Carol's Chickens

There seems to be an end of summer feel to the flock at the moment. None of the girls are laying, they are all either moulting or about to moult and they seem to spend a lot of time chilling together.

Very much a united flock

Eight girls chilling together

Speckles stays close to Honey

Speckles can often be found sitting next to Honey and sometimes Butterscotch, Speckles and Honey sit together. Honey seems to like hanging out with the new girls.

Honey never bothered Speckles as she was no threat to her position in the pecking order. She did used to go after Butterscotch as she wanted to show her that she wasn’t going to move her from her number two spot. It seems though, that the lesson has been learned and now it’s okay to hang out together. Honey no longer bothers Butterscotch and seems to like hanging out with the new girls.

Lately Honey has been spending a lot more time sleeping during the day, sometimes with her head under her wing, sometimes just dozing in a patch of sun. It struck me that she is beginning to feel her age.

Honey will soon be three years old and has had three summers of egg laying. I researched the average lifespan of bantam hens and most people seem to think that it’s about four to six years which would mean that Honey is getting old. She is still fast to the treats and likes to scratch and run around with a worm but she is definitely looking older and dozing much more.

Honey is looking older

There are exceptions with some chickens living up to twelve years or more and some breeds living longer than others. I read that game birds live longer than most breeds so that is good to know. Since losing Amber I have grown more fond of Honey as my only older girl. I really hope she has some more years in her yet as I would to hate to lose her.

As I have been finding it so easy to lift Butterscotch from the nest box and as she has no longer been showing any stress when she can’t get back in I increased the amount of times I lifted her out yesterday to five times and I kept her out for longer each time. The last time I took her out it was only an hour before the bedtime treats so I left the coops closed.

She did briefly go and perch on the top rung of the ladder in the chicken shed but she was back out in the run before I went in to give the bedtime sunflower hearts.

Today I had no deliveries to do so decided to spend some time in with the girls. I lifted Butterscotch out mid morning and closed the coops. I then dug over the run and found the girls some worms. This also leaves the earth loose so that they can scratch and there was an added bonus of a bit of sun too. Butterscotch seemed quite happy out in the run and was scratching and preening.

I then swept the patio area and cleaned the food and water bowls. By now it was nearly lunch time and Butterscotch still seemed happy. She no longer went and sat near the nest box. I decided to leave the coops shut as none of the girls are laying at the moment and I thought it would be good for Butterscotch to stay out in the run.

I checked on her frequently and she seemed to be back as part of the flock again. It was so nice to see her joining in.

Honey and Speckles seem to have become allies and I have found them sitting together a few times lately. This afternoon they were sat really close together in a patch of sun. Speckles was almost laying on Honey and they looked really sweet together.

Honey and Speckles

Butterscotch came and sat by them

It has been wet lately and the girls have looked miserable but today the sun brought them all together in the run which was so nice to see.

A close group of seven girls

They have a communal preening session

Butterscotch joins the flock

All eight girls together

This was so lovely to see. Every time I went up to the girls Butterscotch ran to greet me with the rest of the flock. Every time I looked out of the window I could see her among the flock. It is the seventh day since she went broody so I feel really pleased at how quickly this has progressed.

Apart from quietly clucking to herself she seems back to normal. I am going to keep the coops closed for now and see how she is tomorrow. I think we might just be through it.

I promise I won’t record every day but I am still learning about having a different type of broody from the perpetual broody Topaz.

We had some over ripe strawberries today so I gave them to the girls. They didn’t seem at all interested in them until I got Butterscotch out for a quick feed. She seemed to like them.

Butterscotch likes the strawberries

I’m glad someone likes them

I got Butterscotch out again at lunch time. What I do is lift her out and put her on the patio. She stays in her totally flat broody state until I either give her a nudge or throw some treats in front of her.

Butterscotch is so flat

Then she is so round

Then she goes off and has some pellets

Followed by more strawberries

I am happy to see her eat anything at all and she tops up with water has a poop and a bit of a preen. She then goes back to the nest box clucking away to herself.

Butterscotch is a sweet broody in comparison to Topaz but I want to keep her healthy and although she is easy to manage I will be glad when she comes out the other side.

However although she has been sweet with me she does peck at any girl who gets too close to her so the broody anger isn’t too far away.

Yesterday was the fourth day of Butterscotch being broody and we have now got into an easy routine. She is so easy to pick up which makes the whole process that much calmer and easier.

If she isn’t out when I go in to the girls in the morning I lift her out and throw out the corn. I lift her at lunch time and close the little coops for an hour so that she has a proper feed and drink, poop and scratch.

I lift her again before five o’clock and close the coops again so she tops up before bedtime then she goes in to the chicken shed and roosts on the ladder.

She has become calm and the shouting only lasted for the first day. She now just clucks to herself.

Having just written my comparison post of the committed and non committed broody I thought I would update with a photo of Topaz looking so good with a really red comb and wattles. This is what you look like when you are healthy girl that doesn’t lay eggs.

A portrait of Topaz taken yesterday

She always has a bit of an angry gleam in her eye, it’s like she is asking why I have to shove a camera in her face.

When I have put Butterscotch out at lunch time I know when it’s time to let her back in again by her behaviour which has been exactly the same each day. If I didn’t shut the little coops she would have some water then go straight back in because she always heads back to the coop after a quick drink.

When she finds it shut she goes back to the apple, pellets and water and then goes into the run and poops and scratches for a bit. She repeats this a couple of times. Once she is in need of going back in she walks around the little coops and looks as if she is trying to work out where the door has gone.

If she can’t get in she will just sit down. I let her do this yesterday for the purpose of photographing her but will in future let her straight back in at this stage as I don’t want to cause her any stress.

Butterscotch is looking for the missing door

It’s got to be here somewhere

I’ll just sit here then

hurrah! I have found the door

I can get settled again

As soon as I open the door she finds it as if she has a sixth sense telling her it is open again. She was through the door so quick that the photo of her going in was the only shot that I managed to get.

Meanwhile the favourite spot for the rest of the girls in the afternoon is the table.

Group hang out

Topaz on this occasion is under the table (I am resisting an alcohol related comment here, you can supply your own!) but she is usually on the table too. It is a firm favourite for Topaz, Toffee, Emerald and Speckles. Butterscotch and Honey never bother with it and Peaches and Barley usually go for the perch next to it.

I think Butterscotch being heavier and less agile can’t be bothered and the same goes for Honey being an older girl. I have to say this table has been one of the things incorporated into the run that has proved most popular. Originally I put it there to shelter the bit of the run that gets the most wet when it rained but it soon proved to be such a favourite spot that I now wouldn’t dream of moving it.

And so we have a calm routine going and I think we will sail through Butterscotch being broody and will just wait it out until our super egg layer gets started again.

Last night after the bedtime corn, Butterscotch went to her usual roosting spot on the top rung of the ladder and stayed there this time.

This morning when I went out to the girls she was already in the little coop nest box. I lifted her out and sat her on the patio then threw out the morning hand full of corn. She ran to the corn then returned to the nest box.

Butterscotch is a committed broody unlike Topaz. The good thing is that she will probably lay well between bouts of being broody unlike Topaz who doesn’t lay beyond her first clutch of the year.

Butterscotch has already laid more eggs in three weeks than Topaz has laid in two years.

Anyone who keeps chickens will know all about hens going broody. Jackie recently sent me a link that someone had sent her about broody hens. He called it ” Broody hens, the ultimate guide with sixty one common questions answered” and described it as detailed information in six thousand words! Phew!

I read it all … Heavy!! It didn’t tell me anything that I didn’t already know and it didn’t touch on the conundrum that is Topaz.

But I am just going to answer the question my mum asked me yesterday for other non chicken keepers like her. She asked me why a broody sits when there is no egg to sit on.

It is a surge of hormones that causes a hen to go broody. To be successful in hatching eggs the hen must be committed (unlike Topaz) and the instinct must be strong.

There is no thought process to this. Butterscotch doesn’t wonder where her eggs are. If she was capable of thinking the process through she would know that even if there were any eggs, after a night roosting on the top rung of the ladder, her non existent eggs would now be cold and therefore could not hatch. She would also be able to suss out that yesterday when I closed the coops and she couldn’t get back in, there was no point in sitting next to the coop instead because the non existent eggs were not outside the coop.

There is no such logic from a hen she is just programmed to sit and sit to give any potential eggs the best chance of hatching.

I can’t believe that this summer I briefly considered giving Topaz away. My reasoning behind this was that she often seems angry while being perpetually broody and she may be more fulfilled if she had the chance to sit on some eggs. But unlike Butterscotch (who would probably make a great mum) Topaz doesn’t commit. She will sit on any of the girls eggs until I remove them then she will give up. She will sit in the nest box until she hears me come through the gate at lunch time. She knows I bring some fruit at this time so she leaves the nest box to peck at the treats and forgets about being broody.

Topaz would probably be a terrible mum. Like people some hens are really good mums, some manage it okay and some are not so good at it. I realised that Topaz is my unique girl and belongs here with her flock and it wouldn’t be the right thing for her to go somewhere else. I just needed to figure it out.

I am stuck with, I mean that in the nicest possible way, a hen that doesn’t lay eggs despite being in the peak of health but she is probably as happy a hen as she can be. This is the way life is for Topaz.

So there you have it, two different type of broodies. Many chicken keepers have broody hens like Butterscotch but I still have yet to come across anyone else who has a girl like Topaz. If any one does have a “Topaz” I would be interested to hear from you.

Today we made some new nest boxes for the chicken shed from some wooden wine boxes that we had.

A wooden wine box

Butterscotch was in the nest box in her trance like broody state so I picked her up and tried her in the wine box to see if it was big enough.

I tried Butterscotch in it for size

She allowed me to pick her up and put her in the wine box then pick her up again and return her to the nest box without moving a muscle.

We set about adapting the wine boxes

One of the new nest boxes

The other new nest box

We put one each side of the shed because we didn’t want them under the perch or ladder where they would get pooped on but we didn’t want them to restrict the ladder being lifted up for cleaning either.

I tried butterscotch in the new nest box

As butterscotch was so easy to move I decided to try her in the new box. I shut the shed door and to my surprise she stayed put in the new box. At lunch time she came out on her own.

I closed the little coop nest boxes so that she would stay out for a bit and she actually stayed out for an hour, eating, drinking, pooped, scratched and preened. She then walked all round the little coop nest boxes as if trying to work out where the door had gone. Finally she sat down next to the little coop nest box so I opened them up again and she went straight in. I didn’t want to stress her.

We decided the new nest boxes needed a bit of wood on their front to make the girls feel secure.

A little improvment

And the other one

The girls came in to investigate.

Honey takes a look

Peaches takes a look

Peaches did jump into the new nest box but she had jumped back out again before I managed to click the camera.

I am not sure that this will help with Butterscotch at the moment but I think it will help in the spring and it will give the girls plenty of time to get used to the new boxes. Also I think Butterscotch being my biggest girl, followed by Toffee and Topaz, may find the new boxes a bit small but I think the rest of the girls will fit in them easily and Peaches and Barley have already laid an egg each in the shed before now so they may take to the new boxes.

I will tempt Butterscotch out of the nest box with sunflower seeds again tonight at five o’clock and then close the little coop nest boxes. That way she can either roost on the ladder or go in one of the new boxes. I will report back tomorrow to update on how this works out.

That wasn’t quite the end of Butterscotch’s first broody day. We went up to check on the girls after our evening meal as we always do. I looked in the shed and thought “uh oh, where is Butterscotch?”. She was missing.

I checked the nest box and sure enough she was back in there. I lifted her out and put her just inside the pop hole. She just sat on the floor of the shed for a few minutes then she suddenly came back out shouting her head off.

She rushed over to the pellets and proceeded to alternately shout and eat. It went BOC BOC peck, BOC BOC peck, BOC BOC peck. She had a good feed and some more water.

Meanwhile we decided to put the nest box in the shed as a temporary measure. We thought that perhaps if she got used to it being in there we wouldn’t have to disturb her at bedtime.

The nest box is now inside the shed

Butterscotch makes her way back in

Butterscotch jumped on to the nest box

I should have known that simply putting the nest box in a different place probably wasn’t going to work. She never attempted to look inside it but simply used it as a stepping stone to the ladder.

On the top rung of the ladder and still shouting

She continued to shout for a bit then settled down on the top of the ladder.

This morning she was once again out in the run until I had given out the corn. Then she promptly went back into the nest box again.

We have decided to postpone our day out today. Richard suggested that a bank holiday weekend will be busy and we may be better going for a day out another time, plus he has a D.I.Y. project on the go, maintaining the bedroom doors and windows. But mainly we can keep an eye on Butterscotch and we are going to install some nest boxes inside the chicken shed.

This may help Butterscotch for now and will ease things along in the spring when the egg laying starts again.

Butterscotch has just laid twenty eggs in twenty three days with her last twelve eggs in twelve days. Yesterday by late afternoon she was sat in the nest box when I realised that she had been in there rather a long time. I decided to lift her to see if she had laid her egg.

She had indeed laid her egg and she also pecked my hand which was something she hadn’t done before. Uh Oh! I thought. Was she going broody? As it was nearing bedtime I decided to force her out and she shouted loudly. I distracted her with sunflower hearts. She calmed down then a little later made her way back to the nest box. I closed both nest boxes as it was nearly bedtime and I thought there was just a chance that if I kept her out until bedtime she would have got over it by morning.

When I went in this morning all the girls were out in the run. I gave them their morning corn and as soon as it was gone Butterscotch went into the nest box. As she had laid her egg late afternoon yesterday I knew it was too soon for her to lay this morning and therefore, yes, she has gone broody.

Butterscotch in the nest box

Butterscotch growling at me

She growled at me which is another sure sign. Her growl sounded like a snore.

I have read a lot about broodies and some people like to get them out once a day for food, water, poop and possibly a dust bath. Other’s say that this causes them more stress and if left alone they will do this on their own.

Last year when Topaz actually committed to being a proper broody I got her out at lunch time each day. She would puff herself up and come out shouting with anger. She would peck me if she could and peck any girl who got near her. This went on for three weeks before she suddenly snapped out of it.

Butterscotch is even louder than Topaz when she shouts. I have decided to try to do it differently with her. I am going to leave her be and just keep a close eye on her. I am hoping that she will be smart enough to come out when she needs too. The patio area where the nest box is, is in shade and is cool so I don’t need to worry that she will over heat.

I checked on her at lunch time.

Honey checks on Butterscotch

My girls are so nosey that when ever I check the nest box they do too. Honey took a look in  the nest box and Barley also came over to see what was going on. Butterscotch had her head tucked down into her breast and was in the trance like state that they enter when broody.

A few hours later I checked on her again as did the girls.

Peaches, Barley and Honey check on Butterscotch

Peaches and Barley keep an eye on Butterscotch while Topaz and Honey discuss the situation

Barley goes in for a closer look

Barley nudged past Butterscotch on her way back out and Butterscotch growled at her. I thought we had better give her some privacy.

At five o’clock I went in to give the pre bedtime sunflower hearts and tempted Butterscotch out of the nest box with them. She joined the other girls pecking at the seeds.

Butterscotch joins in with the seeds

She then had a peck at some apple

Then a drink of water

She then went to the other water dish for another drink

Butterscotch drank loads of water. She then went off into the run and did an enormous broody poop before having a frantic scratch.

She has a quick scratch

A quick jump up to the table on her way back

I have no idea why she needed to jump on the table but she soon made her way back to the patio. By now all the girls had gone in to the shed and Butterscotch went back to the nest box but I had closed them both. She hovered by them for a few minutes then went in to bed.

Butterscotch is off to bed

I think I will continue with this routine as long as she doesn’t appear to be losing condition. Some days I will be out during the day (for work) and tomorrow we have planned a day out so this will fit in with our day. We will make sure we are back before five o’clock to make sure she has food and water before bedtime.

I guess we were lucky to get twenty eggs before she went broody. If she lays this well in between going broody we will count ourselves lucky. Time will tell how long this broody phase will last.

Peaches moult seems to have speeded up whereas Barley is just losing the odd feather. I took this photo of them together for comparison.

Peaches and Barley

Peaches is looking really tatty

Poor Peaches

Barley actually looks quite pristine in comparison. This is their first moult so I didn’t know how quickly they would moult. Peaches wouldn’t win any beauty competitions at the moment. I am sure she will soon be back to her beautiful self.

At the moment I give the girls their bedtime treat of a hand full of sunflower seeds at five o’clock. From about half past four the girls are all lined up at the the bottom of the run waiting for me. When I go up at five o’clock they follow me up to the gate with great excitement.

They soon hoover up the sunflower seeds and then scratch for about fifteen minutes more just in case they have missed any. After this they have a quick top up on pellets or water and then make their way into the shed. They all want the top perch and all the original girls settle on the top perch with Speckle sometimes making it and sometimes being chased down to the top rung of the ladder.

Butterscotch however doesn’t join in with this rush to try and get to the top perch. Butterscotch stays out in the run wandering around and scratching and pecking. She has an hour of peace every evening alone in the run. I think that she knows she isn’t going to get to the top perch so she doesn’t rush herself but instead enjoys this extra hour in the run with no one to give her any hassle.

At half past five all the girls are on the top perch except Butterscotch

Speckles is tucked in at the back on the right hand side behind Topaz and is only just visible.

Butterscotch wanders around the run pecking at the ground

At six o’clock Butterscotch is still out in the run

At half past six Butterscotch heads towards the patio area

She strides towards the shed

It’s her time to go in

Butterscotch takes her usual place on the top rung of the ladder

It’s the same pattern every day with Butterscotch going in an hour behind the others. There is never any danger of her not making it in time as the automatic door won’t close until over an hour later. Butterscotch is smarter than she looks and I think she probably finds this the best hour of her day. What a clever girl she is.