Carol's Chickens

We have had the bantys for seven weeks now and it’s been two weeks since they have been completely integrated. Last weekend Ambers comb was pecked but since then everything seems to have settled down and there have been no more incidences. They are now mixing much more and dust bath and snooze and preen together.

Rose in front of the chicken run

We transplanted this rose from the patio as we needed more space there, to the front of the chicken run last summer. We weren’t sure it would survive but its looking really good now and makes the front of the run look pretty without obscuring our view in. I have also planted a row of nasturtiums in the hope that they will tumble through the mesh and the chickens can eat them. Chickens love nasturtiums and they are edible.

Five girls snooze together

I love to see all the girls having their afternoon snooze together and this is their favourite spot near the bush. Both Pepper in the foreground and Dotty behind Bluebell, have their head under their wings. Honey and Amber are tucked in at the back. This is so sweet to see.

Last night before bedtime Amber looked unwell again and I knew she was about to lay another egg. She had been her usual bright self all day but at bedtime was just standing on the spot with her eyes closing. I now know this to be the sign of an egg on the way and wonder if it is always going to be like this when she lays.

I went in at dusk and both little girls had gone in the coop. The big girls were together on the high perch just like the night before. This seems to be the new routine!

This morning all the girls ran to greet me and I could see that Amber was back to her normal self again. I checked the nest box and sure enough, there was her next egg.

Amber’s sixth egg

Amber’s fith egg on the left and her sixth egg on the right

I don’t know why Amber is having problems with her eggs. All of Honey’s eggs have been normal (nine in total) whereas Amber has laid two tiny eggs, two soft shelled eggs, one normal egg and now one almost normal egg. I do wonder if Amber has started her egg laying at a younger age as she is quite a bit smaller than Honey. I would say that Honey is now about a third larger in size than Amber. Both have red, mature, combs though.

I will be starting the girls on limestone flour today which I hope will help the shells to improve and therefore make the egg laying process easier for them.

Last night from early evening Honey looked unwell. She would drink some water and sit under the bush and wasn’t her usual self. I recognise this in the bantys now, this was exactly how Amber was a few days ago before laying her egg then she was straight back to normal. The bantys seem to struggle with egg laying. Honey was laying every other day but hasn’t laid for five days now, so I feel she is struggling with laying her egg.

I spent some time with the girls keeping an eye on Honey then left them until dusk. When I went back in I was surprised to see a change in the bedtime positions. Amber had gone in the coop and the door had shut (Amber always goes in first). Honey was on the coop roof alone!

Honey on the coop roof

The three big girls had chosen a new place to roost.

The three big girls sitting on the high perch

We three are perching here tonight!

I put Honey in the coop then lifted the big girls down and put them in. Surely Honey couldn’t have kept them off the roof! It will be interesting to see where they choose tonight.

This morning I hoped Honey would have laid her egg but she hadn’t and she still wasn’t herself. I put two dishes of mash with ground egg shells in for the girls and Honey ignored it. She had some water then returned to the bush and I felt really worried about her. Bluebell laid her egg first which is good because if Honey needed the nest box it’s better not having to compete with Bluebell.

A little later Honey settled in the nest box. I checked on her a few times and she was in there for a very long time. When I next went to check on her Bluebell was going in to take a look. I rattled the corn container as I wanted to distract Bluebell away from Honey. Honey came running out for the corn too. I checked the nest box and there was her warm egg. Honey was then completely back to normal.

Honey’s egg was smaller than usual and more pointed in shape.

Bluebell’s egg on the left, Honey’s in the middle and Amber’s on the right

Honey was fine after she had laid her egg. I don’t know why the little girl’s are having such a hard time laying. I hope that when they are laying more regularly they will find it easier.

Amber has laid two tiny eggs and two soft shelled eggs and when she laid the soft shelled eggs she looked really unwell. My friend, Jackie has kindly offered me some of her limestone flour to improve the egg shells but as we are not meeting up until Thursday I felt I needed to do something before that to help Amber with her egg laying.

While cooking our weekend roast, I put a tray of the girls crushed egg shells in the bottom of the oven to dry out. Once completely dried I ground them up with my pestle and mortar until they were really fine. I have been putting the crushed egg shell in a couple of dishes of mash each morning.

The last couple of mornings when I did this, Bluebell was in the nest box laying her egg. This was quite useful as it enabled the little girl’s to get their share without being chased away.

This afternoon we found a banty egg in the run and it has a normal shell. We are sure it is Amber’s as it is smaller than Honey’s eggs and Honey lays hers in the nest box. It probably took Amber by surprise.

I haven’t got an egg from Honey to compare it with but when she next lays one I will photograph them together.

Peppers egg on the left and Ambers egg on the right

The girls seem to have settled together a bit better at the moment. While Dotty and Pepper were laying their egg Bluebell was having a dust bath and Amber joined her and had a dust bath next to her.

Later in the afternoon, all the big girls were sat having a snooze and Honey went and sat with them. I hope that we are over the worse now and things continue like this.

We put two high perches in the run to give the bantys somewhere to escape from the big girls. They haven’t discovered either perch yet!

Bluebell has found the one over the store cabinet and taken to settling there at bedtime. I think because Pepper tries to keep her off the coop roof she has chosen this perch as it’s near to them.

The little girls try to get on the coop roof too but Pepper chases them off. They usually give up and go in the coop. They settle in the nest box together which is good for me as I don’t have to put them in.

Bluebell has taken to roosting here before bedtime

About to jump down

Her weight keeps breaking the top of the store cabinet

Pepper and Dotty roost here

Bluebell is big and heavy and every time she jumps off the high perch she collapses the top of the store cabinet. The top is a sheet of plastic which fits into a slot in the wood. After she has pushed it in I am able to pop it back up into the slot. This is temporary though. I am going to get a wooden board to fit the top so that it will take her weight. Another small job on our never ending list of improvements to the run.

Everything has been going really well with the girls for the past few days, then early evening yesterday, Amber looked unwell again. She was standing with her eyes closing. I tempted her to half heartedly eat a few sunflower hearts. She stood by the water drinking a lot. I felt sure that she had an egg laying problem and would probably lay another soft shelled egg, it was four days since she laid her firts soft shelled egg.

Before dusk as the girls were going through their bedtime routine of sitting on the coop roof, I picked up first the little girls, then the big girls, and put them all in the coop. I felt an early night wouldn’t do any harm. I peeked in the coop and as usual the bantys were in the nest box and the big girls on their usual perch.

This morning when I went out to them, Amber was back to her normal self again and sure enough there was another soft shelled egg in the nest box. I know it’s Amber’s as Honey had laid her normal egg yesterday afternoon.

The shell was slightly firmer than her last one as I was able to pick it up this time.

Amber’s second soft shelled egg

Pepper’s egg on the left, Amber’s egg in the middle and Honey’s egg on the right

I have never seen the bantys take the grit and oyster shell that is in a hopper in the run but they do pick up grit from the ground and both Honey and Amber have the same diet. Honey’s eggs have been normal from the start where as Amber has now laid two tiny eggs and two soft shelled eggs.

I made them some mash with some grit sprinkled in to it but most of the grit was left in the bottom of the dish. I will get some limestone flour as soon as possible.

We were doing a function in the afternoon and were out between eleven o’clock and three o’clock. I went straight up to check on the girls and give them the last of the maggots. To my horror the patio area had splashes of blood on it.

I checked each of the girls and poor little Amber has had her comb pecked again. There was a little blood inside the door of the coop and most of it on the area outside the coop. I would imagine that Bluebell has attacked her as she has come out of the coop. Both little girls have now each had their combs pecked two times and there was much more blood this time. Amber seems fine now but I feel so awful for her. I just don’t know what to do about this.

At last I feel my little flock are properly integrating. They seem much happier and more settled. There are still times when Bluebell goes after the little girls but it’s not nearly so bad now and I am feeling more relaxed and happy about them.

It’s lovely to have all five girls run to greet me now. Today I forked over some of their run to see if we could find some worms. All five girls were under my feet as soon as they saw the fork. The bantys have soon got the hang of seeing the fork, the white treat dishes, or the store cabinet door opening, or simply seeing me coming up the garden path.

The trays of grass that I was giving the girls last summer have not over wintered very well. The remaining grass is sparse and I may have to redo them or give up on them. I decided to put three trays in for the girls today as they may as well have what grass there is.

The grass soon disappeared

This afternoon while the big girls snoozed the little girls had a dust bath. Pepper soon decided to check out what they were up to.

Dust bath

Preening and dust bathing

I am finding that as the little girls are maturing I am able to tell them apart more easily. Honey has always been bigger than Amber and now has a more arched shape to her back, just before her tail. She has the peacock like spots on her back and a longer tail. Honey’s comb is also more ragged in shape, possibly due to having been pecked.

Honey

Amber’s comb is much smoother in shape and she has more small black dots on her back. Her tail is a different shape too but I’m not sure if she is not yet fully grown. I can easily tell them apart now, where as at first I could only tell them apart by size and Honey’s spots on her back.

Amber

Honey is on the left and Amber on the right

Pepper wants to pose with Amber

These two are very together, Amber is in front

Honey is in the foreground

Amber’s tail parts in the middle but it may just be that she isn’t mature yet and her comb is less ragged. I am loving getting to know these little girls and so happy now that they are one flock. I hope things run smoothly for a while now, it’s been lovely having a few good days. Long may it continue!

This morning the little girls looked fine again. Perhaps Amber was subdued yesterday from laying a soft shelled egg and being bullied constantly by Bluebell. Today Bluebell has been much better, an occasional go at them but not constantly like the last few days and the little girls look brighter. It was a lovely day too which I am sure the girls enjoy as much as I do.

They are eating, drinking and pooping and Honey laid an egg today in the nest box. They run to me when I go up the garden and run to the patio when I open the store cabinet door, just in case there are some treats on offer. They also joined in with the morning cabbage with plenty of enthusiasm.

In the afternoon I gave the girls some maggots. This was the first time the bantys have had maggots and they loved them.

The little girls first maggots

Fun for all the girls

It’s been so nice having a happy flock today and I hope it continues like this!

Last night before bedtime Amber seemed very subdued and I felt a bit worried about her. I checked on her several times and about half an hour before dusk she went into the coop. I decided to shut the door and give her some peace. Honey settled on the coop roof shortly after so I decided to lift her down and put her in the coop too for some company.

Once the big girls settled on the coop roof, I  lifted them down and put them in too. I thought it wouldn’t hurt for them all to go to bed a little earlier than usual. I again peeped in and the little girls were in the nest box instead of on the perch with the big girls. I can’t blame them and am happy for them to sleep there if they want to.

I went out at six o’clock this morning and while doing my morning chores, I discovered a soft shelled egg in the coop just beneath the nest box. It broke as soon as I picked it up and was mostly yolk. By piecing the halves together, I found it was banty sized so must be Amber’s. Honey had laid yesterday and all the girls went on to lay today, except Honey, who only lays every other day at the moment. Amber has laid two very tiny eggs and now this one. Maybe that is why she is subdued.

As the morning went on Bluebell was bullying the little girls to the point where they were just hiding behind the bush. After Bluebell had laid her egg I decided to separate her, in what used to be the bantys area to give the little girls a break from her. She seemed quite happy to be there and made no fuss about it and I left her with food and water of course, plus some greens. I left her there for three hours and when the other two big girls were dust bathing in the afternoon, I relented and let her back out.

Both the little girls seem a bit subdued and are spending a lot of time behind the bush. I am not sure if they are just fed up with being harassed or if something is wrong. I am feeling a bit worried about them but don’t know what else to do at the moment.

like last night, when I went up to check on them just before dusk, the two little girls went into the coop so I shut them in. I returned at dusk and added the big girls, peeped in and like last night the little girls were in the nest box and the big girls on the perch. At least they are all safely in and I suppose it is a case of seeing what tomorrow brings!

Yesterday the girls seemed to making so much progress together, then we had a set back. They had been fine all day, then I went to check on them early evening and they all came running to greet me except for Honey. Honey was perched on the coop roof looking very sorry for herself. I was dismayed to see that her comb was bleeding. A few days ago it was Amber and now Honey.

I sat on the step of the patio and she came and stood by me. She was making little unhappy sounds and looking a bit wobbly. It is heartbreaking to see this. She wouldn’t let me pick her up and I didn’t want to stress her so I sat with her with the water spray, keeping the big girls away. She stayed close to me and seems to know that I will protect her. I talked softly to her and gave her some sunflower hearts, which she ate, while I kept the other girls away.

Although I have no proof, I imagine that Bluebell attacked her as it’s Bluebell that is aggressive towards to the little girls. If this continues I will separate Bluebell.

I left for a while but returned before dusk to see how she was. Both little girls were perched on the coop roof and the big girls were scratching in the garden area.

I decided for their own safety to pick the little girls up, put them in the coop and shut the door. I didn’t want to risk the big girls getting on to the coop roof at bedtime and pecking at them again and adding to their stress.

I went out just after dark and lifted the big girls off the roof and added them to the coop.

I feel so upset that I have bought these little girls into an environment where this is happening to them. I so want to protect them and at the moment am beginning to feel that if someone wanted to take Bluebell, I would happily let her go. I used to feel so sorry for her being bottom girl but now she is the aggressive one.

This morning I went out at six o’clock and you would never know this had happened. The girls were all fine together. It may be naive of me but I am hoping that now both little girls have had their comb pecked, maybe it’s done with. It’s probably wishful thinking on my part.

Bluebell went into the nest box to lay her egg first this morning as she often does. Amber kept trying to get in with her and Bluebell would growl at her and Amber would run out. Bluebell had been in the nest box longer that usual so I decided to feel underneath her to see if she had laid her egg. She seems to have slightly broody moments lately. Sure enough she had already laid her egg so I removed it from under her then picked her up and placed in her in the run. For a while she shouted in protest.

Honey then went into the nest box. When I checked later, Honey had laid her seventh egg, the second one to be laid in the next box. I think she didn’t accept the little coop as a suitable nest box.

In the afternoon all the girls spent a lot of time sitting together. You wouldn’t imagine there was ever a problem. I tried to photograph them all sat together but as soon as I go in with the camera they either come towards to me or stand up and saunter off. I had a few attempts and didn’t get the shot I would have liked but had to make do with these.

Dotty likes to snooze with her head under her wing

We were all sat together until the camera came towards us

Taking a shot through the wire is the only way I can get them together before they move

I almost snapped them sitting together

I had been about to separate Bluebell today but there hasn’t been a problem. I really hope it continues to get better as I am finding this so frustrating! Why they can’t just chill and be nice to each other!