Carol's Chickens

While my husband was doing a bit of tidying in the garden he decided to prune our rather large rosemary bush. He put some of the branches in the run for the girls. Being quite tough we think they will keep them occupied for days. They can’t instantly strip it like grass.

Some rosemary for the girls

Honey laid another egg today, this time with a thin shell, at least I am pretty certain it was hers. Honey was sitting in the nest box this morning and when we next went up to the girls Sparkle was running around the run with an empty egg shell in her beak and being chased by the rest of the girls. I caught up to her and took the shell from her. It was thin and was broken at one end and was empty except for a little bit of white. When the girls pecked at the ground I could see the sticky mess that was the remains of the egg. I removed it and turned the earth over where it had been.

I think it must have been Honey because this is the same pattern as last year. She first laid an egg, white first, then the rest with a paper like membrane the same has she did two days ago (I assume if there was a membrane the girls ate it). Then she laid one or two with thin shells then they were normal from then on. I assume the same thing is happening this time.

The good news is that she didn’t look at all unwell this time. Tomorrow morning the girls will be getting mash with ground up egg shells to help them along.

Other egg laying news is that Peaches and Barley are still in synch and laying together for two days then miss a day then two days. Sparkle is laying every other day and her eggs have remained a darker colour which is good as it’s easy to tell which are her eggs. Topaz is still a mystery, she has the reddest comb of all and looks in prime condition but is still erratic with her egg laying. She was laying once a week but now hasn’t laid for two weeks and yet still goes in the nest box for a while most days which is what she did last year.

Topaz only laid six eggs all summer last year and has laid eight eggs in two months this year so it is an improvement. I think unless it changes as summer comes, perhaps she is just a hen that doesn’t lay so much. Time will tell. Either way as long as she is healthy that is all that matters to me.

We have now had sixteen eggs in the last seven days and today was our first four egg day, with just the little girls, although of course we only had three in reality as Honey’s was gone. We now have five girls laying with just Amber, Emerald and Toffee to start. I expect Amber starting to lay again will provide more drama.

I recently noticed that another of the plants I put in the chicken run last year has died. I think with all my efforts to keep the run dry that maybe it didn’t get enough water. I decided to dig it up and give it to the girls. Even a dead plant can provide some entertainment.

Another dead plant to play with

As is often the case Toffee is the only girl not joining in

Toffee and Honey are more interested in where the plant came from

Toffee eventually joins the rest of the girls

Within half an hour the roots had been picked clean and the soil scratched and spread. The girls do enjoy anything put in the run to scratch and peck at.

They also enjoyed some dandelions from the garden. I am thinking of putting a little dandelion patch in the strip of garden next to their run just for them. You can see their strip of garden edged with bricks in this photo. Last year it had chard for them but I wonder if dandelions would be more productive (of course the trick is not to let them flower and seed). Oh how chickens change the way we garden!

I have been certain for a while now that Honey and Amber are getting ready to lay again. Yesterday afternoon Honey looked unwell. It was a very familiar sight to me because it was just the same look Amber always had when about to lay a soft shelled egg and also Honey looked like this last summer when she laid a couple of soft shelled eggs.

Poor Honey has a tail down stance

I could see her discomfort in her eyes

I kept a close eye on her and hoped she would get her egg out soon. She was still eating which was a good sign and I gave her some chopped grapes to help keep her strength up. I knew from past experience that there wasn’t anything more I could do for her and she would feel better once her egg had passed.

After their evening corn and as dusk approached Honey still hadn’t laid and was on top of the little coop looking up at the high perches. I didn’t want to see her struggle to get up to the perch so I lifted her up and placed her on a perch where she settled.

I came back to see how she was just before bedtime and saw some egg white pour out of her. I have seen this happen to her once before, last summer. The white came out first and a little while later the yolk came out.

I lift all the girls down as it gets dark and put them in the pop hole but before doing this last night I opened up the nest box. I lifted Honey down and put her in. She made no complaint and settled in the nest box. I closed the nest box and put the other girls in through the pop hole.

I hoped she would pass the rest of her egg during the night or at first light.

When I went out this morning Honey came running with the rest of the girls and was back to normal again. I opened up the coop and could see by the wet patch that Honey had passed the yolk at first light this morning just inside the pop hole. There was nothing left but a sticky wet patch and no shavings so it would seem the girls ate the yolk. There were a few smears on the patio just outside the pop hole. She had obviously passed it just as she was coming out of the coop. There was no sign of any shell.

I was relieved to see that she was back to her normal happy self again.

As I proceeded to poop pick the coop there was, as usual, a flurry of girls.

Honey is in the nest box and Peaches and Emerald are watching her

Barley is watching too

I think perhaps Honey was in the nest box as she was unsure if she had laid her egg and Emerald, Peaches and Barley were watching her intently.

I will continue to give the girls ground eggshells in their mash but I hope, that as with Sparkle, this is just because it is Honey’s first egg of the year and hopefully her next one will be back to normal.

I wonder what Amber’s first egg will be like as she always has problems with her egg laying. I am sure Emerald will lay soon too as she is more vocal than usual and today she went in all three nest boxes briefly as if she was checking out their suitability.

Peaches and Barley are still laying every other day together in the left coop and Sparkle is laying her slightly darker eggs every other day in the right coop. Topaz hasn’t laid for two weeks now but still goes in to practice most days, perhaps she will always be erratic with her egg laying.

We are enjoying having more eggs and will have eggs for dinner this evening.

After only getting an average of two eggs a week for the last month and saving them for the Sunday breakfast suddenly there has been an upswing. We now have four out of eight girls laying and the other four look ready to start any time now.

We have just had ten eggs in this last week, hurrah. I am seeing mid week omelets, scrambled eggs and boiled eggs instead of just poached eggs on Sunday.

More eggs

This is this weeks eggs minus the ones we had for Sunday breakfast. We had been managing on one egg each for Sunday breakfast but this week we had two eggs each which was a treat in itself.

I am so excited to have eggs again. Sparkle, Barley and Peaches are back to laying every other day and Topaz is laying an average of one egg a week.

Emerald is looking in the nest boxes each day and her comb is red at last (she always has the smallest and palest comb) and Honey and Amber have red combs and twirl round the nest box each morning with Amber sitting a while to try it out for size and Toffee has a red comb too but doesn’t show much interest but then she always has to be different.

Amber and Emerald are also more vocal. Amber is always vocal leading up to egg laying but Emerald is the quietest girl and hardly ever makes a sound at all so for her to be a bit vocal in the morning is quite a transformation in itself.

I just love seeing them all getting back into laying eggs. It’s not just the eggs its seeing them with lovely red combs and being more vocal and more purposeful as if this is really what they want to be doing. I have also noticed that the mid morning spinach is now being eaten much more quickly as if they know they need their greens to make those lovely orange yolks and the turfs from the allotment disappear in minutes.

I think the girls just seem happier and more animated now that they are coming back into lay. Like I said recently it seems like a touch of spring fever and it’s a lovely thing to see.

My friend Jackie rang me to tell me that someone had dug some turf out of the allotment and we arranged to go and collect it this morning for our girls. Jackie said one of her friends had also said we could have the last of his sprout stalks for the girls too.

I couldn’t decide which to give the girls first so in the end decided to give them a piece of turf and a sprout stalk.

This caused immediate excitement

Honey stands on the turf

I decided that as Honey was standing on the turf and some of the girls couldn’t get close that I would break it in half to help them get at it.

The girls are loving this

The turf is easier than the sprout stalk so got all the attention at first but when I returned a little later all the grass had gone.

The grass has gone and attention has turned to the sprout stalk

The girls decided that they liked the sprouts too

The girls made short work of the turf but I think the sprout stalk will keep them interested for a few days. I have several more turfs pieces and sprout stalks which I have put in the shed to be given out over the next week or so.

The girls just love anything like this. Thank you Jackie.

This morning when I went out to poop pick the coop I actually remembered to take my camera with me and the girls didn’t disappoint. As soon as started to clean the coup the girls came running.

Amber is in the nest box and is being watched by Barley, Peaches and Emerald

Well Barley is actually watching me at the moment but all three do seem interested in what Amber is getting up to.

Honey is joining the party

Honey is just coming through the pop hole and now has Barley’s attention.

Honey joins Amber in the nest box

Barley and Peaches only have eyes for each other.

Honey is now in the nest box with Amber

Emerald and Peaches watch Honey and Amber while Barley’s attention returns to me.

Even Toffee has a look through the pop hole

This was the first time that Toffee joined in although only from the pop hole.  Honey had left the nest box at this stage.

Sparkle goes in after the other girls have left

Once I had finished cleaning the girls left but Sparkle came in for a quick scratch around before I closed the coop.

This has been the morning routine for a while now and yet the odd thing is none of the girls lay their eggs in the main coop. They just seem attracted to the coop as soon I have my head and hands in there as if I am the trigger for them all to come and join in. I know it’s to do with them all getting ready to lay again but I wonder why there is this communal behaviour in the mornings.

I love the interaction though and it makes me smile as I clean up each morning.

Spring fever is definitely in the air. This morning while I was poop picking the coop it was Honey’s turn to sit in the nest box. She was then joined by Amber. Emerald came in to watch then Peaches and Barley came in to watch too and Sparkle looked on from the pop hole. It’s getting very busy and crowded in the coop in the mornings. Once again I wished I had my camera and will try to remember to take it with me tomorrow morning.

Later this morning when I went into the run I realised that both Peaches and Barley were missing on parade. I checked the little coops and found them together in the left coop. I fetched my camera. I have said before that this pair like to do everything together. None of the other girls will tolerate another in the coop with them.

They were twirling together and one would flutter her head under the others breast. As they stood up and parted slightly I saw an egg between them. They both started moving it around with their beaks so I removed it.

Peaches then left the coop and Barley settled down so I knew this must be Peaches egg. I was really pleased as Peaches hasn’t laid an egg for a month now. A few moments later Barley came out and when I checked the coop there was her egg. It is strange that after a month off Peaches laid her egg just minutes before Barley laid hers.

We can share a nest box

Twirling together

Are you looking at us!

Peaches egg

You can just see Peaches egg below her face. She started pecking at it so I removed it.

We went out for a two hour walk as it was such a lovely day and I checked the nest boxes again once we got back and was surprised to find another egg in the favourite right coop. I decided that it was Sparkle’s egg as it is the same darker colour as her previous eggs.

This is the first three egg day we have had since June.We have gone from two eggs a week to six eggs in five days! I haven’t had six eggs on my egg skelter for a very long time.

Egg skelter

I was so excited that I just had to take a photo. For ages we have only been getting enough of our own eggs for Sunday breakfast and it will be lovely to start having them at other times too. I am quite hopeful that with four out of eight girls now laying I won’t have to buy any more eggs for a while.

Spring is most definitely in the air.

Last summer Sparkle was my best layer. She laid four or five eggs per week throughout the summer and was last to stop laying and begin her moult. Sparkle’s eggs were the smallest of all the girls. They were the same pale colour as the other girl’s eggs but were narrower and had the least white inside them.

Since she has started laying again this year her eggs are bigger in size (more white inside them) and darker in shell colour. They are a very light brown or perhaps beige. I wonder if this change will be ongoing and is because she is more mature or is it because she has just started laying again. She is only laying one egg in nearly two weeks at the moment so I wonder if it is being held longer at the stage when the pigment goes on.

Only time will tell if her eggs return to how they were last year (but perhaps with an increase in size) or if they will stay like this. I quite like the difference in colour as it makes it easy to tell which are her eggs. Last summer I could tell her eggs by their narrow shape.

I thought I should record this so I can compare later when she hits her stride in the summer.

Sparkle’s egg on the right

The egg on the left is a medium sized shop bought egg, next is Topaz’s egg followed by Barley’s egg laid yesterday and on the right is Sparkle’s egg laid yesterday. Sparkle’s eggs used to be as pale in colour but narrower than Topaz’s eggs and are now slightly bigger and darker. I find this quite fascinating. It will be interesting to see how this progresses.

Of course to most people this doesn’t matter in the slightest, but as us chicken keepers know, all egg laying changes are a source of fascination.

Yesterday the three girls that are laying at the momet all wanted to lay at the same time and in the same nest box. To add to this Amber also thought she wanted to lay too or maybe just to practice.

I got home at lunch time to hear a lot of shouting from the girls. Amber was in the left hand little coop and Sparkle was in the favourite right hand little coop. Topaz and Barley were watching Sparkle and shouting their heads off. I went into the house to grab my camera.

By the time I returned Amber was out and Barley had taken her place it the left coop. Topaz was shouting at Sparkle in the right coop.

Sparkle is in the favourite nest box  and Topaz is outside shouting at her

Topaz wants this nest box

Barley has given up and gone into the other nest box

Sparkle left the right coop and Topaz quickly took her place.

Before long Barley decided the left coop wasn’t good enough and she really did want the favourite nest box.

Barley joins Topaz in the right coop

Barley gets close to Topaz

The next time I checked Barley was in the left coop again. I guess Topaz didn’t make her welcome.

I checked back a few moments later and Barley was out again and her warm egg was in the left coop, hurrah!

Sparkle was next to lay her egg and then Topaz returned to the favourite coop. It’s like a game of musical coops!

When I went up to give them their pre bedtime corn they were all out in the run waiting. I checked the coop again and Topaz hadn’t laid. I can’t believe after all the fuss today she didn’t even need to lay but this happens all the time with Topaz. She had only laid her egg two days ago and is only laying one a week at the moment so it shouldn’t have been a surprise.

Two eggs in a day is good at the the moment though. The last two egg day was two months ago. Spring is definitely on it’s way and the girls are getting ready to increase their laying.

For the last couple of weeks Amber has come in and sat in the nest box every morning while I poop pick the coop. This behaviour plus her being very vocal makes me think she is getting ready to start laying again.

Amber comes in and has a twirl around then she sits herself down and stays there while I clean the coop. As soon as I have finished she promptly stands up and marches out. It is really amusing to see and I have no idea why she only does this while I am in the coop (or at least my head and hands are in the coop).

Sometimes Honey will come in and watch her and most days Peaches and Barley come in and watch her. Emerald nearly always comes in as she leaves and has a quick scratch around in the nest box but doesn’t sit like Amber. Sparkle occasionally comes and has a peck and scratch from outside the pop hole or just inside.

Topaz doesn’t bother with the main coop but goes and sits in her favourite right hand little coop on some of the days in between laying her egg. It’s as if she is never quite sure on which day her egg will come but she has always behaved like this. Toffee is the only one of the girls that hasn’t shown any interest at all so far. I guess when she is ready to lay she will just get on with it without the need to practice.

I have been trying to remember to take my camera out with me in the morning to capture this and this morning I finally remembered.

Amber goes into the nest box

She has a twirl around

She sits herself down

She has a look below

Once Amber leaves it’s Emerald’s turn

She likes to try facing both ways

Once Emerald has had a scratch around she also leaves. The funny thing is that all this activity takes place every morning while I clean the coop and yet none of the girls even lay their eggs in this nest box. They all prefer the little coops.

I wonder if it’s something to do with being around the leader of the flock (me) I class myself as leader as obviously Topaz is top hen and my role is completely different. I also find it interesting that given the choice they prefer to lay their eggs in a place other than where they sleep at night.

I have to say that I do enjoy this little ritual with the girls each morning.