Carol's Chickens

Whenever I lift the lid to the nest box to see if there is an egg some of the girls come running to have a look too.

Yesterday it was Honey and Emerald’s turn.

Honey and Emerald check out the nest box

They both have pink combs

Later in the day Barley was missing and I could hear scratching in the nest box. I peeped in and she was settled so I went off to get my camera. I am trying to gain evidence of which girl is laying.

By the time I got back Honey and Peaches had disturbed Barley and she came out of the nest box shouting.

Barley is cross

This was the photo I ended up with. Barley is tossing her comb in annoyance while Peaches keeps her company anyway.

I thought that at least when I found an egg later I would know that it would probably be Barley’s.

Later when the guys came to do the work in the run I checked the same nest box. Topaz stepped out when I lifted the lid and there was an egg. Now I still can’t be completely sure but I think it is most probably Barley’s egg and Topaz just went in to sit on it. She came out quietly with no egg shout.

So far I have credited four eggs to Barley and two to Topaz but I now have my doubts. I think that all six were probably Barley’s eggs. Looking back at when Barley and Peaches  first started laying, Barley started two weeks before Peaches and laid at about the same rate of the eggs we are getting now. I can’t be sure without catching them in the act but I think I am going to alter my record to Barley laying all six eggs.

Only time will tell.

Recently I had been thinking that the fence in the chicken run was the most vulnerable boundary. It is our next door neighbours fence and we had the run built using this as part of the boundary. We knew our long standing neighbours really well and they were fine with this.

They moved out a few years ago and we have had two short stay neighbours since and now a third couple. They are expecting their first baby in May so we hope they are here to stay. However we got to thinking that if they ever decided to replace a fence panel our run would then be open. Also at the bottom it is dark and damp and if it rotted that would also leave our run compromised.

We came up with the idea of cladding it on our side with marine ply boards like we have on the inside of the patio area. We arranged for our usual guys to come and do the job for us. Apart from building the chicken run for us they have been back many times to extend and improve. I said this would be the last chicken run job we would need but I have probably said that before.

Inside the existing fence we had sunk vertical house tiles then buried horizontal house tiles on top of chicken wire to make the run predator proof and rat proof. This meant the marine ply boards only needed to go to the ground.

This afternoon the guys arrived to do the work.

The chicken run fence as it was before work began

First the batons go on to the fence

The first sheet of marine ply goes on

The second sheet goes on

While the third sheet was being cut to size the girls moved in to see what was going on. They are all in the photo below but Toffee hardly shows up as she is by the bush.

The girls inspect

The third sheet goes on

The job is completed and Barley inspects

The girls were not at all bothered by the work going on today and were as usual being very nosey.

We are really pleased with this as we feel it makes the run safer and stronger. In the summer we will invite our new neighbours to see the girls but as they work long hours and the days have been short we haven’t yet had the chance.

Thank you guys for a job well done.

My husband said recently that he thought our patio set, on the top patio next to the chickens, was looking very shabby and could do with replacing. The chairs had come apart and he had glued them back together but the glue which was supposed to dry clear had dried white.

We have had this set for the nine years that we have lived here. My husband mentioned it was shabby but we hadn’t actually decided to go out and look for another set.

Today I was in a store called “Family Bargains”. I was actually looking for something to use as a kitchen waste compost bucket. Our bucket has started letting in water and the last lot of kitchen waste was swimming in water and going mouldy. Yuk!

I then saw the exact same patio set as the one on our top patio but it was only £19.99. I couldn’t believe how cheap it was. I am sure we paid much more than that for our original set.

When I got home I told my husband and he said we should go together to check it out. It was too good a bargain to pass up so we bought it.

Old patio set

New patio set

My husband said I should put these two photos here and say “look what my husband did to our patio set”.

Last year when we bought a small table and two chairs to go by the back door we couldn’t find anything under £50.00. At £19.99 my husband says you couldn’t even buy the wood if you wanted to make it yourself. This really is a bargain and was a lucky find.

There always seems to be something. I felt elated that Butterscotch had pin feathers on her head meaning she was moulting and not having her feathers pulled. Then we saw Topaz pulling the pins from her head.

Each time we have seen this we have shouted at Topaz and moved her away. Unfortunately pins can be irresistible. I had been trying to photograph Butterscotch’s pins without much success (she bobs her head constantly) and today while she was in the nest box laying her egg I got the chance.

The bad news is that there are less than half the amount of pins she did have. I feel so disappointed.

Butterscotch in the nest box

The little white dots on her head are the pins but there are not nearly as many as there were a few days ago.

As soon as I look at a girl in the nest box another girl wants to look too. This time it is Honey who has started looking in the nest boxes over the last few days.

Honey comes in to take a look

Butterscotch and Honey

Honey started laying in the middle of March last year so I would expect it to be a bit longer before she starts laying.

When I lift the nest box lid to check on Butterscotch she doesn’t move or make a sound. When another girl looks in, or joins her like Honey in this photo, she merely turns her head to look at her.

When either I lift the nest box lid or a girl looks in at Topaz she comes out shouting her head off. Topaz really is an angry bird. She also spends a lot of time sitting in the nest box but not laying and also sitting on any other girl’s eggs once they have laid.

A little later Butterscotch gave the egg shout and I caught Topaz going in to sit on her egg. Once I removed the egg Topaz lost interest. This means I really can’t be sure if Topaz has laid any eggs or not.

I usually know who has laid by seeing them sitting in the nest box but so far I haven’t seen any girl sit in the nest box other than Topaz and Butterscotch. Barley was stood over the first egg next to the food dish so we were sure she had started laying. Topaz is often in the nest box but when she leaves there is no egg.

Butterscotch’s eggs are distinct so that’s easy but the rest of the eggs I am guessing at the moment between Barley and Topaz. We have had two days when we had two eggs which were Butterscotch’s and another. I have put the last two down to Topaz but I can’t be sure.

Last night’s bedtime line up

We have four very red combs belonging to Topaz, Speckles, Peaches and Barley. These are the girls that I would expect to be laying now or very soon but with the conundrum of Topaz in the mix it’s hard to say. Butterscotch has a black/purple comb but is a good egg layer between going broody.

Oh well, time will tell but an upswing in eggs is a bonus.

This winter has been exceptionally mild. We usually turn our heating on in November but this year we didn’t have the heating on until just before Christmas. We found that having an open fire in the sitting room each evening was enough for us.

The fire in our sitting room

Sitting room fire

We only have our heating come on for an hour (two if it’s really cold) each morning and again each evening. At weekends when instead of working we are sitting in the dining room reading the papers we put the heating on for a bit extra as it soon feels cold when just sitting in here. My husband decided that instead of doing this we should have a small fire in here.

dining room fire

We are trying to be more frugal and keep our bills down. My husband now gets the winter fuel allowance and this covers our coal and logs.

We are starting to think more carefully about how to reduce our bills as we slow down with work towards retirement.

We have recently made much more effort to turn lights off and only light the room we are in. We are quite sure that by being more careful we can reduce our bills which have been rather high in the past. We are making it second nature to be more frugal. We hope that by making small changes we can cut down our outgoings and it is really lovely to see an open fire and feel it’s warmth. There is something very comforting about an open fire.

Butterscotch laid her first egg after her two week break the day before yesterday. Her first egg is often a small one as this one was. I think because she is moulting at the moment she missed laying the next day. Whenever she misses a day she always lays at first light the next morning and often lays a bigger egg after a missed day.

This morning was no exception and there under her roost spot first thing this morning was a larger egg.

Butterscotch’s eggs

Her first egg is on the left and today’s egg is on the right.

Five recent eggs

I think the egg on the left is Topaz’s larger egg. The middle two are Butterscotch’s and I think the two on the right are Barley’s eggs.

We will have our own eggs for breakfast tomorrow and hopefully there will soon be more on the way.

Yesterday I visited Jackie’s girls then bought her back to mine to visit my girls. All my photos were of the girls with their heads down as Jackie had just given them some meal worms but they show how beautiful their plumage is after their moult.

Jackie’s girls

Blossom, Chelsea and Bluebell

They all have lovely red combs. Chelsea and Bluebell are laying and Blossom is getting ready to start by being more vocal  than usual and checking out the nest box.

Jackie has decided she is ready for new girls so we are going back to the farm in Windsor next month. I can’t wait to see some new girls.

I never thought that I would be so pleased to say that one of the girls is moulting. I thought that Butterscotch may have had her crest feathers pulled out but I now think she is just moulting. I am just beginning to see some tiny pins on her head.

She has a v shaped gap in her breast feathers which caused me to worry that some feathers may have been plucked. While I was trying to gather my photographic evidence, Butterscotch walked towards me and a couple of feathers fluttered to the ground from the v shaped gap on her breast.

I haven’t seen any feather plucking recently but the fact that she had had her comb pecked in the chicken shed and then started losing head feathers lead me to worry that she was being plucked. It now seems that the two things were just a coincidence. Sorry, Honey, for suspecting you of this. I think that because of my past history in the flock I am a bit paranoid of this happening.

I have tried to get some photos but Butterscotch constantly bobs her head and it is very difficult to get clear shots.

This was Butterscotch a few days ago

I thought I could see little white dots which may be pins coming through. They don’t show up as much as the black dots on the girls with dark feathers. Blond feathers coming through are more difficult to see.

Butterscotch has pins just showing

This was tonight and I can now see more obvious white dots and in fact my husband commented that he thought he could see pins. It’s really tricky to see in a photograph but hopefully over the next few days it will be noticeable.

Butterscotch has a drink

Because it is so difficult to show what I want to I thought I would include this shot as I just love the way Butterscotch makes ripples as she drinks.

Butterscotch still has a few head feathers on this side

She has pins on the right side of her head but still has some feathers on the left side of her head. The white patch on her breast is where I saw some feathers drop from her and I can see some pins here too but the photos I took showing this came out blurred.

I am just so relieved that she is moulting and we haven’t got a return of the dreaded feather plucking. It really has become my worst fear. Butterscotch laid an egg yesterday but not today so maybe she needs to lay less and get on with her moult.

Nature will take it’s course and I will be watching her progress and taking photos along the way.

For the last few days I have been aware that Butterscotch was getting ready to lay again. She had become more vocal and was looking in the nest box.

She usually takes a two week break then starts laying again and today was day twelve of her break. This morning she had been in and out of the nest box a few times and so had Topaz. Both girls were being very vocal.

When I left to do my deliveries at quarter to eleven Butterscotch was settled in the nest box.

Butterscotch in the nest box

When I got back at lunch time Topaz was in this same nest box. I lifted the lid and Topaz came out and there were two eggs side by side.

One of the eggs was Butterscotch’s egg as they are distinct and the easiest of all to tell and that’s without the fact that Butterscotch only goes in the nest box to lay an egg or be broody. She doesn’t need endless practice like Topaz. Butterscotch’s egg was as always round with a satin finish and a slight pink tinge to it. The other egg was white and quite large so am guessing this was Topaz’s egg.

Two eggs today

The one on the right is Butterscotch’s egg without a doubt. I think the one on the left is Topaz’s.

It is tricky to be absolutely sure because I have put the last three eggs down to Barley as she was standing over the first one and she had been looking in the nest boxes and her comb is big and red. I haven’t actually seen her sitting in the nest box though but in the past she has always been quick to get the job done.

Topaz has been sitting in the nest box a lot but whenever she comes out and I check the nest box there has been no egg so I think it’s just her endless practice.

I can’t be absolutely sure if this egg is Topaz’s but I am going to mark it as hers for now. It’s a shame they don’t lay different colours and it’s a case of catching them in the nest box and a bit of guess work.

Butterscotch is the definite though. The photo may not show much colour difference but in the flesh that slightly pink satin finish is more obvious.

The good news is, this is the first two egg day, since August. Butterscotch has been single handed in keeping us in eggs since then. Bless her little cotton socks (feathered feet). Lets hope this is the start of an upturn in egg laying and I hope to be able to catch the girls in the nest box to be sure who each egg belongs to.

This morning my husband saw Honey go into the nest box for the first time this year. I went to check on her with my camera in hand.

Honey was back out but Topaz had gone in. Whenever I check on a girl in the nest box the other girls come running to have a look too. They are so nosey or maybe just so interested in the nest box action. Peaches was first to look through the door and Speckles was on top. You can just see her toes at the top of the photo.

Peaches checks on Topaz

Now Speckles and Toffee want to see too and Emerald is on her way over at the back of this photo

Speckles and Peaches peer in at Topaz

Topaz doesn’t like all this attention and marches out of the nest box.

All the girls gather by the nest boxes except for Butterscotch

Butterscotch is her own girl and doesn’t feel the need to join in with all this. Butterscotch is only interested in the nest box if she needs to lay an egg or if she is broody.

The lovely Speckles

I couldn’t resist another close up of Speckles. Because she came to us at the end of July and had already started her moult I had never seen her with a red comb. There are three lovely red combs in this photo and I am sure that Peaches and Speckles will be laying soon as well as Barley who has laid two eggs so far.

Butterscotch seems to have even less head feathers

I am sure that Butterscotch has less feathers on her head today. She has grey under feathers where her orange crest feathers used to be. This is such a shame and I really hope it doesn’t go beyond this.

We have concluded that Honey is the culprit but we haven’t seen this happen yet and are basing this on a few facts. Butterscotch roosts next to Honey. Honey did pull feathers from Butterscotch’s back when we first had her and we have never seen any other girl pull feathers ever.

My husband wondered if she could be moulting them but I think it is unlikely that just her head feathers would go although she does lose some feathers each time she takes a break from laying. It has never left any gaps before though. It is a mystery because we just don’t see it happening and are really guessing.

I am really hoping this will stop at this stage and not end up with her having a bare head. All the girls are looking so good apart from this. I find this upsetting but I know from past experience that there is nothing I can do about it. I just have to hope that it passes without getting any worse.