Carol's Chickens

Storm laid today after a two week break. She really made a meal of it. It was so odd because when she started laying, this year in February, she just went straight in a nest box each time and settled down until she got her egg laid.

Today it was as if she had forgotten where to lay or no where was good enough. She was being very vocal and going in and out of each nest box. She would then run to the shelter and dig in the corner. Then she would go to each corner of the chicken shed.

This went on for ages. At one point I checked on her and she was settled in the corner of the shelter. I took a photo then she moved back to the nest boxes. She settled in a nest box for a while and then went back in the shed. Finally she laid her egg in the chicken shed.

Phew! I hope she doesn’t do this every time. She did this sometimes last year and Dot can be like this too.

So we now have five out of seven girls laying with only Sugar and Autumn not laying and we have plenty of eggs.

Sugar has now gone past the time that she started laying last year so I am hoping that perhaps she won’t lay.

We have realised that her behaviour has become dependant on the weather to a certain extent. On windy or wet days Sugar spends all day sitting in the shelter only coming out for treats, food, water or dust baths.

But on sunny days Sugar is out in the run much more and is more active. I am therefore hoping that she may be out in the run more once we get into the summer. She is also quite zippy to the treats but I notice that she eats much slower than the other girls. She can’t compete with them so I try to give her some treats away from the rest of the girls if I can.

Sugar is definitely not quite right but hasn’t got any worse so as long as she has quality of life we will leave her as she is and wait to see what happens next.

Mango has now laid four eggs, laying every other day, since she started laying. Today I photographed her in the nest box before she laid her egg. I like to photograph each girl in the nest box when they start laying. Not important but just a lovely thing to see I always think.

And a few minutes later she had got her egg laid. Well done Mango!

I worm the girls in March and September and suddenly realised there was only a week left of March so I decided to start today. As usual I put the powder in dishes of mash for seven consecutive days.

Both Gold and Storm have been very vocal for the last few days and I guessed they were getting ready to lay again. I wondered which girl would be first. Then this morning Gold went in all three nest boxes before settling in her favourite one by the gate.

When I next checked on her Dot was watching over her just as she laid her egg.

Gold has only taken an eight day break before laying again. That makes four girls laying and hopefully it will be five soon.

This morning Mango was being very vocal and I felt sure she was about to lay her first egg of the year. We had to go out for a few hours so I didn’t get a photo of Mango in the nest box. But when we returned there were two eggs in the nest box by the gate.

Only Dot and Cloud have been laying so I knew this was Mango’s egg. It is smaller than Cloud’s egg.

The egg stand shows the difference in size better. Cloud and Mango are the same size and yet Cloud’s eggs are longer in shape than both Mango and Storm’s eggs. Mango has laid her first egg of the year a week after Cloud started laying.

So for now we are back to three girls laying. Well done Mango!

It seems we were wrong about Sugar getting ready to lay an egg. She has shown no interest in the nest boxes.

There are times when Sugar looks quite normal. She runs to the treats and she joins in with the dust bathing. But Sugar spends the rest of the day sitting, mostly in or on top of the shelter. We know this is not normal chicken behaviour but she doesn’t appear to get any better or worse.

We know if she comes into lay this may mean she will go downhill. She started laying again at the end of March last year.

Mango and Cloud have taken to keeping her company some of the time. They sometimes stand in or on the shelter when Sugar is there.

It’s a complete puzzle. There is nothing to do but wait and see how she goes on.

Both broody girls are over it after only three days so that was easy.

I thought we were back to three girls laying with Cloud having laid her first egg but the next day Gold went broody so we are back to two girls laying. Just Dot and Cloud for now although Mango drops into a squat when I lift her from the inner gate so I am sure she won’t be long starting to lay.

Gold spent all day in the nest box except for when I lifted her and Storm out which I did every time I went in to the run. There was no final egg from Gold either.

What I am also doing is closing all the nest boxes at the end of the day. This means that both Storm and Gold then go and perch in the chicken shed. I think the fact that are willing to go and perch overnight really helps them to come out of it quite quickly.

Meanwhile Sugar looks like she may have an egg on the way. She spent the afternoon sitting on top of the shelter. She looked miserable and had the humped back shape that she gets when struggling to lay. Her tail was also bobbing up and down. We have been dreading her coming back in to lay. She did come for the bedtime sunflower hearts though and also perched in the chicken shed at bedtime.

Only time will tell how Sugar goes on. We have been prepared for her to have problems when coming back in to lay. I feel so sorry for her. This may well be her last year unless she can bounce back. I won’t let her suffer but am still hanging on to a little bit of hope for her.

In other news Cloud has now laid her second egg, two days after her first. This one is the same size as her first egg but no blood streak on it.

I had been thinking that both Cloud and Mango were getting near to starting to lay. They have both looked in the nest boxes a few times and both have very red combs and faces.

Yesterday Cloud went in a nest box and scratched around a few times. I felt sure she was getting ready to lay. The next time I checked she was settled in the nest box and when I checked again she was out and her first egg of the year was in the nest box. It had a streak of blood on it as first eggs often do.

I had already put out my blog post about Storm going broody so decided to leave this one until today. It was our first, four egg day, of the year as Storm got her last egg laid before decided to sit in the nest box for the rest of the day.

Mango has a habit of jumping up to the inner gate whenever I Leave it open. I always lift her down but she does this every time so she obviously doesn’t mind me lifting her down. It is one of her funny little habits.

I thought I would show Storm’s egg for comparison. These girls are the same size and yet their eggs are quite different. Cloud’s is longer. It has a blood streak on it but so far there has only ever been blood on the first eggs so it’s nothing to worry about.

So one girl stops laying and another girl starts taking us back to three again. Last year Mango started laying the day after Cloud so I am expecting her to start soon as well.

Storm has laid fourteen eggs in twenty six days and has now gone broody. Storm has started laying and gone broody before Mango and Cloud have even started laying. We are now back to two girls laying, Dot and Gold.

I will just keep lifting Storm from the nest box each time I go in. I did this last year and she soon came out of it so I hope this works again this year.

We seem a bit doomed with eggs this year compared to previous years. Oh well, I suppose the other girls will start laying eventually.

I thought that a fish treat for the girls would give a protein boost as we now have three girls laying eggs.

Sugar spends a lot of her time perched. If she isn’t on the perch above the ladder or in the shelter she is in her new favourite spot on the log by the patio area.

In between times Sugar comes to the treats and takes dust baths and does all the normal chicken things but she spends much more time sitting than any of the other girls.

Sugar reminds me of Star when she was sitting a lot and I can’t help thinking that it’s not a good sign. The difference is that Sugar has been like this for a lot longer.

Sugar spent a lot of time sitting in the run last summer. I am happier to see her sitting off the ground all winter but that may be because it’s been very wet. Sugar started laying at the end of March last year so it will be a case of wait and see what happens when, or if, she starts to lay this year.

These two girls often keep Sugar company but even so they always stand while Sugar always sits.

We can only hope for the best but realistically be prepared for the worst. Best case sinario for me would be if she didn’t lay but like Salmon even that doesn’t mean never laying again. We will just make the most of having her for as long as possible.

This morning Dot was in the nest box by the gate.

Dot now has a lovely red comb. I had felt for the last few days that she was getting ready to lay again. It wasn’t long before I heard the egg shout and when I checked Dot had laid. Her egg has her signature little calcium bubbles on it and a faint blood streak as first eggs of the season often have.

Not long after Gold laid her egg in the same nest box and then Storm laid in her usual nest box next to the chicken shed. We now have our first, three egg, day of the year.

I had just bought some eggs but hopefully they will be the last that I will need to buy for a while. Three egg laying girls should give us enough eggs. Well done Dot!