Carol's Chickens

In past gardens we have always had vigorous clematis but in our current garden which has a chalky soil we have lost many clematis plants and given up trying to grow them. There is just one variety which has really thrived and luckily it’s the one I think is the prettiest.

Close up of clematis blooms

Clematis blooms in the sunshine

Such a pretty plant

If only one clematis plant thrives in our garden I am glad that it is this one.

The day before yesterday Topaz laid her first egg in seven weeks after a week of not sitting on any eggs laid by the other girls. “Hurrah!” I thought.

Topaz had laid her egg in the afternoon so when she was sitting in the right hand little coop the next morning I thought “uh oh!”. I knew it would be too soon for her to lay again. I heard Barley shouting and checked the coops to find that Topaz was now in the left coop with Toffee.

A little later Toffee was back out so I decided to move Topaz out of the coop and found that she had been sitting on Barley and Toffee’s eggs. Does she really want to go broody again after laying only one egg! She came out shouting as usual but once distracted she stayed out.

This morning Emerald went in to the left coop. When I checked a little later Topaz was now in the left coop. After Topaz had been in there quite a long time I decided to move her and found that she was sitting on Emerald and Sparkle’s eggs. Sparkle’s eggs are quite distinct, oval with little spots on them. Once again Topaz was shouting and taking her anger out on any of the girls that came near her but she stayed out.

Does this mean that she is back in what I think of as her broody limbo. Is Topaz destined to be like this all the time and rarely lay any eggs. It does seem possible.

Topaz has appeared to be in what I call, a broody limbo, for the last couple of months. This means she doesn’t lay eggs and at any chance possible she would go into a nest box where another girl was laying and would sit on any eggs laid until I remove them. She would then come out of the nest box shouting and when another girl lays an egg the whole thing starts all over again but she didn’t fully commit to it.

She didn’t settle into a nest box for the duration like she did last summer when we were away a for a few days and didn’t remove the eggs. I wondered how long this would go on  as this was a new experience for me.

About five days ago Topaz stopped bothering to go in and sit on eggs. She stopped bothering going into the nest boxes at all. I wondered if a change was taking place.

Yesterday morning Peaches and Emerald laid their eggs in the left little coop and I removed them. Toffee had been looking in the left coop as if ready to lay her egg. When I next checked Topaz was in the left coop and I wondered if she was getting ready to lay again.

I checked  back a little while later and Topaz was now out in the run. I checked the left coop and there were two eggs. I felt certain that they were Toffee and Topaz’s eggs. Peaches and Barley’s eggs are white and Emerald had laid hers earlier. Honey only lays every two or three days and lays in the main coop nest box and her eggs are smaller and Amber hasn’t laid an egg since her first one this year. Sparkle laid the day before and her eggs are a distinct oval shape and often have little spots on them. These eggs were both the darker colour but one egg was dotted with little calcium blobs so I deduced that this was Topaz’s egg and she is back in lay. She had laid her last egg seven weeks ago.

Hurrah! This appears to be the end of Topaz’s broody limbo and it looks like she will be back laying eggs again. This is really good news. Well done Topaz, egg number nine this year. Perhaps she is back on track. Maybe she will even be better tempered now that she is back to “normal”, we can but hope.

Here is my hyacinth bucket a week later than my last photo of it with the blooms just reaching their peak.

Hyacinth bucket

I love the way the tulips react to the sun. In the morning and evening they are closed.

Closed tulips

Once the sun is on them they open and show their centres.

Open tulips

Yellow tulip

A week later and the buds on this shrub are now fully open.

Begonia

Shrub in full flower

Our pot of alyssum is now in full flower.

alyssum

It seems that there is a lot of white in the garden now and all the shrubs that were in bud a week ago are now in full flower.

This shrub is in full flower

I said in my last post that primula will self seed absolutely anywhere and this is an example.

Primula will self seed anywhere

It is amazing how much the garden changes in a week and it’s so lovely watching it unfold.

I took some photos of the garden a week ago but didn’t get round to doing the post I had intended as there were so many chicken things happening.

I have now taken some more photos a week later and already the garden is changing so I decided to do two posts, one of the garden a week ago and another of the garden now.

A week ago the flowering cherry tree was in full blossom but it has now passed over already.

Cherry blossom

A week ago the tulips were just in bud but are now fully open.

Tulips and helibores

primula denticulata

Different coloured primula

A week ago the white hyacinth was at it’s peak but has now gone over.

White hyacinth

Buds

This shrub was in bud a week ago but now is in full flower.

Primula and pulmonaria

More primula and pulmonaria

Primula and pulmonaria self seed all over our garden and at this time of year the garden is a mass of blue and yellow. I have given these plants to all our friends and neighbours and they still fill our garden. I love the spring colour they bring to the garden.

Yesterday Emerald had a broody day. The day before she had been in the nest box for quite a long time without laying an egg which had made me wonder if she was feeling broody. Yesterday Sparkle and Honey laid their eggs first and I collected them. Barley went into the left coop and later emerged shouting but by then Emerald had gone in the left coop.

I realised that Emerald had been in the coop a long time so went to investigate. She was all fluffed up. I reached under her and found Barley’s egg and Emerald’s egg. Emerald is such a sweet girl and totally different from Topaz. She allowed me to pick her up without any protest. I put her down outside the nest box and stroked her. I tempted her with a few sunflower hearts and she went off without making a sound.

Topaz would peck me and come out shouting but Emerald was so sweet about it. A little later I checked again and she had returned to the same coop. I lifted her out again and she rushed off to have a dust bath. I thought this was a good sign.

I checked a little while later and she was back in.  I picked her up again and put her outside and she rushed off to a lump of plant roots I had put in the run a few days earlier and furiously pecked and scratched at it. My husband said it looked as if she was taking her feelings out on that instead of me.

A lump of plant roots for the girls to peck at

This is the lump of root that Emerald ran to and pecked at furiously.

My husband checked on her later and she was in the coop again but this time he said she rushed out at speed and went straight to the food dish. By now it was quite late in the day and I was pleased that this time she stayed out.

After their pre-bedtime corn I checked again and some of the girls had gone to the high perches ready for bed but Emerald had returned to the left coop. I have never known any of the girls to go to one of the coops at bedtime. I picked her up and popped her on the high perch. She was such a good girl and didn’t protest but set about preening.

At dusk she was still on the perch with the rest of the girls so I put them all in the coop for the night.

Today Emerald hasn’t been in the nest box at all so I am hopeful that this has been enough to break her of it. With eight girls and three nest boxes, I really don’t want two broody girls.

Today I visited Jackie’s flock, we collected some goodies from the allotment for the girls, kale stalks, turf and dandelions, then Jackie visited my flock. Jackie said she would like to take over my camera and take some photos of me with my flock.

I did warn Jackie that I take a terrible photo, Steve can vouch for that! I usually get caught with my eyes closed or pulling a face. These are Jackie’s photos.

My sweet Emerald

Peaches, Barley and Emerald

Peaches and Barley

Giving the girls a dandelion

Emerald has pecked this leaf down to the stalk

A bit of turf for the girls

The girls are very happy with their gifts from the allotment. Thank you Jackie.

Usually the girls prefer a bit of privacy when laying their eggs and get upset when being watched by another girl or even worse have their chosen nest box invaded by another girl. They have been known to growl when another girl dares to approach them during egg laying.

But recently Toffee seems to prefer a bit of company while laying her egg. Yesterday she was in the right coop for a little while but when Honey went into the nest box in the main coop she joined her. I was surprised because only Honey and Amber ever sit in this nest box but suddenly Toffee was determined to sit with Honey.

When I returned with my camera I found Honey and Toffee’s egg side by side in the main coup nest box. I had missed the shot of them together.

Today Toffee sat in the right coop for a while but when Emerald went in the left coop Toffee joined her. I do wonder how they know!

Toffee went on to lay her egg next to Emerald. They look so sweet together and this time I was in time to get a photo.

Toffee and Emerald in the nest box together

I just love the way Toffee flicks the pine shavings over her back. It’s okay Toffee, no one can see you under those pine shavings. These girls do make me smile.

Two weeks ago I bought Jackie and myself a chicken bucket filled with hyacinths. Jackie e-mailed me a photo of her bucket today and her hyacinths are much more advanced than mine. I think her front garden gets more full sun than my back garden.

However my hyacinths are just beginning to open. I was  going to update when they reached their peak but have decided to show them in between as well.

Hyacinth bucket two weeks ago

Hyacinth bucket today

It’s getting there. I will update again when all the hyacinths are open.

Yesterday we had our first ever six egg day. The order was Barley first then Sparkle, Honey, Peaches, Emerald then Toffee. This is probably as good as it gets as Amber has only laid one egg this year so far and because of her egg laying problems right from the start I think she will slow down to only laying occasionally and that’s not a bad thing for her.

Topaz laid only six eggs last summer and this year laid eight eggs in two months but now hasn’t laid for five weeks. Topaz wants to go broody and spends her time following any girl about to lay into the nest box so that she can sit on their eggs. Because she doesn’t commit to staying broody, but gives up when I take the eggs away, she is in a kind of broody limbo. I wonder if this means she will just continue not to lay because there is nothing to kick start her off again. As this is a new experience for me it is a case of just wait and see.

This means that these two girls are out of the running at the moment so to get six eggs in one day from the other six is really quite amazing. I think this will be hard to beat.

I took a photo of three girls in the nest box recently and yesterday my husband found four girls in the nest box. They were Toffee, Emerald, Peaches and Topaz who just wanted to sit on the eggs as they were laid. Unfortunately I missed this which must have been an amusing sight and a great photo.

With this upswing in egg laying we have just had twenty seven eggs in the last seven days which is the most we have ever had in a week. I am enjoying being able to eat as many eggs as we want and still having some over to give away. I love looking in the fridge and seeing my neat egg rollers filling up and am really pleased with how easily the eggs now roll.

I just love this time of abundant egg laying and watching the girls trying to get the favourite nest box. I also love that somehow egg laying seems to give the girls an extra confidence. Emerald will now jump on to the inside gate (child gate) to greet me and sometimes will jump on to my arm or shoulder. She never used to be this confident. Even Toffee has become less shy and now accepts me being close to her and no longer moves away from me.

It really does seem that the girls are happy to be egg laying again. This is such a lovely time of year to be a chicken keeper.