Carol's Chickens

Three years ago when I started chicken keeping with big girls I bought an egg skelter. I liked the idea that as you add fresh eggs to the top of the skelter and take the older eggs from the bottom you know that you are always using them in order. I thought it worked very well.

Then I had a mix of big girls and bantams but as the bantam eggs were wedged between the big eggs it still worked reasonably well.

Last year I made the change over to all bantams and now that all eight are laying and the eggs are abundant again I found the skelter no longer worked for so many small eggs. I was having to tease the eggs down the skelter each time I took some from the bottom as they are too small to roll and sometimes they tip up vertically and drop through the track. It was time for a change.

I did a bit of research and could have bought another skelter with slightly narrower tracks but I wasn’t convinced this would make enough of a difference. I didn’t like the look of the ramps which are in a horseshoe shape. Then I found some rollers which are straight and solid and designed for very small eggs. As they are solid the eggs can’t fall through and the slight slope allows them to roll.

They don’t take up much space and are very inexpensive. They are supposed to take eight eggs each so I ordered three which would hold as many as a skelter and even three plus postage was less cost than one skelter.

I offered my skelter to Jackie and took it to her on my visit yesterday. Jackie was really pleased with it and I was pleased to give it a good home.

Today the egg rollers arrived and they work really well with the eggs rolling down easily. They also hold nine of my small eggs. I am really pleased with them.

My new egg rollers

Egg rollers from another angle

This is such a simple idea and will make selecting the eggs really quick and easy. Sometimes a simple change can make something so much better.

While visiting Jackie yesterday we took a quick trip to the allotments and picked some chard for our girls and dug up some more dandelions.

The dandelions with not much root went into the run this morning for the girls and the ones with good roots went into a pot by the chicken run gate. I plan on putting the pot in for the girls to strip then bringing it out to regrow.

Dandelions in the run

Sparkle is missing as she is laying her egg

Dandelion pot

Peaches is checking out the pot. These girls are so spoilt.

Today is the one year anniversary of Bluebell going to join Jackie’s flock. This was the turning point in my flock and the outcome of this move is a happy ending all round.

Pepper, Dotty and Bluebell were pulling feathers from each other and from my bantams. Bluebell having been bottom girl before the bantams joined the flock bullied them as she didn’t want to be bottom girl any longer. Bluebell was a favourite of Jackie’s and I said in frustration that if Jackie wanted her she could have her. To my surprise she agreed.

Bluebell was re-named Blossom as Jackie already had a Bluebell and she settled into Jackie’s flock like a dream. Jackie has since added two new girls with no problems and Blossom has grown back her feathers and her little head crest.

This success lead to me re-homing Pepper and Dotty on a nearby farm where we buy our disposables. I visit them from time to time and nearly a year later they are still happy with the farm flock and have plenty of space to free range. I caught up with them a few weeks ago.

Meanwhile I have added to my flock and now have eight happy bantams that are fully feathered and there is no feather pulling or bullying. It turned out happily for all parties.

Today I went to visit Jackie and her flock armed with my camera. Blossom was having a bit of a bad hair day with her head crest looking a little dishevelled but she is still looking lovely.

Blossom

Jackie’s flock of six girls

Blossom, Bonnie and Bluebell

Blossom

Blossom and top girl Clover

Chelsea, Clover, Blossom and Ruby with Bonnie in the background

It is so good to see such a happy flock and Jackie’s offer to take Bluebell now Blossom a year ago completely changed the course of my flock for the better. I am so glad to have Jackie as a good friend and so glad she adopted Blossom  giving such an all round happy outcome.

There is always one favourite nest box. It seems to be the one that is chosen by the first girl of the day to lay. After this all the girls want this nest box and the others will remain unused. The current favourite nest box is the left little coop and today was no exception.

I had heard Barley give out her egg shout but when I went up to check Barley was back in the run. However Toffee, Emerald and Topaz were missing. Toffee and Emerald had been showing interest in the nest box earlier so I knew they were due to lay.

This was what I found.

The favourite nest box

Poor Toffee is squashed in the middle between Emerald and Topaz. A short time later Emerald emerged. I couldn’t see an egg as Toffee and Topaz were taking up all the space. A little while later Toffee emerged. I still couldn’t see an egg as by now Topaz had spread herself over the box and fluffed herself up in the broody pose.

I tried ruffling her tail feathers but she wasn’t going to move. I resorted to the fishing net that I had used last year to remove her. She came out shouting.

There in the nest box were three eggs pushed close together. There was one white one which I knew would be Barley’s egg from earlier and two larger round buff coloured ones which I knew would be Emerald’s and Toffee’s. Topaz is determined to sit on any eggs she can.

Once out though I gave her some spinach and she settled down so hopefully I can keep her from sitting once the other girl’s eggs are removed from the nest box. She is so quick to get in the nest box if there is either an egg or a girl laying. She really does want to keep all the eggs she can but alas for her it is not to be.

We had my boys and their partners over for Sunday dinner. I cooked roast lamb with all the trimmings and our daughter in law provided the dessert.

Easter cup cakes

My youngest son and his partner bought us a chicken coup with bantam sized Easter eggs inside.

Easter chicken coop

Open coop with bantam sized Easter eggs

For Sunday breakfast the girls provided our eggs

Breakfast eggs

We also gave out cartons of our eggs now that we have plenty once more. It has been a lovely Easter weekend with time spent catching up with family and an abundance of eggs both chocolate and bantam.

Yesterday morning Toffee was in the left coop trying to lay her second egg this year. Topaz was in the right coop and Peaches wanted to lay her egg. Peaches decided to join Toffee (Toffee is a safer bet than Topaz).

Peaches moves into the nest box with Toffee

Toffee would like to be left in peace

I decided to move Topaz out of the right coop to free up another nest box as Topaz isn’t laying at the moment.

Peaches however stayed put and laid her egg in front of Toffee. It’s as if Topaz has a sixth sense for an egg being laid as she went straight in to the left coop to sit on the egg.

Topaz and Toffee

Poor Toffee is desperate to get her egg laid and as usual has sprinkled her back with pine shavings.

I returned a little later to find that Toffee had left the nest box and Topaz was sitting on Peach’s and Toffee’s eggs. I have found that if I gently ruffle Topaz’s tail it annoys her enough for her to leave the nest box and I can then collect the eggs and she will stay out. She does sometimes try to peck me though.

Topaz seems to spend all morning trying to sit on any of the girls eggs but so far once turfed out of the nest box she will go off and feed and scratch as normal. I wonder how long she will behave like this before starting to lay again.

Yesterday we were out visiting family so I put one of the turfs from the allotment in the run for the girls.

Once again Honey stands on the turf

Peaches is missing from this photo as she is in the nest box laying her egg.

The girls love the grass

When we got back the grass had been stripped. My husband turned the turf over and the girls were exited by it all over again. It has now been broken down, scratched and pecked to bits but is still scattered in the run to get the last bit of value from it. The allotment pickings are still giving great value to the girls.

Three days ago I gave the girls another sprout stalk from the allotment. They immediately set to work on it.

A sprout stalk for the girls

The girls missing from this photo are egg laying or practising in Toffee’s case

As the eggs are laid more girls join in

Three days later the sprout stalk is pretty comprehensively stripped and yet it still gets attention before bedtime.

A bare sprout stalk after three days of fun

It’s still getting attention

There is so little left on it

It still entertains though

Despite being bare the girls are still pecking at the sprout stalk. I have long ago learned never to take anything away too soon. Things that look done to us still have extra value to be got by the girls. I only remove things when they completely stop getting any attention.

I think we can safely say the girls have had good value from their sprout stalk.

For a while I have thought Toffee was getting ready to lay as she had started investigating the nest boxes in the mornings. Yesterday morning she sat in the left coop for a while and was scratching around in there. I thought she was going to lay her first egg of the year.

A little later she came out of the nest box with a pile of pine shavings on her back. I wished I had my camera. I checked the coop but there was no egg so it seemed that this was a practice run.

This morning Toffee looked in both little coops then selected the left coop again. She settled in and I knew this was going to be the day she laid her first egg. I checked back a short while later and sure enough there was her first egg with a tell tale slight blood streak on it. It was smaller and paler than Emerald’s eggs. Hurrah! Well done Toffee.

This means in theory all eight girls are back in lay but Topaz hasn’t laid an egg for a month now. I have worked out why I think this is. Topaz wants to go broody. As soon as any of the girls have a laid an egg she will go into whichever coop the egg or eggs are in and sit on them. When I try to take the eggs from her she will peck at my hand. Topaz is the only one of my flock that will peck me.

So far she hasn’t committed to going broody. As soon as I take the eggs away and especially if there are some treats on offer she will come out of the nest box and stay out. I think the reason she went broody last summer was because we were away for a couple days for Steve’s wedding and with no one to disturb her she settled in and stayed that way for three weeks.

I am hopeful that as long as I keep taking the eggs and encouraging her out of the nest box she may not settle in as this clogs up a nest box when all the other girls want to lay. Only time will tell if this will work.

Yesterday we decided it was time to get the veg plot ready for planting. We dug in the green manure that we had planted on the plot and we dug in the chicken manure that has been maturing for the last year. The compost bin is now empty ready for me to start adding chicken poop along with kitchen peelings ready for next year.

Last year we moved the veg plot to the spot that had been a thyme lawn which hadn’t thrived. The chicken run had been extended over what was previously the veg plot. This was the new veg plot once it was ready for planting last year (broad beans were already in).

Veg plot in May last year

My husband wasn’t happy when I planted potatoes following the curved brick edge. He said everything in the veg plot should be planted in straight lines but I said this wasn’t easy when there is a curved edge.

Jackie, my mum and myself have come to the conclusion that this is a “man thing”. All our husbands have felt the same about wanting straight lines in the veg plot.

This year my husband decided something had to be done about this and he set about making the veg plot straight. This is how it looks this year.

The veg plot is dug over and compost has been dug in

The other advantage of this is that it has made the plot a bit bigger. I dug over and added compost to the strip by the chicken run too. I am going to plant chard and leaks in this strip along with the dandelion patch I have already planted. This means that this strip can stay planted over the winter and the main plot will have crops that will all finish in Autumn allowing the main plot to be dug over at the end of the year and leaving the chicken run strip planted until spring.

The chicken’s strip is ready for planting

Amber is checking out the delicious looking dandelions. Now all we need to do is get planting. The seed potatoes that Jackie gave us can be planted in the main plot. Jackie has also given me chard seeds which I will plant in this strip and we will go out to buy some leek plants this weekend. Watch this space!