Carol's Chickens

I always like to give the girls treats for Christmas morning. This morning they had yogurt which is one of their favourites. I have also stocked up on some fish for them over the festive period and they have had sprout tops from the allotments too.

Shadow and Smoke are still laying so we are lucky to have some eggs from them although it will only be a matter of time before Smoke will go broody.

There hasn’t been much to blog about recently as everything has been going along nicely in the chicken run with no drama which can only be a good thing.

We have had all our Christmas veg from the allotments with sprouts, parsnips and carrots plus beetroot for our salads and the girls have enjoyed the tops from the sprouts, carrots and beetroots.

I would like to wish everyone a happy Christmas and here’s hoping for a better 2022 for us all.

I thought it would be good to give the girls a fish treat and get some photos as I haven’t had much to blog about them recently. Mind you no news is good news as they say and it is good to have a happy flock.

After all the moulting a bit of extra protein is good for the girls as well as being a well loved treat.

Smoke promptly started moulting after she came out of her recent broody spell but she has stopped dropping feathers now. I think they are now all through the moult. Smoke started moulting just as the rest of the flock stopped dropping feathers. I seem to have been picking up feathers for a long time this year.

Smoke may start laying again now that she has stopped moulting. It is three weeks since she last laid.

Shadow continues to lay. She has laid eight eggs in three weeks so far. She started laying every fourth day then every third day and now every other day so she has hit her stride.

It will be interesting to see if Shadow continues to lay through winter or if she will take another break. It would be good to have both Shadow and Smoke laying at the same time to give us a few more eggs but any eggs at all at this time of year are a lovely bonus.

It is also lovely to see all the girls fully feathered for the rest of the winter.

Yesterday we were surprised to wake up to another sprinkle of snow. Surprised because it wasn’t forecast for us. But it was also a day of blue sky and sunshine.

I wanted to capture the sun on the snow and also realised how much is still flowering in the garden considering it’s December and we have had several frosts.

Despite the blue sky and sunshine the snow stayed all day as it was so cold. Overnight, last night, the snow vanished and it’s now much milder but wet. We have been having very changeable weather lately.

It was very pretty with the glorious sky and the sun but dull and wet is forecast for the coming week.

Last night we had our first snow of this winter. It snowed for about an hour and settled. This morning it was still here.

I’m not quite sure why I found this a surprise but somehow I wasn’t expecting it. I don’t think it will stay around for long.

Three days ago Smoke went broody after laying fourteen eggs in three weeks which is quite good for her.

Out of our current flock Smoke had been the only girl to lay through the winter up until now. We only got Shadow and Sugar last September at about three months old.

Shadow started laying in February, stopped in August and laid ninety eggs. Sugar started laying in March, stopped in September and laid fifty seven eggs. I had wondered if either of these girls would lay in winter and thought it most likely to be Sugar because like Smoke she is a serial broody.

However Smoke resumed laying at the end of October and Sugar didn’t so I then assumed that neither Sugar or Shadow would lay again this year. But a few days ago Shadow became much more vocal and I noticed that she had a lovely red comb and face. I started to wonder if she was getting ready to lay again.

Yesterday Shadow started going in and out of the nest box next to the one Smoke was in. I suspected she was about to lay. Shadow really wanted the nest box that Smoke was in. Smoke is our most aggressive girl and did not want to share with Shadow.

This process went on for some time before Shadow finally settled in the nest box next door to Smoke.

The next time I checked Shadow had laid her egg in the nest box next door to Smoke’s.

Shadow’s egg is on the left of a medium shop bought egg for size comparison. We had just eaten the last of Smoke’s eggs so I couldn’t compare them but Smoke’s eggs are completely round where as Shadow’s egg is oval shaped.

What a clever girl! I felt ridiculously proud of Shadow.

The girls are all coming through the moult although I am still picking up some feathers each day. I have noticed that their feather colours change slightly with each moult.

Spangle is the most changed of all but the other girls have subtly changed. Spangle started out with a brown (spangled) pattern on her back and the brown feathers have disappeared with each moult until now they are almost completely gone. She has gone from lots of brown to almost just white.

Sugar has gone the other way. Sugar was mostly plain white and has gradually got more colour. It started as very faint and fine and now she has delicate salmon coloured feathers throughout especially on her neck.

I think that Salmon’s colouring is paler than it used to be. Smoke had gradually developed white feathers on her head and now has dark, almost black, patches behind her wings.

Shadow doesn’t seem to have changed although I think that she may possibly have more grey and Flame hasn’t changed but her tail hasn’t fully grown in at the moment.

Spot is also dropping small feathers but still has her stained wing and tail feathers. We won’t be able to see her true colour for a while.

It is interesting seeing the changes in the girls feathers. I think they have all grown more beautiful as they have matured.

Flame seems to be having a moult in two halves. I am putting it down to Flame having a couple of broody spells late in the summer which kick started her moult.

In September she stopped laying and started dropping loads of feathers. Flame didn’t look as bad as she had some years despite feathers wafting from her with every movement.

Flame had a short tail rather than no tail as she usually had and I put this down to the long tail feathers dropping out and revealing the new shorter tail feathers growing in underneath.

However Flame is dropping feathers again and has now dropped her tail feathers leaving her with next to no tail. She has one short tail feather remaining.

The good thing about Flame having her moult in two halves is that she doesn’t look any thing like as tatty as she has in the past when having one heavy moult.

Apart from Flame’s lack of tail she is looking pretty good. It won’t be long before Flame’s tail feathers grow back in and she will be back to her beautiful self again.

After two weeks with us it’s as if Spot has always been part of the flock. She has fitted in so easily.

After numerous dust baths Spot still has discoloured wing and tail feathers. The run she had been kept in must have reddish soil and as it was muddy it has stained her feathers.

I have toyed with the idea of giving her a bath but have decided to leave her be as I don’t want to stress her and prefer not to give baths so late in the year. The feathers are also quite tatty so she may moult them.

Hamburgs usually start to lay at six months but I think it’s too late in the year for Spot to lay this year. I am expecting Spot to start laying in the spring. Her comb isn’t red yet.

Despite her stained and tatty feathers I think she is beautiful and she will become more beautiful as she matures. She is a lovely girl.

Constant poop picking the chicken run causes the soil level to drop. This is most noticeable in front of the chicken’s patio area. The drop has become huge over the years.

Years ago we put some wooden blocks there to provide a step down but I try to keep the drop from the patio beside the wooden block from becoming too big.

Whenever I dig over the run I then use a spade to heap soil from further out in the run to the the front of the patio area. I also buy bags of compost every now and then to add but it never makes much of a difference.

Recently we were on the look out for the best value compost for the raised beds at the allotment as they didn’t produce so well this year. We found an offer at our local Homebase of five large bags for fifteen pounds. They are five ninety nine for one bag so that is really good value.

We bought some for the allotment then decided to buy another five to top up the chicken run. This is the biggest improvement in the level so far.

The level will settle a bit as the compost is very light and dry but it’s the best improvement for many years. The girls will also spread it a bit too and will enjoy scratching in it.

I am pleased with the improvement and I am sure the girls are too.

We have been giving the girls the greens from the allotment that are not up to up to standard. It’s purple sprouting broccoli that didn’t form as it’s too late in the season and has now been attacked by caterpillars.

The girls love it and Spot soon cottoned on to it as well.

This afternoon I checked on the girls and found Smoke missing. Smoke was in the nest box.

It’s been a month since Smoke and Sugar last laid with Sugar’s last egg four days before Smoke’s last egg.

Sugar gave up being broody about a week before Smoke did so it will be interesting to see if Sugar also starts laying again or waits until spring.

When I next checked Smoke was out in the run and her egg was in the nest box.

Well done Smoke!