to run into the little coop and then I shut them in.

I removed the dog crate and set up the feeding station for the morning.

Peaches and Barley find somewhere to perch

Quite often through out the day Peaches and Barley would be perching on the top of the hatch between the two runs. I had to take this through the wire because as soon as I open the gate they jump down.

I realise that after last night they may not go into the little coop to bed so I needed another plan.

My husband has now put up another perch just above where they are sitting in the photo above. I hope that if they choose to roost on top of the hatch or on the perch above the hatch I can wait until after dark then lift them down and put them in the little coop.

The other thing that may be causing this is that although there are four perches in the main coop there are no perches in the little coops (they are only used for integrations and extra nest boxes) so I have now put a temporary perch in their little coop. It’s only a narrow cling film box but it may do the job for now. Of course they would have to go into the little coop first to see it but if they perch outside they may find it when I put them in.

We will have to wait until tonight to see what happens but I am sure we can work round it. I am used to lifting sleepy girls down into the coop.

They seem very settled in their new home and have been scratching around, feeding, drinking, sitting in the sun or sitting on top of the hatch.

The main flock haven’t taken any notice of them at all and I am very pleased with how it is going so far. They are very cute and very beautiful.

Yesterday I made my weekly phone call to the farm in Amersham (where I got Honey and Amber two years ago) to see how the baby bantam brown leghorns were coming along.

It was good news. Their mum was now fed up with them and they were fully feathered. They were ready to leave home at any time.

I arranged to collect them at five o’clock today. The reason for collecting them late in the day is because I intend to do what I have done before and keep them in the dog crate up against their little coop so that they know where to go to bed at dusk and I didn’t want them to be confined to such a small temporary run all day.

Once they are in bed I will remove the dog crate and at five o’clock the next morning I will let them out into their separated area.

Yesterday I dug over the run and cleaned and swept everything ready for the arrival of the new girls. I put fresh pine shavings in their little coop and I separated their area in readiness. I also have chick crumbs ready for them.

Today it has been raining and it reminded me how little dry area there is in the separated area when raining because the coop and feeding station take up most of the dry part and water drips onto the area between the bush and the gate.

I said to my husband that I was going to try to find something to put in this area for the new girls to shelter under when it’s raining. He then remembered that we had a little round, metal, bistro table in the shed that we once used on our patio but have since replaced it with a square wooden table. It’s a good job my husband never throws anything away.

I installed it next to the bush at an angle so that the water runs off into the bush. This will make a perfect shelter as it is positioned just where the water drips in. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.

New rain shelter

We arrived back home with our new girls at six o’clock. They are so tiny that we transported them in a pet carrier. I persuaded them out of the pet carrier and into the dog crate and they ran straight into the coop.

I am staying with my theme of descriptive names and because of the colour of their breasts I have decided to call them Peaches and Barley. Which one is which will take a bit of time to sort out.

Peaches and Barley

Peaches and Barley are six weeks old and so beautiful. I returned a little later.

They have found the food

I think they are going to settle in fine. I will try to get better photos tomorrow.

As this has progressed we have had a re-think. It seems more likely that perhaps Amber has scratched her face, maybe flown into the wire or maybe been stung and the infection has perhaps stopped her laying her egg.

We are thinking this because it seems unlikely that a broken egg would effect her face so quickly and looking on the internet it seems other hens with a swollen face were thought to have an infection.

The good news is that after the first day of bright yellow poops there have been no more. Amber seems almost back to normal, eating, drinking, pooping, preening, just with a terribly swollen face. She is also very quiet.

I called into the vets today with a photograph of her and Honey together for comparison. The vet was in theatre but the nurse took the photo to him. They agreed it looked like an infection. I asked if I could use a human antiseptic such as savlon or something similar. The nurse said yes as there isn’t a chicken version but use with caution as it’s not tested and don’t get it in her eyes (obviously).

We decided to apply it at bedtime when she would be docile. I am feeling much more positive now. Amber is a fighter, a tough little cookie.

This was her with her poor little face while soaking up the sun this afternoon.

Amber in the sun

We checked in on the girls at eight o’clock and they were already settled in their bedtime positions so we decided it would be better to treat Amber sooner rather than later.

I lifted her from the perch and held her securely while my husband held her head and applied the cream carefully, stroking it downwards away from her eyes.

I put her down and gave her a few sunflower hearts as a reward. My husband said the swelling felt as hard as bone.

I stayed with the girls for a while as they milled around and re-settled again on the high perch. Before Amber went back to the perch she was chatting which was the first time I had heard her do that all day. I think this is a good sign that she is beginning to feel better.

Emerald tried to join the girls on the high perch but it was Amber that chased her away and she then settled as usual on the shoe box. Perhaps this why she is never on the high perch, as bottom girl she isn’t allowed and Amber must be feeling better to be able to see her off.

We will keep applying the antiseptic cream before bedtime for the next few days and see if it has any effect. I don’t hold out too much hope that it will do much good but do hope that given time her face will return to normal. She does seem better in herself so we can only hope she recovers from this.

It always seems that which ever next box is chosen by the first girl that wants to lay then that nest box is the one most desirable to all the girls. There are three nest boxes yet when three girls want to lay at about the same time then all three of them want THAT nest box.

Sparkle goes into her chosen nest box and Toffee wants to get in there too.

Toffee watches Sparkle in the nest box

Toffee decides to join Sparkle in the nest box

Honey comes over and watches them in the nest box

We all want this nest box

Toffee and Sparkle share the nest box

The odd thing was that after Sparkle laid her egg in here Toffee lost interest in this nest box and went and laid her egg in the nest box in the main coop. Shortly after that Honey also laid her egg in the nest box in the main coop.

It appears that a nest box is most desirable when another girl is using it. Who knows what goes on their little chicken brains!

Poor little Amber has had an egg laying problem right from the start of her egg laying and she has gradually got worse. She laid for three months, June, July and August then had five months of not laying while she moulted. During that time she was healthy.

She started laying again in February and was still struggling to lay and laying soft shelled eggs no matter how much limestone flour, cod liver oil and crushed egg shells I gave her.

Recently she has been laying every four days and looking unwell the day before. We had noticed that she was now snoozing a lot during the day with her head under her wing and I felt after five months of laying she was getting worse.

Seven days ago she had looked unwell all afternoon and while we were watching her she kept closing one eye. My husband said he thought she was straining. Then right in front of me she laid her egg. I picked it up and it was like rubber and could be squeezed. We were always relieved at each egg she managed to pass and always fearful of an egg breaking inside her.

Amber returned to her normal self until four days later when her next egg was due. She looked unwell as usual and I expected to find an egg in the nest box the next morning. There was no egg and she still looked unwell and I saw her pass a bright yellow poop which is not a good sign.

As the day went on she was snoozing a lot with her head under her wing. Throughout the day I found three bright yellow poops. I did wonder if it was egg at first but it was definitely poop.

By the afternoon my husband said he thought her face was changing. A few hours later when I next checked on her I was shocked to see that her face had really swollen. We began to think that her egg must have broken inside and wondered if this was some sort of poisoning.

Amber’s swollen face

Amber’s face is puffy between her eye and her beak

Honey’s face is flat

I took this one of them together for comparison

Amber spends a lot of time like this

We really feel her time is coming to an end. We have always known this would happen at some stage. We have had her for fourteen months and she is about two years old now and has always been smaller than Honey.

We talked at length about what to do next and I cried for her. We decided that we would let nature take its course if we could. I would rather she went in the coop with her flock mates than at a vets. We decided we would only have her put to sleep if she was suffering. We didn’t feel she could take the stress of going to a vet and felt that she was too far gone for medication.

She still made it to the high perch last night and I went out at half past five this morning half expecting her to have passed away in the night.

She was still there and ran eagerly to the morning corn. She is eating, drinking and pooping. She is eager for treats and then spends time snoozing with her head under her wing.

Amber still runs to the morning corn

It’s been difficult to know what to for the best but from my research we think we think this is right for her. I read on a blog of something similar and the hen was treated and made a short recovery but died a month later. I know that whatever we tried to do would stress her and the problem would return with her next egg.

I have also read on the same blog that as long as a hen is eating, drinking and pooping then they can be left alone as they still have quality of life. When they stop doing these things it’s kindest to end their suffering.

Before Treacle died she had given up and spent her time standing behind a bush or by the water. She wouldn’t eat anything at all even her favourite treats. I knew it was her time.

Amber still runs to the treats eagerly, she is still eating pellets. She is snoozing and isn’t showing any sign of distress. She used to make a sad sound when trying to lay her eggs but isn’t making this sound.

We feel that as long as she seems happy we will let nature take its course but if she becomes distressed we will have her put to sleep. I really hope she goes in the coop with her flock mates. No one is bothering her and the girls especially Honey come to sit with her.

I suspect that when her next egg comes that may see her off. In the meantime I am going to give all the treats she loves so that her time is as happy as it can be.

I gave the girls mash this morning with finely chopped tomato which Amber tucked into. This afternoon the girls had yogurt.

Amber enjoying some yogurt

We will take it one day at a time and see how she goes on.

The bedtime line up is exactly the same each night since Topaz  joined the girls on the high perch four nights ago. last night I went in to the girls an hour before dusk and was surprised that they were already in their bedtime positions.

The bedtime line up on the high perch

From left to right is Amber, Honey, Topaz then Toffee.

Sparkle and Emerald in their bedtime positions

Sparkle is always on the top of the store cabinet and Emerald is always on top of my shoe box.

When I went back just after dusk to lift the girls down into the coop they were all in exactly the same positions. They are such creatures of habit.

At long last Topaz laid her first egg yesterday. We have now had Topaz and Sparkle for three months and Sparkle laid an egg on her first day with us. Topaz has been practising for ages and the farmer we got her from was surprised when we last talked that she hadn’t laid yet.

Yesterday Sparkle and Honey laid and Topaz spent ages in the nest box. Whenever I checked on her she didn’t run out shouting like she usually does. She was also doing a lot of scratching around in the nest box.

Later when I checked there was her first egg, rounder and slightly larger than Sparkle’s egg. I was right about her coming of age. Two nights ago she started roosting with the older girls and now she has laid an egg. Well done Topaz.

Then today Toffee laid her first egg with us. I can’t claim it’s her first egg because she had been brooding on eggs for the farmer and he said it would take about three weeks before she started laying again. We have had the new girls exactly three weeks today and right on time Toffee has laid her first egg for us. She behaved just the same as Emerald and was in each of the nest boxes in turn all afternoon and scratching around all the time then went quiet for a bit and got her egg laid. Well done Toffee.

Hurrah, we have now had an egg from all six of our girls. It will be interesting to see when Toffee lays again as Emerald laid three weeks ago on her second day with us but has not shown any interest in the nest boxes since. I am not sure that the game birds are very good at egg laying but I am happy as long as my flock is happy and it’s very settled at the moment.

There isn’t really an appropriate photo for the egg laying as all the girls eggs look much the same these days so instead I thought I would celebrate with a couple of updated photos of the veg plot. As the girl’s extended run is on the original veg plot (and I am very glad to give them the extra space) here is an update on the new veg plot which is coming along nicely.

The new veg plot

It’s looking good

I am actually finding it much more convenient to have the veg plot nearer to the house as it is easier for watering and weeding. We have had four courgettes so far and nothing else is ready yet but there are flowers on the potatoes and broad beans are forming. It won’t be long before we are picking veg from the garden.

I should have known that the girls would immediately set about stripping the new plants of their leaves. The tall one is tall enough to be safe but the other two shrubs were quickly becoming bare.

It’s not pretty but this was all the chicken net I had left so I cobbled up some protection as best as I could.

Plant protection

I made a sort of tent out of the chicken net. It’s not great but it’s the best I could do with what I had. They may peck through the net but once they have taken what they can reach the rest will be protected.

I hope these shrubs grow quite quickly.