Carol's Chickens

We still had a mornings work to do again today but after that I was determined to finish getting the veg planted.

The new veg plot is planted

On the left are broad beans and peas. I have now dug up the onions that I had already planted in the old plot and put them down the edge of the path on the left.

I dug up the potatoes and have planted them on the right side of the right half. Next is purple sprouting broccoli then next to path are leeks which are tiny at the moment.

The view beyond the veg plot

The new veg plot from the other direction

The next thing I did was plant the runner beans in the strip of the veg plot that we are keeping (where I had dug the potatoes out from).

The runner beans are in

In the space at the end of this row of beans I am going to plant chard for the girls. I then dug over the ground that will become the chicken run making sure there was nothing harmful for the girls. I dug out any self seeded potatoes as they are poisonous to chickens.

I then dug out buckets of top soil and put it in the existing run for the girls to scratch through. They had a great time scratching and finding bugs and worms.

New soil for the girls

You can also see from this photo that when the veg plot becomes part of the run it will double their garden area. They will love having all that space with fresh soil to scratch in. I can’t wait for it to get started.

Today we had two functions to deliver so didn’t get back home until late afternoon.

The first thing I did was check on the girls and I found part of Amber’s egg shell in the run. The same thing happened the day before yesterday. Her eggs seem to catch her out and as the shells are so thin it breaks and gets eaten.

The good news is that at least she is passing them and she bounces back to normal once she has laid. On both occasions I knew it was Amber’s egg for many reasons. Honey had already laid on both days. I have actually seen Amber lay her egg in the run in the past. The shell is fragile and lastly she bounces back to her normal self.

The next thing we did was set to work on the new veg plot. It is quite time consuming because all the plants needed to be relocated. My husband dug out while I replanted. Some plants have gone into the garden and some into pots on the patio. The remaining thyme and any worms went to the girls.

My husband also laid a path through the middle as we walk through here all the time plus will need to be able to get to the veg. We felt really pleased with today’s progress especially as we had so little time.

The new veg plot is completed and just needs planting.

It was now time to get our Sunday roast on so we decided this was enough for today. Tomorrow I will dig up the potatoes and onions from the old veg plot and replant them in the new veg plot. We will also plant the purple sprouting broccoli and the leaks. We will then plant the runner beans in the remaining strip of the old veg plot.

There are also a few shrubs (more like trees really which just self seeded) that have got too tall for their position in the garden so I intend trying to dig these out and plant them in the new chicken run. Being tall they may survive the girls and at least they won’t have cost anything.

It’s been a productive weekend considering we had work to do too and I am looking forward to getting the veg planting finished tomorrow.

Yesterday we had quite a lot of work to do as we have two functions this weekend. A bank holiday weekend doesn’t always mean time off for us. We worked all morning and part of the afternoon.

As soon as we were done we were itching to get started on the new veg plot. As always these things are never straight forward and the first corner my husband started digging over revealed some buried brickwork. It looked like a former cesspit or well. It was very well built and went very deep. He broke up and removed enough of it to get a planting depth of soil over it.

My husband removed all the plants then added some topsoil with compost from the original veg plot and raked it over.

Progress

He took a well earned breather, it had been harder work than expected.

The new veg plot is started

An hour later and the first half is planted. We decided to do it a bit at a time to spread the hard work. The plants that have come out have been relocated and the thyme has gone in the chicken run for the girls to scratch through.

In the mean time Amber was looking really poorly again. She used to only lay one or two eggs a week but now seems to be laying every other day and this means she is feeling unwell more often. Each time she seems worse than before and each time I get scared we are going to lose her or I am going to have to make a difficult decision.

Amber looks so poorly

It breaks my heart to see her like this. As always though it seems she gets weak really quickly because once she feels poorly she stops eating. Once again I hand fed her some chopped grapes and sunflower seeds. I also found some worms from the new veg patch and dropped some in front of her.

Amber ate the worms and soon seemed to perk up and join in with scratching through the thyme.

The thyme goes in the chicken run

Topaz and Amber scratching and pecking through the thyme

Amber seems to quickly improve once she eats something and by bedtime she seemed better than earlier.

This morning I put two dishes of mash in to make sure Amber eats and she went straight to it and tucked in. I don’t know how much longer she can go on like this but we feel that it isn’t her time to go just yet and we can’t do any more for her than we are doing. I feel that I will know when it’s her time but just keep hoping she will get a reprieve. Amber is such a lovely little character and is a real fighter. I am willing her on with all my heart.

For some time now I have been concerned that our chicken run isn’t big enough for our girls. We think it is big enough for the bantys but not for the two big girls and I worry that this may contribute to the feather plucking.

When we added the two new girls Topaz quickly moved up to top hen. This seemed to stress Dotty as while she was number two in the pecking order behind Pepper she had had the easiest position. She had never had to peck to maintain top position but she had never had any hen peck her either. She enjoyed being Pepper’s second in command and chicken life was easy for her.

Suddenly Dotty found herself receiving warning pecks if she got in Topaz’s way. She reacted by sneaking up behind the girls and pulling feathers from their bottoms. She would do it to all the girls and I was constantly telling her “no” and moving her away.

This went on for a few weeks then suddenly over the last few days I have found feathers in the run again. They were a mix of all the girls feathers but Amber was the most targeted. Amber now has a bare neck and feathers missing from the side of her head.

Poor Amber is looking awful

I have wondered if the stress of this is what is causing her to struggle with her egg laying again although she has had a problem with egg laying right from the start.

Honey also has her neck plucked

It breaks my heart to see this. These two little girls look worse now than they did last summer. I have also picked up feathers from the new girls.

I feel the girls need more space and if they have more space it would also be possible to separate the big girls from the little girls to try to break this habit.

I discussed it with my husband and was surprised when he said he had already been thinking about it.  We have quite a big garden but had slotted the chicken run in behind the veg plot as it was already situated in it’s current position. We started thinking of other positions it could go.

We used to have a thyme lawn next to our patio. In the past I have been successful with a thyme lawn but this one has never worked. I think the thyme doesn’t like our chalky soil.

Last year I put low plants in the gaps to try to improve it but it now just looks a muddle. It just doesn’t work and is neither a lawn or a bed. We have been trying to come up with ideas of what to do with it for some time.

Now we have the perfect spot for a new veg plot. It gets more sun then the current veg plot so should do well and the veg plot gets more sun than the current chicken run at this time of the year so that would be good for the girls too.

This will become the veg plot

View from the other direction

The box on the table contains the veg we had already bought to plant this weekend. This will go on hold for now. We have runner beans, broad beans, purple sprouting broccoli, peas and leeks. I have already planted tomatoes and courgettes in pots on the patio.

View of the whole garden

We have also already planted potatoes and onions in the veg plot so they will have to be dug up again.

The veg plot will become the extension to the run

My husband rang the guy who built our run two years ago and he came round today to measure up and give us a quote.

We were thinking of using the three strips near the path and leaving the last strip for tall veg such as runner beans. We explained that we would need the run to be set back a bit from the path to allow us to carry crates up the path.

We have our crockery for our catering business stored in the large shed at the top of the garden.

Our guy suggested it would be better to leave the strip next to the path for veg giving us elbow room next to the path and use the next three strips. He said that as the sleepers were well bedded in from years of walking on, they would make the ideal framework for the run. We will put the weld mesh underneath to stop anything digging in. He will make a doorway from the existing run into the new area. This will double the size of the run.

Our guy will start work as soon as he gets a free day or two. I am feeling quite excited about this project.

The run will be doubled in size

The area beyond the run up to the end of the blue net will all become run. I plan to plant some tough plants like rosemary and to put in perches. We can reinstate the ladder that used to be in the run and add logs and maybe even a platform giving another level. The options are endless.

I think this will really improve the quality of life for my girls and I may be able to break the feather pulling habit although I know that won’t be easy. I know the girls will love the extra space though and I can’t wait for work to begin.

I visited Jackie and her flock today then bought her to mine to visit my flock. We like to do the visiting each others chickens and trying to do any problem solving along the way, which I will come back to later.

Blossom is looking so happy as part of Jackie’s flock and is getting her feathers back.

Blossom sat on the log

The girls love their tyre, we may get our girls one

Blossom is looking good

Blossom and top girl, Clover

Blossom’s feathers are coming back in

I talked to her calling her “girlie” as I don’t want to confuse names and all my chooks get called “girlie”. She came up close and I felt sure she still recognised my voice but she is a happy part of Jackie’s flock and I am so happy to see her so settled and loved.

We talked about the fact that my girls have started pulling feathers again and we both felt that being contained and lack of space was probably a contributing factor and my husband agreed.

My husband and I talked about ways of making the run bigger and discussed extending it into the veg plot. We thought of taking two thirds of the veg plot to extend the run and using what used to be the thyme lawn, but had lost it’s way and has not worked since, as an extra veg plot.

I will take photos and explore this in another post but for today I want to conclude that Blossom is so much happier with her new flock and is looking really good.

More about the plans for the run extension soon.

After Amber struggled with her last egg she only had one day of being back to normal before she looked ill again. I felt really disappointed and am wondering if whatever is wrong with her egg laying is getting worse.

I am so afraid of losing her. She looked ill and wobbly again so once again I hand fed her chopped grapes and sunflower hearts. It was late afternoon so not long until bedtime.

When I went in at dusk Pepper, Dotty and Honey were on the coop roof and Sparkle was on the top of the store cabinet which seems to have become her preferred bedtime position. I peeked in the coop and Amber was in the nest box with Topaz. I think she probably wasn’t strong enough to get on to the coop roof and I was glad she had gone into the nest box. Amber and Topaz seem to have formed a bit of an alliance.

In the morning I put two dishes of mash in the run with some crushed egg shells added. I felt that the mash would be easier for Amber to eat and that keeping her eating helps to keep her strength up.

Some mash to encourage Amber to eat

The two new girls didn’t show any interest in the mash and were preening in the background. They then put their heads under their wings for a snooze and looked like two balls. They are younger (Topaz hasn’t started laying yet) and still snooze a lot more than the other girls.

Sparkle and Topaz

By late afternoon Amber managed to lay her egg and bounced back again. I have noticed that since she has been feeling ill again before laying, her eggs have a vertical stripe around them. It is very faint and is brown but I wonder if it could be blood and could be part of what her problem is. I photographed her last two eggs but it is very faint.

Amber’s last two eggs

You can just see the start of the line at the top of the left hand egg and and again towards the bottom of the right hand egg. It’s a faint broken line. I feel sure this has something to do with her problem.

If anyone has any ideas please leave me a comment. I really want to help Amber but don’t know what else I can do for her. I keep hoping that she will get better but sadly she seems to be getting worse.

In between eggs she is absolutely fine and over winter when she wasn’t laying she was happy and healthy. She also had a few weeks recently where it seemed the problem had gone away for a while. It’s a shame she can’t just stop laying. I am willing her to get past this.

Topaz likes to get up into the apple tree. All the girls have at some stage got into the apple tree but they sit on the lower branches. Topaz likes climb up into the flimsy higher branches so she can eat the leaves. Dotty waits underneath in case any leaves come down.

Topaz likes to get up into the apple tree

Topaz

Topaz just about to jump down from the apple tree

When I tried to get a close up she decided to jump down.

A few days ago she was on a flimsy branch and it broke but she just flew down.

This is her new favourite past time at the moment.

I decided it was time to update my “Meet the Flock” page as we have had new girls now for three weeks.

They have settled in really well but I am observing the behaviour of the flock and have realised that it takes time for them to actually form friendships. Chickens have so much character and personality which is why chicken owners love their girls so much.

The new girls have established their place in the pecking order and there are no squabbles but they keep themselves to themselves and haven’t yet formed friendships with the other girls or any attachment to me. This all takes time.

I could very much see this behaviour this morning when I put two dishes of mash in the run. Pepper, Dotty, Honey and Amber ate the mash while the new girls stayed away. Topaz wandered off into the garden part of the run with no interest in it at all. Sparkle would come towards it but then lose courage and not get any closer.

What was interesting to me though was how comfortable the old four are together. Amber would be eating mash next to Pepper and Pepper would give her the quick peck that doesn’t actually connect but just reminds Amber that Pepper is above her. Amber would take no notice of it at all and continue to eat the mash next to her completely at ease with her.

It is as if Amber is saying that she knows her place and is quite happy with it. Whereas when Bluebell was here she would move the little girls constantly from dish to dish. Now the four old girls eat from either dish regardless of which girl is next to them and the little girls accept the warning “almost peck” and carry on.

Two dishes of mash

This is as close as Sparkle gets

Honey and Dotty are sharing a dish in the foreground and Pepper and Amber are sharing a dish in the background. Behind them is Sparkle and that is the closest she came to the dish and yet she is not in awe of Amber or Honey and will peck them away if they get too close to her. But even when Amber and Honey were sharing one dish Sparkle still didn’t come any closer.

Sparkle can’t pluck up the courage to come any closer than this

The two little girls now share a dish but still Sparkle doesn’t join in.

When I went back a little later Pepper was sitting on the wooden block and Honey was tucked in by her side. Seeing them so close made me realise again how comfortable they are with each other.

Topaz and Sparkle don’t yet seek out the company of the other girls. They keep themselves to themselves and just wander about doing their own thing.

The same thing applies to their relationship with me. They haven’t yet formed any bond with me. I know all the girls come running when treats are on offer but Pepper and Dotty will jump on my back or shoulder frequently. Honey and Amber will follow me and if I crouch down they will run to me. If I am cleaning the coop they go inside to watch me and chatter to me.

The new girls are not bothered by me being close to them but they don’t come to me either. It has made me realise how the whole thing of building the relationship between the girls and also between the girls and me takes time.

My husband said the other day that the new girls didn’t have the lovely character of the other little girls and I know that what he really means is that you don’t see it when they are not at all attached to you. It is much easier to feel a fondness for them when that affection is returned but it has to be earned first.

I find this all very interesting. A year ago when we got Honey and Amber they were very skittish and wouldn’t let me get any where near them. I remember saying that they may never be as attached to me as the older girls and yet now they are every bit as attached to me. My husband doesn’t spend as much time with them as me but they are used to him and comfortable with being close to him.

It is something that can’t be rushed and takes time to develop. I am sure in a years time the new girls will be as comfortable with their flock mates and with us as the older girls are. It is lovely seeing the bonding gradually take place.

To read the updates to the meet the flock page click here: Meet the Flock.

I had really hoped that Amber was past her egg laying problem. After Bluebell went to Jackie’s flock Amber laid every other day for ten days. She then missed three days and laid again, missed another three days and looked ill again.

Amber is not looking at all well

It breaks my heart to see Amber looking like this

Poor Amber

I felt quite tearful to see her like this. She looked worse than she ever had before and I really thought we might lose her this time. My husband pointed out that the reason I wanted to add two more bantams to the flock was because we were worried we may lose Amber and I didn’t want Honey to be the only banty in with big girls. Even so I had really hoped that Amber had got past this.

We have always felt that there is something adrift with her egg laying as she has been like this from the start of laying, last summer. It always follows the exact same pattern. She looks really unwell and miserable then two days later she lays her egg which is sometimes  soft shelled.

I give her limestone flour and crushed egg shells but this still happens to her every now and again.

It was heartbreaking as Amber still ran to me when I went in but she wobbled. What I think happens is that she feels unwell so she stops eating and being so small she very quickly gets weak. I hand fed her some chopped grapes and sunflower seeds as she was too slow to compete with the other girls. She ate them and within half an hour she had perked up again. I think the food really gives her a boost.

I gave the girls mash the next morning (with limestone flour) to make sure that Amber was still eating. She seemed better but not quite her usual self.

This morning I expected to find her egg as it was two days later and she seemed back to herself again. There was no egg in the nest box or coop but when I poop picked the run I found what looked like a bit of congealed egg yolk. I think she must have laid a soft shelled egg and it had been eaten.

I gave the girls some scrambled egg this morning with limestone flour added and Amber tucked in as usual. The crisis has passed once again.

Amber looks much better as she tucks into some scrambled egg

I know that it takes between twenty four and twenty six hours for an egg to start it’s journey and reach the point of being laid. Amber always starts to look really ill forty eight hours before laying her egg. I just can’t understand what it is that makes her feel so unwell before the egg has even started it’s journey.

I do fear that Amber may not live a long life but in between these episodes she is perfectly normal. She is such a lovely little character and I keep hoping she will grow out of this but sadly that seems unlikely. I always feel so helpless but hand feeding her does seem to keep her strength up.

The girls tuck into the scrambled egg except for Sparkle who is off to the nest box

Amber has a beak full of scrambled egg

Sparkle never shows any interest in what I put in the white dishes. She pecks at apple and grapes and greens but doesn’t seem to want to get involved with the bustle around the dishes. Sparkle seems to be a bit of a loner, she is a quiet girl with a mild temperament and keeps herself to herself.

I really hope Amber will be okay now but I think in our hearts we know that this will probably keep recurring.

I have to add a footnote to this post. I was wrong about the soft shelled egg. Perhaps it was a bit of squashed corn I found not egg yolk. I just went to give the girls their afternoon apple and Amber was missing so I looked in the nest box. As luck would have it just at that moment she stood up and there was her warm, damp, egg. The shell is normal so it makes it even more difficult to know why she has such a struggle with it.

She is now happily pecking at apple and looking back to normal.

This afternoon five girls were enjoying a lovely dust bathing session.

Five girls dust bathing

Having a lovely time

Amber is not with them because she wants to lay her egg.

Amber wants to lay her egg but can’t decide which nest box to use

This morning Honey was in the nest box when Sparkle wanted to lay. Sparkle eventually went and laid her egg in the little coop on the right. This is the first time she has even looked in there so I am quite pleased as now she knows she can lay in there it should make it easier in future.

Shortly after this both Dotty and Pepper wanted to lay at the same time. They were both shouting about it. Dotty took possession of the coop on the right and for the first time Pepper went in the coop on the left. She deemed it unsuitable and after going in it a couple of times she rejected it and continued to shout her displeasure.

I checked back a little later and both Dotty’s and Pepper’s eggs were side by side in the coop on the right.

I wondered if they don’t like the other coop because of the way it faces perhaps making it too light. I decided to turn it so now the two coops are back to back and the ramp now faces the fence. You can see the new position in the photo above with Amber.

It remains to be seen if this will work. At the moment we have five girls laying as Topaz hasn’t started yet. I feel when we have six girls laying we will need all three nest boxes to be in use.

My husband says even if we had six nest boxes they would still all fight over one. It will be interesting to see how long it is before any of the girls lays in the new one.