Carol's Chickens

Before I begin I thought I would put out an up to date portrait of each of the girls in the order of their pecking order.

Pepper

Dotty

Bluebell

Amber

Honey

Last February my girls started feather pulling. At the time I put it down to the stress of losing Treacle who had been top hen. We had to have her put to sleep after being very ill for three weeks and having completely stopped eating no matter what we tried.

I tried everything to stop this behaviour, anti peck sprays, telling off and water spraying when I saw it happening, boredom busters in the run, added protein, nothing worked.

I couldn’t separate them as they were all doing it and it seemed to be a bonding activity that they enjoyed. They would pull out each others feathers while in the dust bath.

All the girls had bare necks and heads except top hen Pepper who had a bare behind instead.

The girls moulted in the winter and at last got their feathers back again. I was so pleased to have them fully feathered again.

About the same time of year, this year, two of the big girls were getting their necks plucked again. I started to notice on other blogs and forums some similar behaviour. On “Hen Cam” Terry had noticed this behaviour in her hens and like mine it wasn’t bullying. She called it “preening gone haywire” which is exactly what I felt it was with my girls. Terry felt the same as I do with my girls, that although we don’t like it, they aren’t bothered by it and we have to just leave them to it. That is if there is no blood or injury of course.

Today I have noticed several posts on the “Down The Lane” forum saying they are experiencing this too. I wondered why it is starting at this time of year and then had a light bulb moment. This is the time of year the hens start laying again.

My two little bantys started sparring with each other just before they started laying both in the summer and again recently after their moult. They would fly at each with their neck feathers raised, despite usually being really close. It only happened twice each time then they settled back happily together. I concluded that it must be hormones to do with coming into lay again

Could it be the same thing that sparks the feather pecking?

I have also noticed that since coming back into lay Pepper has been a little more aggressive towards the bantys. Whereas she was tolerant of them before it is as if she needs to remind them of their place with a swift peck now and then.

I discussed my theory about the feather pulling with my eldest son last night (he used to keep chickens) and he suggested it may not be coming into lay that effects the feather pulling but rather the moult itself. He said that maybe when they moult they stop pulling feathers as the feathers are falling out and then when all the feathers are back in they resume the behaviour.

I thought he may have a point but then I realised that the girls have been fully feathered for a while now. The bantys were through the moult and fully feathered by November and the big girls by December so there has been a four month gap of no feather pulling.

The other difference this time round is that the bantys haven’t had any feathers pulled yet. I wonder if it’s because they are mature now and move away. I really hope this is the case because I would hate to see them plucked again. At the moment it is just Bluebell and Dotty that are missing some neck feathers and it doesn’t seem to be getting any worse for now.

I would love it not to get worse but I know that only time will tell.

This is just a theory on my part but it does seem a coincidence. I wonder what others think. I would love your opinions.

The link to “Hen Cam” and “Down The Lane” is on my side bar.

Yesterday as it was such a nice day my husband and I went for a walk. Last weekend when we went for a walk I didn’t take my camera and afterwards wished I had, so yesterday I made sure I had my camera with me.

Last weekend we saw that about a quarter of the huge old horse chestnut tree on our village green had come down in the recent storms. There was a huge pile of debris and the local children were climbing in it. When I passed it the next day most of it had been sawn into logs and taken away. Before I could go back with my camera it had all gone. It had very quickly and efficiently been cleared away and my chance to photograph it was lost.

We decided to go through the fields then the woods before dropping back down to the village green.

A tree is down in the field near where we live

This is a huge old tree

It’s completely rotten inside

It’s also been eaten away by something

It was a pretty big tree

The woodland floor is strewn with fallen branches

This fallen tree fills this driveway

I took this from the bank opposite which is why there are wires in the foreground.

This was the best shot I could get from the road as the sunlight was dazzling

The old horse chestnut tree on the green has lost a quarter of it’s branches

This photo doesn’t show how much of the tree fell as it was removed so quickly but the pile of debris reached as high as the break in the branch.

The cellar of the pub on the green has been flooded for many weeks

The water is constantly being pumped out into the road

We are very lucky compared to some parts of the country that have had their homes flooded but even we have water laying on the ground that will take a long time to go and lot’s of tree damage. Luckily I feel the trees that have come down are old and it’s natures way of thinning the woodland and the rotting trees will break down and complete the woodland cycle of life.

I just wanted to make a bit of a record of recent events to look back on. Even our little neck of the woods has it’s own local drama.

We seem to get one very welcome day each weekend when there is a break in the rain and we have blue sky and sunshine.

Today it made the garden feel springlike.

A patch of crocus opens in the sunshine

A bed of snowdrops

These hellebores look good against the brick work

This one seeded itself

The girls get a dandelion

Pepper and Dotty share the dandelion

Amber’s head feathers are looking better this morning as she gets her own bit of the dandelion

I am really pleased to see that Amber’s feathers had been pooped on and not plucked out. Her head feathers look almost back to normal today with only a little bit of feather still sticking out a tiny bit.

Both the girls and I are enjoying this bit of spring.

I was shocked when I went into the girls this afternoon and immediately noticed that Amber looked as if she had a bare patch on her head.

My first thought was that she had had a bunch of feathers plucked out. I felt shocked and worried.

Amber looks like she has a bare patch on her head

I opened up the nest box knowing that this always draws her in to see what I am up to. I could then take a few photos and pick her up to assess any possible injury.

Amber’s poor head

There was no blood, I then gently stroked the feathers and they were stiff. They felt like they were glued together. I think that perhaps she was under the garden branch perch when she got pooped upon. I felt relieved as this is not a permanent problem. I toyed with the idea of trying to clean her up but as it had been a cold day with a frosty start, I wasn’t sure this was a good idea.

By late afternoon her head feathers seemed to look more normal. I decided to let nature take it’s course.

It seems sometimes that the girl’s throw a potential worry at me and by the end of the day it resolves itself. Maybe I need to be a bit more chilled!

An egg from each girl laying at the moment

Okay, this may just look like another photo of some eggs, but this is special. The egg on the left is Pepper’s, the next is Bluebell’s, the next is Honey’s and the egg on the right, wait for it, is Amber’s. Hurrah, she has laid a normal shelled egg and in the nest box too!

After finding two of Ambers’s soft shelled eggs in the doorway of the coop I have had the girls on limestone flour. This afternoon I went up to the girls and Amber was missing. When I checked I found her in the nest box. I quietly retreated as I didn’t want to draw attention to her and have Bluebell chase her out. I hoped this was a good sign that a normal shelled egg was on it’s way.

I checked a couple of times to see if she had returned to the run. The next time I checked she came running to greet me so I went in and opened up the nest box with bated breath. There was a perfect little egg with a hard shell.

I can’t tell you how pleased I am. I think the little girls have finally got the hang of this egg laying lark. Both little girls laid for four and a half months in the summer and for a lot of that time they would look quite ill and miserable before laying each egg. Amber looked miserable for a longer period of time than Honey and I was actually quite relieved when they started to moult and stopped laying.

Both little girls started laying again two weeks ago and have both shown no sign of being miserable this time. Amber, like before, laid two soft shelled eggs though. I now hope this means that laying eggs will be normal for them, as it should be.

Only Dotty isn’t laying and I am not sure why she has stopped but she looks happy and healthy so I’m not worried. Dotty started laying after her moult for one month then stopped again one month ago. It is odd but she is her usual self with a red comb and a good appetite so I am not going to worry.

This morning Pepper, Bluebell and Honey all seemed to want to lay an egg. Pepper always takes her time and was in and out of the little coop. Bluebell then went into the little coop and Pepper was strutting around shouting. She wanted to be in there and refused to back down and go into the other nest box.

Meanwhile Honey kept hovering by the little coop too. She couldn’t go in there because Bluebell would never let her so there was a lot of shouting. I had go out so had to leave them to it.

I returned before lunch time and was surprised that Pepper was still shouting. I went to check and Honey was missing on parade. I lifted the little coop roof and there was Honey sat on Bluebell’s and Pepper’s eggs. I removed the eggs and everything calmed down.

I returned a little later and Honey was still missing. I again lifted the little coop roof and there was Honey’s little egg but no Honey. I lifted the nest box and there was Honey. I am sure she doesn’t realise when she has laid her egg.

For most of the afternoon Honey stayed in the nest box.

Honey in the nest box long after she has laid her egg

All the girls come to take a look

Amber and Bluebell are in the foreground, Pepper is between them and Dotty has her head in the doorway.

The inspectors

Bluebell chased Honey out which I thought may not be a bad thing as she didn’t need to be in the nest box. However Honey kept returning to the nest box until late afternoon when she finally gave up and rejoined the girls in the run.

It’s odd that both little girls just don’t seem to know when they have laid their egg. I do hope this gets easier for them with a little more practise.

Pepper and Dotty are a really close couple of chickens. Yesterday afternoon when I went into the run they were sitting together on one of the wooden blocks. They were snuggled up together and dozing. It was heart warming to watch.

Dotty and Pepper chill together while Bluebell preens in the background

Dotty and Pepper look so content together and Bluebell is in full preen mode

Time for a snooze

They remind me of a big fluffy pair of slippers.

This morning when I went in to clean the coop there was a broken soft shelled banty egg in the doorway again. It was once again Bluebell pecking at it that alerted me to it. I quickly cleaned it away.

I am certain it was Amber’s egg as Honey has never laid a soft shelled egg and Amber’s last egg was also soft shelled. When she started laying in the summer she laid two soft shelled and one soft at one end then they were normal from then on. This is her second soft shelled egg since she has started laying again after the moult so it seems it is following the same pattern again.

I have been giving the girls limestone flour mixed into their mash for a week now but I guess like last time it takes a bit of time. Amber has always struggled with her egg laying. There is one improvement though. During the summer Amber always looked ill and miserable before laying then fine afterwards even when her eggs were normal. This time she looks fine and doesn’t seem to struggle before laying.

Amber soon returned to the nest box which is also something she tends to do. It’s as if she doesn’t realise she has laid an egg and the fact that it was in the coop doorway seems to indicate that it took her by surprise. She was determined to stay in the nest box even though Bluebell kept chasing her out. Bluebell had already laid her egg earlier that morning so it isn’t because she wants to be in there. Bluebell doesn’t like the little girls in the nest box which is really annoying.

I shooed Bluebell out a couple of times and Amber got chased out a couple of times only to return to the nest box again. Eventually Amber gave up and went out into the run. Why is the banty’s egg laying always such a drama!

Amber in the nest box with Bluebell harassing her.

You can just see Bluebell in the top left corner of the photo. I do everything I can to protect the little girls from Bluebell’s harassment but I suppose they have to look after themselves when I am not there. Bluebell’s behaviour still drives me nuts though and it’s a good job the little girls are such feisty characters.

The little girls both laid an egg on the same day two weeks ago. I am sure they will both lay another egg soon as they keep going into the nest box together. They seem to like to keep each other company and the big girls like to come and check them out.

Amber in the nest box while Pepper checks her out

Honey in the nest box

Notice on the above two photos how different in shape the little girls combs are. This is because Amber had the top of her comb pecked off during integration with the big girls.

The little girls go into the nest box together

Honey is on the perch, she has the bigger spots near her tail.

The little girls leave the nest box together

They have been in and out of the nest box like this for the last few days. I am sure the elusive eggs will arrive soon.

All my girl’s apart from Dotty are back to laying again giving me an assortment of lovely eggs.

My girl’s eggs

Their eggs remind me of the sugar almond eggs you can buy because of the lovely pastel colours. Apart from a few flecks of dirt they don’t look real.

A week ago Honey laid her second egg since her moult (four days after her first egg since her moult) and I thought that she may be broody. She stayed in the nest box all afternoon and I lifted her out for the bedtime corn only to see her return to the nest box until bedtime.

In the morning Honey seemed to have forgotten all about being broody and came out as usual and stayed out. I was pleased that she seemed back to normal although she hasn’t laid another egg since but the little girls never have laid many eggs.

Amber also laid a soft shelled egg on the same day as Honey last laid and hasn’t laid since. I have been giving limestone flour to all the girls most days over the last week in the hope that it will help Amber with her next egg.

Both little girls had stopped laying for four months since moulting. I am not sure if they have really started again or are going to just lay now and again and work up to it gradually.

Bluebell didn’t do a full moult and never stopped laying although she just lays a little less frequently. She is laying an average of five eggs a week instead of laying weeks at a time without a break.

Dotty stopped laying for two months while moulting then laid for five weeks before stopping again and she was laying four eggs a week. She is eating as well as ever, has a bright red comb and wattles and seems perfectly happy and healthy with a normal crop so I am sure it is probably just down to the weather or an after effect of her moult.

Pepper also stopped laying for two months after moulting and has been laying for the last two weeks. She is laying four eggs a week.

I don’t really mind how many eggs they lay as long as they are happy and healthy. There are enough eggs for us and we haven’t bought eggs since the girls started laying so I am more than happy with that.