Carol's Chickens

My most hated problem is back. Speckles is being plucked. I delayed mentioning this because it has taken a while for us to catch the culprits. It seems that Peaches and Barley are methodically plucking her.

The worst thing is that it’s not just her bottom but it’s all over. I posted a while back that she had pins on her bottom and was nearly fully feathered again. Soon after that post we noticed that those pins had disappeared and they have since started to come through again and have been pulled again.

I then noticed some feathers missing from her head. After that feathers were missing from her back. Next feathers were missing from her throat. Over the last few days more feathers have gone from her head leaving her bald on the left side of her head.

Speckles has a bare bottom once more

She is missing feathers from the right side of her head

The left side of her head is bare of feathers

She is missing neck feathers and some from her back too

She has a bare neck but it can only be seen when she lifts her head up and she has a triangular patch of missing feathers from her back but they can only be noticed from certain angles.

The back of her head is missing feathers

She spends a lot of time sitting in a corner looking sad

She spends time in corners or on top of the chicken shelter. I think she tries to keep herself out of the way but I have seen Peaches go up to her in the corner and pick at her head.

Last year I re homed Butterscotch with Moira at Whitehouse farm because she was getting her head plucked whenever she was broody and I didn’t feel I could part with Peaches and Barley who I have had since they were chicks. I hoped that removing Butterscotch would remove the problem.

Sadly it seems that they have just moved on to the next most vulnerable victim. Last year Butterscotch, this year Speckles. Despite the spats between Peaches and Emerald, Emerald has remained top girl and gives Peaches an occasional peck to show her. I think this means they leave Emerald alone and concentrate all their efforts on poor Speckles.

I feel absolutely torn about what to do here. I feel I can’t keep re homing girls and yet I really don’t want plucking in my flock. I am realising that Peaches and Barley will probably just keep finding a new victim to pluck and I worry about the habit spreading or the little girls getting plucked.

Peaches and Barley have also become very noisy since we have had the little girls. They spend a lot of time making mournful cries and they chase the the little girls mercilessly.

They have been with me for three years now and since they were only six weeks old. They have always been a tight pair and are inquisitive and endearing and still like to jump on my back. I am not sure if I can give them up and yet I can’t bear to see plucking and want to wipe it out from my flock.

I hate seeing Speckles head becoming more and more stripped each day. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t know if I should re home them or wait until next year and see if it happens again then. I am going to have keep thinking about this for a while. It’s just too hard a decision to make.

The cat box is becoming a popular nest box. Emerald often runs around manically before laying her egg as if she isn’t really satisfied with the nest box choices.

Yesterday she settled in to the right hand nest box for a while but then she suddenly ran out of the nest box and ran to the shed. She went straight into the cat box and started scratching around. She flicked some pine shavings on to her back and then she promptly laid her egg.

It was if as soon as her egg was imminent she decided she needed to be in the cat box.

Emerald scratches at the pine shavings

Makes a nest

And promptly lays her egg

I am not surprised that out of the original flock it’s been Speckles and Emerald that have laid in the cat box. Speckles has laid in the chicken shelter before now and Emerald often gets a bit manic before egg laying as if she can’t decide which is the best place to lay.

The rest of the girls pick a nest box and usually stick with it. Yesterday Freckles chose the right hand nest box to lay her egg.

I could tell that Cinnamon was ready to lay her next egg too. She was being very vocal and coming up to the patio area. She looked in the shed and I showed her the cat box but she quickly left the shed. She went to the right hand nest box but left a little later.

At that point we had to go out to deliver an afternoon tea. When we returned I checked the nest boxes and there was a, slightly warm, egg in the right hand nest box. It had the longer, slimmer shape of Cinnamon’s previous eggs so I concluded that she had managed without my help.

It probably helped that Emerald and Freckles had already laid and none of the other girls needed to lay so she had a bit more freedom to choose her preferred nest box.

Well done Cinnamon. It seems that she is going to be as good an egg layer as Freckles.

This morning went I went out to clean the chicken shed and there was a tiny, pale shelled, egg under the three amigos roost spot. This must be Dandelion’s egg and it is the first one with a good shell and unbroken.

She just doesn’t seem to know when her egg is coming and sits either after she has laid or before she is ready to lay it. The good news is that her egg shell has improved and I hope that in time she will get better at knowing when her egg is coming.

We have loads of bluebells at this time of year and I love the view from our cabin windows where we can see the pink geraniums peeping through behind the bluebells.

We have lots of bluebells in the garden

The last tulips are almost over

Pink geraniums are behind the bluebells

The roses are in bud waiting to give us the next wave of colour. I love the garden at this time of year.

I have been thinking about how to help Cinnamon safely find a nest box to lay her egg. Before trying out the crisp box idea I had another idea. I decided to put the cat box in the chicken shed.

The cat box could make a perfectly good nest box. The problem was that in the run the pine shavings got scratched out. In the chicken shed this wouldn’t matter. It seemed that Dandelion was happy with a corner of the chicken shed but Cinnamon doesn’t feel safe enough in the shed. Perhaps the cat box in the shed would help her feel safe.

The other advantage is that in the shed she would go unnoticed whereas in the nest boxes on the patio she gets chased away by the other girls. I placed the cat box in a position where it wouldn’t get pooped on.

Another nest box

Yesterday another day of egg laying drama began. First Rusty decided it was time to start laying again.

Rusty is ready to lay again

Dandelion seemed ready to lay too and I showed her the cat box but at first she settled in the same corner of the shed as before.

Dandelion sits in the corner of the shed

Meanwhile Peaches wanted to lay her egg.

Peaches decides to share the nest box with Rusty

Dandelion came out of the shed without laying an egg

Cinnamon joins Dandelion on the patio

The three amigos are getting very brave

They get to have some apple

Rusty and Peaches were now out of the nest box and their eggs were side by side.

Meanwhile Speckles seemed to have vanished. I checked all the usual places and then checked the shed. Speckles had decided she wanted to lay her egg in the cat box.

Speckles likes the new nest box

Now Dandelion decided she needed to find somewhere to lay her egg. She kept going into the shed and shouting. She was really loud for a little girl and she didn’t look happy. I put her in a nest box but she wouldn’t stay and just kept going to the shed where she would stand and shout very loudly. We could hear her from the other end of the garden.

I tried shutting her in a nest box. When I lifted the lid to check on her she jumped out. She wasn’t going to settle like Cinnamon so I didn’t feel that I could shut her in again. She returned to the shed and stood there shouting.

I decided to leave her to it and see if she could work it out. When it all went quiet I returned to check on the girls and Speckles was out in the run but Dandelion was missing.

I looked in the shed and then in the cat box.

Speckles egg was in the cat box and Dandelion was sitting beside it

I removed Speckles egg and Dandelion settled down in the cat box.

Dandelion is settled in the cat box

It seems that all the fuss was because Dandelion wanted the cat box but Speckles had got it first. These girls really are drama queens!

When I next checked on them Dandelion was perched on the ladder in the run. I peeped into the cat box and ….. nothing! All that drama and she still hadn’t laid her egg. She does seem to have a bit of a problem with her egg laying.

The good news though is that she accepted the cat box as a suitable place to try to lay an egg. I will be leaving the cat box in place so that the girls get familiar with it. I hope that Cinnamon will find it next time she wants to lay.

If the three amigos turn out to be happy laying their eggs in the cat box that will be a problem solved.

There is always a bit of drama when several girls want to lay at once but it’s more difficult now that Cinnamon is laying too as she gets chased away by the other girls. Yesterday afternoon Barley, Emerald, Freckles and Cinnamon all wanted to lay at the same time.

Barley was shouting for a bit and then settled in the right hand nest box. Emerald did her manic running about and then decided she wanted the same nest box. Barley growled at her but Emerald was undeterred and settled in there with her.

Freckles was doing a lot of shouting and looking in both nest boxes but not going in. Poor Cinnamon was the same as the day she laid her first egg and was running everywhere.

The problem was every time she tried to enter the empty nest box Freckles would chase her away. She was once again going to the new shelter and going to the highest perch in the chicken shed. I decided to intervene again. I shut her in the empty nest box. I had tried shutting her in the chicken shed but she kept going to the highest perch so I decided the best thing was to shut her in the left hand nest box.

As soon as I did this she settled down. I kept checking on her and she was scratching around for a bit then settled down and methodically threw pine shavings over her back. She hasn’t got the hang of actually getting any of the shavings on her tiny back.

In the meantime Barley came out of the nest box shouting her head off. I checked and her white egg was underneath Emerald. I took it away and five minutes later I checked on Cinnamon again and she had laid her egg. She seems to lay quickly once she settles down.

I then checked on Emerald again and there was her beige egg and she came out of the nest box. Phew! Three out of four and just one to go. Freckles went into the right hand nest box. The next time I checked Freckles was out and her tiny egg was in the nest box. Four out of four done and peace returned once more. Freckles egg was eight days after her, three day broody spell, which was exactly the same as last time. Her eggs are small and are beige in colour and almost round in shape.

Today’s eggs

Freckles round egg is on the left, then Cinnamon’s, which is a bit smaller than her last one. This may be because she has laid two days running this time. Next is Barley’s white egg and then on the right Emerald’s beige egg.

The colour differences don’t show as well in photos but Peaches, Barley’s and Speckles eggs are white and Emerald’s are easy to identify as they are beige.

The problem now is how the three amigos get to a nest box without my help on the occasions when several girls want to lay at once.

We have toyed with the idea of making another nest box but if the other girls chase them from it, it won’t help. My husband suggested putting some crisp boxes in for the moment, to see if they get used, before he embarks on making wooden ones. Crisp boxes have worked in the past.

There always seems to be some drama playing out at the moment and we still have Apricot to start laying yet.

When I got back at lunch time yesterday and checked the nest boxes I found what must be Cinnamon’s second egg.

I have several reasons that I think it has to be Cinnamon’s egg. Dandelion had laid another thin shelled egg under her roost spot in the morning. Her first egg was laid in the run. Her second egg was laid eight days later under her roost spot and this one five days later under her roost spot. All her eggs have had pale, thin shells. I think she is having a problem with her laying and I am beginning to wonder if, like Amber, she is going to remain a problem layer. I hope that I am wrong and that she improves in time.

Rusty and Freckles have both had short broody spells. After three days of constantly lifting them from the nest box they have come out of it. Last time Freckles did this she took eight days off. This time she hasn’t laid for seven days so far. Rusty hasn’t laid for eleven days. Both girls lay small, round, beige shelled, eggs.

Apricot still isn’t squatting or showing any signs of wanting to lay and her comb is still small and pale. Silkie feathered girls are slower to mature and Rusty started laying a month later than Freckles so I expect Apricot to lay a month later than Dandelion and Cinnamon.

This egg was in the same nest box that Cinnamon laid her first egg in. There were deep nest, wells, in the corners of the chicken shed so I assume she tried several spots like last time and also this egg is pale shelled and the biggest, serama egg, laid so far.

It looks as if Cinnamon is going to be a good layer like Freckles. I wonder if straight feathered girls are better layers.

Cinnamon’s second egg on the left

From left to right is Cinnamon’s second egg, Cinnamon’s first egg, Freckles last egg and Rusty’s last egg.

Cinnamon’s second egg on the left

Cinnamon’s second, then first egg, on the left of the stand. The first egg is often either very small or very large so it will be interesting to see if her eggs remain a good size. We often joked that we thought her eggs would be tiny because she is such a tiny girl but I know from past experience that the size of the girl doesn’t always relate to the size of the egg.

It is good to know that she chose the nest box this time without any help from me. What a clever little girl she is.

We have a metal hopper for grit and oyster shell on the chicken’s patio. This means it is available at all times. Chickens need grit to help grind their food as they have no teeth to do the job and oyster shell gives them calcium to help make strong egg shells.

The three amigos don’t go to the patio so I put a little dish of grit and oyster shell in the run. The problem is that if it is on the ground it will get dirt scratched into it so I put it on the block behind their food and water dish but when it rained it filled up with water. The rain drips on to the block.

What I needed was another hopper similar to the one on the patio. I bought this from a pet shop six years ago. It is meant as a rabbit feeder. I have since looked for another one, in all the pet shops around us, but haven’t been able to find this sort of hopper again. My husband said he would make me one out of wood.

We put it near the three amigos feeding station, in a part of the run that stays dry (since we recently had the new roof on this part), except for rain blowing in through the weld mesh. The roof of the hopper will keep, wind blown rain, out.

We fixed it quite low so that it is the right height for the little girls. As usual the nosiest girls investigated it straight away.

A box for grit and oyster shell

The four bigger girls investigated it straight away

Emerald pecked at the grit

Barley pecked at the grit

Freckles has a look at the grit

I also saw Apricot have a peck at it too but I was too far away from her to get a photograph. I think once again, when the novelty wears off for the bigger girls, the rest of the little girls will have a chance to investigate. I hope this will mean that Dandelion will take some and her egg shells will improve.

I am pleased with the new grit dispenser. I think it is perfectly placed for the three amigos to find it.

I have known that Cinnamon was getting ready to lay her first egg for a few days. She has been squatting for a while but over the last few days she has been coming up to the patio area, without persuasion, which she has never done before. She has also been much more vocal.

Yesterday afternoon I felt that she wanted to lay her first egg. She just couldn’t work out which was the best and the safest place to lay it. She would go into one nest box then the other nest box. She would go into the chicken shed. She would go to the roof of the little coop nest boxes and chat to me as if she wanted me to help her.

She would have a spin round each nest box and then march into the run at speed. She jumped to the roof of the new chicken shelter and looked up as if she would like to go higher. She went to the shelf of the chicken new shelter and then to the perch.

She went to each corner of the chicken shed then to the bigger girls’ perch and again looked up as if she wanted to go higher.

She went back to the roof of the little coop and seemed to be asking me what to do. I made the decision to put her in the little coop nest box and close it up.

I didn’t want to shut her in the chicken shed where she was going to the highest perch which is not suitable for egg laying. I didn’t want to have her stressing about this any longer. I stayed by her while she scratched and scratched and scratched. I had already put an extra layer of pine shavings in the nest box because, knowing how deep she likes her dust holes, I knew she would want a deep nest for her egg.

I waited until she had stopped scratching and had settled down and then I quietly and gently opened the nest box. I didn’t want to leave her shut in, but just wanted her to settle.  When she stayed put I withdrew and returned a short time later.

She was still trying to flick pine shavings on her back but missing it and I could see her egg underneath her.

Cinnamon on top of the new shelter

In one of the nest boxes

In the chicken shed

On the shelf of the new shelter

On the perch of the new shelter

Cinnamon in the nest box

She finally gets her egg laid

Cinnamon’s first egg on the left, Freckles in the middle and Rusty’s on the right

Cinnamon’s egg on the left of the egg stand

It is longer but slimmer than Freckles and Rusty’s round eggs. It is paler shelled like Dandelion’s eggs and so narrow that it drops through the egg stand. It’s a good sized egg for her tiny size though.

That wasn’t half a drama but let’s hope finding the right place to lay the next egg comes easier. Well done Cinnamon!

Cinnamon has developed a habit of popping out to see me when I check that the girls are all in the chicken shed at bedtime. I go up and check on them after dinner and they will all be in their usual spots. The bigger girls on the higher back perch, Rusty and Freckles on the perch on the left and the three amigos on the perch on the right.

Cinnamon will then pop back out and she always goes and stands on the little coop nest box and chats away to me. It is quite heart warming that this tiny, shy girl, now seems to seek me out at bedtime.

Sometimes she goes back in on her own and sometimes I pick her up and place her back on her perch. I know that if I wasn’t there she would just stay in the chicken shed so it isn’t a problem.

Cinnamon looks at me

Cinnamon chats to me

She is such a sweet, tiny girl, but she has unusually big feet for her size. These are her amazing, digger, feet. We think all the digging she does has made her feet big for her size.

I love these little moments with this sweet girl.

We just happened t be in the chicken run when there was a sudden hail storm. I had my camera in my pocket. The hail on the roof was really loud and the entire flock moved from the far part of the run to the part of the run by the patio.

The bigger girls and Rusty headed straight for the new shelter. Emerald ended up beside it rather than inside it but the other three bigger girls and Rusty went straight inside.

Some of the girls run straight to the new shelter during a hail storm

They must feel safe in here

Freckles and the three amigos were hanging out on the other side of the wire just opposite the new shelter.

It was quite a good moment because it showed that some of the girls felt the shelter would protect them even though this part of the run is all covered and dry anyway. My husband remarked that they could always go to the patio or chicken shed but as I have always thought, they prefer a sheltered spot in the run, to the cover of the patio.

It makes me think that in poor conditions they may actually use the shelter, conditions such as windy or frosty days. Time will tell but at least there is now a choice of two shelters and it was interesting to see how quickly some of the girls ran to this shelter when the hail was really loud.

It’s good to think that they felt this was a safe haven. I am really pleased with this new shelter. It has only been in the run a few days and all new things take time for chickens to get used to but this shows that this shelter may prove to be a future hit with the girls.