Carol's Chickens

Yesterday morning I went out to the chickens as they were coming out and inspected for droppings to see if blocking up the gaps had worked. I was really disappointed to see a couple mouse droppings by the feeder and even worse about five rat dropping in front of the storage cabinet.

We searched for gaps and my husband concluded that cable ties were not good enough to hold the chicken net to the weld mesh. He thought that a rat could push its way in between and we started  thinking of other ways to secure it. I came up with the idea of pulling the net down to the wooden beam, nailing it, then nailing a baton of wood over it. Off we went to the D.I.Y. store for more wood. Husband says are we never going to stop spending money on these chooks and working on their home!

I started to remove the cable ties with a craft knife (I had made extra work by adding loads more cable ties the day before) and very soon managed to cut my finger with the knife rendering me useless to continue the job. My husband took over and completed the job, securing the wooden batons. We both agreed this looked much neater and wondered why we didn’t do this in the first place (hind sight is a wonderful thing!).

Strip of wood securing the chicken net to the weld mesh

Side of enclosure with the wooden strip attached

We then decided to check round the inside and make sure there were no more gaps that we may have missed. It was then that I noticed an entry point point where the rat had dug in. We have a jasmine in the corner of the patio area that we had planted by lifting out one slab, before we had chickens. We had decided to leave it in as a bit of interest for them and us.

We now have a new entry point

On the other side of the fence is our water butt which is why we hadn’t noticed it from that side. I think that the rats were probably coming through the gaps in the corrugated roof and that once they were blocked up they have found another way in. This wasn’t like this yesterday. I filled the hole with stones then piled more of these pebbles on top (we had these from a broken water feature that was in the garden when we moved in and which we removed).

The gap filled and pebbles heaped on top

We then needed to address the other side which involved more work as this is where the water butt that takes the rain water from the chickens roof is situated. Moving this meant emptying the full water butt. We realised that there were also gaps where the the fence panels are butted up against the big shed which makes the end wall of the enclosure. Like the gaps in the corrugated roof there are gaps made by the staggered slats of the shed not allowing the fence to fit flush against it. Husband decided maybe we could make use of the insulating foam after all. He squirted it in the gaps and when it had set trimmed it off and replaced the water butt.

Foam in the gaps against the shed

The foam is trimmed and the water butt is back in place

We really do feel all the gaps are filled now and are fairly confident that nothing will be able to get in. My husband kept saying we may have done lots of the work for nothing when that wasn’t where they were getting in but I think like a leak, if you block it up the next weakest spot leaks. I think you have to block every possible gap and think it’s all been worth doing if it now solves the problem. Husband did feel better about being able to use the foam rather than it being a wasted purchase though. We are not sure long term if a rat could chew through it, but at least if that was the case we would see it and would come up with something else.

This morning I went in to do my chores and check for new droppings and I was bitterly disappointed. Again there were a few mouse droppings and more rat droppings.

We started trying to work out where else they could get in. I suggested the most vulnerable side was the fence bordering our neighbours. The top end of the enclosure is up against our big shed which is stood on concrete. Our side of the enclosure is against the patio and a concrete path. The bottom end backs on to our veg plot and the weld mesh has been dug down and inwards on the inside. On the outside my husband dug a trench and lined it with vertical tiles, then horizontal tiles, filling it back in with earth. Behind the fence bordering our neighbours garden, they have wooden decking which comes part way up our fence in height. When the guys were building the chicken enclosure for us, they thought the decking would keep out foxes or any predators (to be fair they weren’t thinking rats) and the bushes up against the fence made it difficult to put anything in on our side. We went back out to check this side and this is what we found.

New entry points either side of the shrub

You can just see a hole between the compost bin and the shrub and another just by the wooden logs. As I said before about leaks finding another weak point, I think that now that we have blocked up all the other gaps, the rats are finding new ways in. My husband was really down hearted about this as to deal with this means digging in mud and somehow trying to get behind the bushes.

We have a lot of tiles stored beside the shed, left over from our loft conversion years back (my husband keeps everything in case it will come in useful one day), and it often does! The plan was to try to sink the tiles down in front of the fence. My husband started digging and putting the tiles in place, while I crawled on hands and knees under the big bush to see what I could do there. It was really difficult as the bush is flush up against the fence and the gap beside it, is really awkward to squeeze through. I had to bodge it together as best I could. I dug, then hammered a tile in as far I could, then sunk a big piece of wood in front of it.

Me and my girls helping!

My husband took this as he found it amusing that where ever I am, the girls are right behind me. It also shows how tricky it is to get under here.

Tiles buried in the ground

This was the best I could do in this corner

We have now spent three days working on our “finished” chicken enclosure and each time we hope this will be the end of it. I don’t think there is anything else we can do and hope, hope, hope that this stops them getting in.

I know in the same way as I got obsessed with getting the best perching photo, I have now become obsessed with getting the best photo of the chickens coming out of the coop in the morning. In my last attempt I only actually caught Bluebell coming out because of the delay with the flash. As I was out before the chickens again this morning, I decided to have another go and click each time just before I thought I needed to. It was just after twenty past seven so it is getting a little later each day. Again I could hear the chickens behind the door waiting to get out, then the door started to rise.

Dotty is peeping out with Pepper’s beak just slightly in view

Dotty is out closely followed by Pepper

Bluebell squeezes through next

Treacle squeezes out last

They seemed to squeeze through quicker than ever with the door only about a third of the way up.

I was disappointed that as soon as they were all out Dotty turned to Bluebell and pecked her on the head. I had thought yesterday that she seemed a bit better and wondered if I was over reacting to her bullying, but they had only been out for seconds and it was the first thing she did. Dotty seems to peck her at any time now rather than just over treats but she does seem to have better and worse days so for now I will just keep an eye on her

We started this task yesterday and managed to get all the gaps filled which was our priority. We had to finish as it was time for the chickens to have a bit of quiet wind down time before bedtime, so left the tidying up of edges until today.

I had the easier job of adding more cable ties between the existing ones and luckily we already had these left over from the original job.

The difficult task was filling the gaps in the plastic corrugated roof. My husband had the idea of squirting in some insulation foam so we bought a tube of this and some wood for the gate. Husband soon found the foam wasn’t going to work. It was really tricky to get the right flow and without a back to the gaps there was nothing to stop it falling through the other side. It was also really awkward to reach the gaps, he soon had as much of it on himself as in the roof. We tried to think of something else. I wondered if we could cut discs of wood to fit the gaps but husband said this would be impossibly time consuming and there was nothing to fix it to. He then had one of his brainwaves. We could use the chicken net we had left over from the original job to create a false ceiling underneath the corrugated roof. Luckily we had enough net leaving just a small amount over in case repairs are ever needed. We set about pinning it up, first with drawing pins to get it in place then with nails. He said he would later tidy up the end with strips of wood but wanted to get on with the gate before it got too late.

My Husband nailed strips of wood down the sides inside the gate and on the bottom of the gate. He then nailed a log to the top of the gate. The logs came out of the garden when we were making changes and were saved for any future use.

We felt this was all as rodent proof as possible as now the biggest gaps are in the weld mesh itself. I measured these and was surprised that they are an inch square. We are not sure if a mouse can get through weld mesh but are sure that now nothing else can get through.

This morning when I went out to do my chores there was no sign of any droppings. We set to work finishing yesterdays task. My husband tidied up the edges of the net by using strips of wood on two sides and the logs on the other side to match with the door. We then moved the coop out and I swept and cleaned underneath it as well as the rest of the patio area. I then emptied the store cabinet and cleaned out the mouse droppings from underneath it. When it was back in place my husband pinned strips of wood round the bottom edges so that no mice could get under it. I will now know if all this has worked if I see any further droppings as we have given it a good spring (or should I say autumn) clean.

Extra cable ties before they are trimmed off

A false net ceiling underneath the corrugated roof

The gate with a log over the top and strips of wood at the sides and bottom

The log seals the net and you can see the foam above which was our first idea

We feel we have now done everything we can and I will be looking out for any more droppings. We seem to have put in so much work on our chicken enclosure and my husband always says this must be the finished job by now! We feel sure we have filled all the gaps now and I will report if I find any mouse dropping as this the only thing that may be able to get through weld mesh, but I am hoping not.

I have known for some time that we have a mouse or mice getting into the chicken enclosure because I can see mouse droppings through the slats of the storage cabinet on the floor below. I wasn’t surprised as we have seen an occasional field mouse in the garden and they are so small that they can get through the smallest of gaps. I wasn’t too worried because while they are going under the storage cabinet to defecate, it is away from the chickens and I resigned myself to emptying the cabinet now and again to clean underneath.

Yesterday morning for the first time I found rat droppings at the side of the storage cabinet. We have never had a rat problem here before. This is much more worrying and we started to think of ways to solve this problem.

This morning I found some different droppings beside the storage cabinet. These droppings were slightly bigger, fatter and longer than rat droppings. I looked up animal droppings on the internet and think that they are squirrel droppings. This would make sense as we have many squirrels visiting our garden. We have a strip of woodland behind our garden, then a golf course. We had started thinking of how to eliminate rats but realize there is no way of  stopping squirrels so think the next step is to block up any gaps. I took a photo of the “squirrel poop” so that any one with experience can give me their thoughts. I didn’t bother photographing the rats droppings because I am familiar with them.

I think this is squirrel poop

I know most people would think that the first plan of action should be to make sure there is no food supply left out, but in the summer the chickens come out at five in the morning and I go out to them at seven. I wanted to be able to leave their food out at all times so that it is always ready for them without me having to go out at five.

We carefully inspected where all the gaps are so that we can plan blocking them off. The most difficult gaps to deal with are under the corrugated plastic roof as this is such an awkward shape.

The gaps under the corrugated roof

These gaps are an inch high and two inches across. We also need to allow the rain water to drain into the gutter. This poses a tricky problem.

The other small gaps are over the gate, under the gate and very slim gaps at the sides of the gate.

Gap over the top of the gate

The other possible place where a squirrel may be getting in is where the chicken net over the enclosure, overlaps the weld mesh. We had secured this with cable ties but noticed a dip in the chicken net as if it had been stood on and a bit of a gap appearing between the cable ties. We think a squirrel may have opened a gap big enough to squeeze through. This was the easiest problem to remedy as all it needed was to put lots more cable ties in between the existing ones. The photo below is where the net overlaps the weld mesh but doesn’t really show any gaps but I included it anyway for another reason. My husband asked me to grab my camera this afternoon as Treacle was perching on top of the umbrella. As you can probably guess by the time I got out there she was strolling around the run looking  totally innocent, but the dirty mark on the umbrella is the spot where she was perched. As our biggest chicken I was surprised that she could fly to that hight!

Dirt on umbrells where Treacle was perched

It’s the biggest patch of dirt half way up the umbrella that marks Treacle’s spot. The black dots above the wood are the cable ties, pulled tight and then trimmed.

Luckily my lovely husband is pro active and good at coming up with ideas. He assured me we will solve all the problems. He said we can treat the gate like a door and put wooden strips above, below and down the sides to block the gap. He had an idea that insulating foam could be used to fill the gaps in the corrugated roof.

We went to our local D.I.Y. store for supplies and set to work to get as much done as possible today with the intention of continuing tomorrow. I will continue this post tomorrow when all the jobs are completed. Lets just say some ideas worked and one had to be rethought.

This morning I went out to the chickens at quarter past seven and found the coop door shut again. I went back indoors for my camera to photograph their coming out. I could hear them bumping about behind the door and at twenty past seven it started to open. This time Pepper was out first flattening herself down to squeeze through as soon as possible with Dotty popping out right behind her. Treacle was next to squeeze out this time with Bluebell last. Unfortunately the photos don’t show this very well because with the low light level the flash delays the photo and by the time it goes off they are already through. They are so quick and are all out in seconds, before the door is even half way up. This rush to get out is quite amusing to watch and now that they are getting used to me being there they come and say hello to me first, which is quite sweet. They are probably just checking if I have anything for them but it’s lovely all the same.

Pepper scrabbled out first followed closely by Dotty

Treacle pushed her way out next while the door was less than half way up

Today Bluebell was last to step through

The coop door fully open for comparison

You can see by this photo how impatient they are to get out, they can’t wait for the door to lift right up.

This morning was the latest that the door has opened and I am going to have to adjust the time I go out to them. I have always gone out at seven apart from going out at five occasionally in the summer to check what time the door opened. In the summer it was opening at five in the morning and closing at eight in the evening. It is now opening after seven in the morning and closing before seven in the evening. I feel quite sorry for the chickens having their days so shortened by the lack of light but I guess that’s what chickens have always been used too. I can’t help thinking summer is a much nicer time for them but I suppose that goes for us too. Soon the clocks will go back an hour. That will effect my routine too, but of course it will make no difference to the chickens.

I don’t get as much time to sit with them before bedtime as I did in the summer because I used to go out to them after our seven o’clock evening meal and now go out to them before our evening meal and have to shorten my time to get dinner cooked. I don’t sit on my little chair so that they can come on my lap because their feet are so dirty in winter. I do crouch down among them though and Treacle sometimes jumps on to my arm or on to my shoulder. Bluebell always circles me looking for a way up but is not able to jump to my shoulder as easily as Treacle. Pepper always looks on with interest.

The problem with Dotty bullying Bluebell is getting worse. It used to be just around the treats but now for no reason at all she will go up to Bluebell and peck her on the head or the back. Although I spray her with water when I see her doing this it doesn’t seem to deter her. Bluebell is becoming quite nervy around her and when I leave she comes to the furthest corner and looks at me as if to say she doesn’t want me to leave her. Dotty has also taken to flying up at me when I am at the storage cabinet. They all know this is where the treats are kept and come to stand by me but Dotty now flies up if I open the cabinet or if I am holding something she thinks may be treats. Dotty is becoming a pest and I don’t know what to do next. I am wondering if I should try separating her from them during the day. I had hoped she would grow out of this and that I wouldn’t have take further action but it’s becoming more of a problem. Dotty is also the one that has no interaction with me or my husband. I used to think that maybe she didn’t like me because I spray her when she pecks Bluebell but my husband pointed out that she doesn’t appear to like anyone. We have had her for four months and from a month younger than the other three and yet she is not attatched  to me like they are. My husband says he thinks she is just not a nice character. At the moment I feel that if someone could give her a good home I would let her go. I hate myself for thinking this but am so fed up with her behaviour and feel she spoils the harmony of the flock. I will carry on for now and think about it a while longer.

Dotty continues to bully Bluebell away from the treats. The only time this doesn’t happen is when I give them yogurt. I do split it into two small bowls, but I can put out six half apples and Dotty will move from one to the next, pecking Bluebell away. I can only think that they like the yogurt so much that Dotty just gets on with eating it rather than wasting time pecking at Bluebell. Yogurt is their favourite treat, they jump up at me when they see the little white bowls and I fear for my fingers as I set them down. When the bowls are empty they still jump at them as I take them away. I only give them the recommended teaspoon per hen twice a week of plain, live, pro biotic yogurt. It is good for their digestion but must be limited to a small amount. I buy a small pot and divide it into four small bowls to be given over two days. I am sure if I gave them a huge bowl of it they would eat the lot! As it is plain I can only think it must be the texture that they like. They peck at the bowls long after they are empty so as not to miss a drop.

They seem to stick to two hens per bowl of yogurt with no arguments

When they have lettuce and tomato in the two square feeders Dotty will move across to the one Bluebell is on and peck her away. I squirt Dotty with the water spray, sometimes twice before she will stop doing this. Sometimes I only have to pick up the spray and she will stop. Sometimes Dotty moves Bluebell away by just intimidating her, by going close to her and giving her a look. Bluebell will then come and stand by me, look up at me and say “boc” then peck the spout of the water bottle. It is as if she is asking me to use the spray and sort it out for her. I also tell Bluebell to go to the other feeder while pointing at it and she does. It’s as if we can talk to each other in our own way or at least have some understanding of gestures and tones. The other three chickens hate the spray and won’t go near it but Bluebell seems to knows it helps her.

Dotty is the only one that does this bullying. The other thing I have noticed is that Dotty is the only one not to interact with me. I am not sure if it’s a reaction to me telling her off and spraying her (perhaps because of this she doesn’t like me?) or if it’s all part of her nature, or if it’s because she is a month younger than the others. The other three will allow me to stroke their undersides when they are close to me but Dotty smartly side steps away. The other three follow me around when I am cleaning up and gently peck at my clothes or sometimes my knees as if to feel me or to say hello. It is so nice when they come to me and either they peck at me (not serious pecks obviously) or I stroke them. Dotty has never done this. Dotty only comes to me if she thinks their are treats to be had and she is always first to the treats. This makes Dotty less appealing but I keep hoping she will grow out of it. My husband says it makes it hard for him to like her which I can understand. She doesn’t draw blood though or pull feathers. I think it’s just harder to like a hen that bullies and also doesn’t interact at all, but I feel that I have to try to stop her bullying Bluebell by using the spray. I know she probably does it while I am not there but it is so hard to watch. I can only hope she gets better as she gets older.

The morning before last, I went out to the chickens at quarter past seven in the morning and saw the automatic door open on the coop and the chickens tumble out. I wanted to photograph it so I went out yesterday just before quarter past seven, but the door was already open and the chickens were out. It must have been a darker morning, the day before. I was annoyed with myself as I had been doing indoor chores because I didn’t want to be waiting out in the cold too long for the door to open. I decided to try again this morning and went out at five past seven. The door opened at ten past seven so I had probably just missed it the day before. Once again they came out in order of size with Dotty first, quickly followed by Pepper. Bluebell was next and today Treacle didn’t come out in quite such a hurry. Bluebell looked back in as if to see what was keeping her, then Treacle was out.

Ten past seven in the morning

Dotty looks out

Pepper squeezes out behind Dotty

Bluebell is next out

Treacle is last out

They came over to say hello then went to the feeder. They never go back into the coop once out apart from pecking D.E. from the coop doorway. I hope that soon Bluebell may be going in to lay an egg but I’m not sure how much longer that will be.

I have been going out to do my morning clean up in the coop and run at seven o’clock each day since I have had the chickens, nearly four months ago. It’s getting light later now though, so for the last week I have been doing a few indoor chores first and delaying until quarter past seven to allow for a bit more light.

This morning I went out at quarter past seven and for the first time I found the automatic door still shut. While I was wondering how long it would be before opening, I heard it start to open and thought this would be my chance to see how quickly the chickens come out. I could hear them bumping about behind the door and it was really funny to watch.

When the door was up by an inch or so, Dotty’s head appeared through the gap quickly followed by Pepper’s head (they are the smallest of the four). Dotty and Pepper then squeezed under the door as soon as it was an inch or so higher. They reminded me of cats squeezing through small gaps, flattened down to get through. Another inch and Bluebell followed by Treacle squeezed through. They were all out by the time the door had lifted to half way up.

Dotty and Pepper lunged straight to the feeder while Bluebell and Treacle came to say hello to me first which was quite sweet. They obviously can’t wait to get out in the morning. Tomorrow morning I will take the camera with me and see if I can capture this.

The umbrella in the chickens garden area has been a great success. It did take them three days to get used to it which was longer than I expected, but it has now improved the quality of their enclosure. I have looked out several times recently when it has been raining and they have been happily scratching about underneath the umbrella instead of being confined to the patio area. The umbrella also keeps the big perch dry. It took the girls four days after the umbrella was installed before they returned to the big perch but I have now seen them all on it while it was raining, keeping dry. The umbrella acts like a tree, allowing the girls fresh air and shelter at the same time. Although there is an apple tree in their enclosure, it’s branches are very vertical and it offers no shelter. This was my husbands idea and was a very good solution to the problem. I wonder if anyone else has an umbrella for their chickens?

The chickens have also been going to bed each night with no further problems. It seems that roosting on the coop roof was just a glitch and they have been going into the coop between quarter and half past six each night and the automatic door has been closing at about ten to seven so I am happy with this. I still can’t resist checking each night though.

On a different subject completely, this afternoon I went in with some lettuce and tomato for the girls. They all came running except Bluebell who was having such a lovely dust bath that she didn’t move. I went to get my camera and came back to get a snap. Even though I have seen them dust bath many times, the fact that she didn’t move and looked really dishevelled, started to worry me. I started to think that maybe she had injured herself. I decide to use the trusty lure of dried meal worms to check that she was okay. She came running up to the patio area then shook herself just like a dog coming out of the rain. She sprayed a layer of dirt around and her feathers then settled back to their usual position and she happily hoovered up some meal worms. I should know better by now! The photo is spoiled a bit by a branch in front of her but I thought that I would include it anyway.

Bluebell in her dust bath

Note to self, tomorrow I will prune that branch off and I should know by now that however strange they look while dust bathing, they are fine.

Last night it rained heavily. I woke up several times to hear it hammering down. This morning it had stopped and was bright with a clear blue sky. Because it rained so long and hard part of the area under the umbrella in the chicken garden was wet but there was still a patch one side which stayed dry.

When I went back mid morning to check on the chooks they were happily scratching away under the umbrella. It was so nice to see them scratching again. It has taken them three days to get used to the umbrella but it’s worth it to see them scratching.

Scratching happily under the umbrella

No longer afraid of the umbrella

A still photo doesn’t really show them scratching properly but it’s great to watch. It sort of repeatedly goes: scratch, scratch, scratch, backwards step, peck. Their own little chicken dance and they look so happy.