Carol's Chickens

Since Smoke started laying again after her last broody spell followed by a two week break, she has laid fourteen eggs, in exactly three weeks.

I lift her out of the nest box every time I go into the run. I put her down in the run and she makes herself as big as she can.

Broody Smoke

She moves to the wooden block

When either myself or one of the girls moves her on she goes to the wooden block. Last time she snapped out of this as quickly as she started so I am hoping that it doesn’t last too long.

This post has evolved over the last few days. I knew that Dandelion was getting ready to start laying again. She had been very vocal and had been looking in the nest boxes.  Dandelion and Cinnamon have become more and more inseparable.

A couple of days ago Dandelion marched purposefully towards the nest box with Cinnamon in tow. It looked as if they were joined by an invisible string. Dandelion marched into the first nest box and Cinnamon marched in behind her. It was so funny to see. Minutes later they both bounced out again.

Yesterday Dandelion settled in the first nest box and I knew she was going to lay her first egg of the year. It wasn’t long before Cinnamon was in with her keeping an eye on her.

Dandelion in the nest box

Cinnamon checks on Dandelion

Dandelion soon laid her first little egg of the year. When Dandelion left the nest box Cinnamon moved on to the nest box Ebony was in.

Cinnamon moves into Ebony’s nest box

Ebony laid her egg and when I next checked on Cinnamon she was struggling. I could hear her crying in the nest box. She was straining and every time she pushed she whimpered. It was awful to see and hear. Her vent was pulsing and red and I worried that she may prolapse. I wondered if her first egg was too big.

Cinnamon is struggling in the nest box

I had an appointment that I needed to go to but decided that when I got back if she was still the same I would try giving her a warm bath. I have never seen her like this before.

To my amazement when I got back Cinnamon was out in the run and back to normal and no egg in the box. I wonder if she watched Dandelion lay her egg and thought that she should lay one too. Maybe she was straining when there was no egg. Cinnamon has made no attempt to lay an egg today.

Today Dandelion settled in the nest box again. I knew it was highly unlikely that she needed to lay again as she rarely lays two days in a row. I think her egg was so small that she wasn’t sure that she had laid it. We have seen this with Dandelion before.

At this point each nest box had a girl in it. Smoke was in the middle box and Vanilla in the third box. Marmite being bottom girl and not very brave was sitting by the ramp of the nest box Dandelion was in. I put Marmite just inside the nest box and when I next checked she was settled next to Dandelion.

Dandelion shares the nest box with Marmite

Once Marmite had laid her egg I lifted Dandelion out of the nest box and she went happily on her way. Smoke, meanwhile, has gone broody again. She still laid her egg but was all puffed up in the familiar broody pose.

Dandelion’s first egg of the year

For size comparison Flame’s egg is on the left followed by Smoke’s egg. Next is Vanilla’s egg, her eggs are now as big as Smokes. Next is Marmite’s egg and on the right is Dandelion’s egg.

The whole thing with Cinnamon was really weird but she seems back to her usual self now. Last year Cinnamon started laying a month before Dandelion so she is late this year. I just hope she starts laying okay without any further drama.

Yesterday it was the little girls’ turn to do a bit of communal dust bathing in the sun.

Communal dust bathing

It’s us

And them

Dandelion and Cinnamon are near enough to join in the communal spirit but as always they are their own little pair of, inseparable, friends. Regardless of what the rest of the flock are doing, these two girls, are always together.

I worm the flock twice a year in March and September so it’s worming time again. I find the easiest way is to mix the flubenvet powder with two dishes of mash which is pellets and water. This needs to be done for seven days.

As soon as I put the dishes down on the girls’ patio area they all come running and all get a share. Very quickly the mash is gone and I know that they have all had some.

When I do this I love seeing the whole flock together on the patio area. I put the dishes down and snap away with my camera.

Worming the girls

Two dishes of mash with flubenvet

I love seeing the whole flock together

This works really well

This is such an easy way to get the worming done.

I never tire of watching the girls dust bathing. It is often a communal exercise and cements friendships.

The three bigger girls share a dust bath

Togetherness

They are having such a lovely time.

Yesterday I received a small parcel through the post. It was my prize from the postcard competition. I won “Most Boring Postcard” but also made the final selection in several categories and got a mention for my “Walking Dead” postcard.

My prize

The card says – Carol, your prize! It’s a love spoon from Wales. Better late than never. John – Going Gently xx

I am thrilled to win a prize and have thanked John on his blog.

A few years ago I posted about the patio table and chairs that I found in Home Bargains closing down sale for the amazing bargain price of twenty pounds. It replaced an identical set at the top of the garden next to the chicken run. We only sit there occasionally when we have a barbeque as it is secluded and away from the house.

The bargain set is now looking very tired and both the table and chairs are falling to bits. We have “fixed” it several times. At the price we paid for it, it doesn’t owe us anything. It is the second set we have had at the top of the garden as it takes the brunt of the wind and rain.

We decided that we would like to replace it with a metal bistro set as this would last longer in the elements and as it’s only the two of us that ever sit up there we decided we only needed two chairs.

We started looking around each time we were visiting a garden centre or D.I.Y. store. We were shocked at how expensive they were. I even looked on line and they all seem to be between one and two hundred pounds. We decided to put it hold but keep an eye out for a set.

Yesterday we visited a different garden centre looking for a support for the third sedum which got missed last year. We couldn’t find one but I found a metal chicken that I rather liked and it was reasonably priced so I decided to be frivolous and buy it.

Then I spotted some bistro sets and they had all been drastically reduced in price. We decided to buy a set. It was reduced from a hundred and sixty pounds to sixty pounds. What a bargain!

The old patio set

It actually looks a lot worse than shows up in the photo.

New bistro set

It has the added bonus of giving us more space in this area.

I then set about finding a spot for my new chicken. I tried it half way down the chicken’s strip.

The girls inspect the new chicken

I had to laugh at the girls all rushing over to see the new chicken.

I decided to put it in the corner in front of the rusty chicken

It may not stay here if I find a better place for it but it will do for now. I am very pleased with the day’s unexpected purchases.

We are now quite often getting five eggs a day so our eggs are building up even though we are eating them most days. We have eight girls laying regularly. Speckles has only laid one so I am not counting her, Sienna is yet to start and Dandelion and Cinnamon haven’t yet restarted.

We now have enough eggs to give some away.

Abundance of eggs

This is was the bottom of our fridge yesterday. We decided to give some eggs to our friends, opposite us, who we are sharing the allotment plot with.

Gift eggs

An assortment of sizes. The box on the right has two of Flames, large, pale, eggs. One has her tell tale calcium blobs on top, two of Ebony’s, large beige eggs and two of Smoke’s eggs which are our biggest serama eggs. The box on the left has an assortment of the smaller serama eggs.

Our friends are a family of four so I have been waiting until we had enough eggs to give them a reasonable amount.

It is lovely to have enough eggs to be able to share.

We have been allocated the job of getting potatoes and beans ready for the allotment. We had already started the potatoes chitting. A total of two hundred made up of a third red fir apple and two thirds maris peer.

We have now potted up bean seeds. We have potted forty each of stringless runner beans, dwarf runner beans and broad beans.

The scale of an allotment plot is quite different to our small veg plot in the garden. We have always bought bean plants as we only needed a few. For an allotment plot we need to grow from seeds to keep the expense reduced and the number produced increased.

Our front bedroom has become a greenhouse.

Chitting potatoes and planted bean seeds

Runner beans, dwarf beans and broad beans

It is odd seeing the veg on this scale and quite different from our previous experience in the garden.

D and T also have items starting from seed and later some things will be planted straight onto the plot.

It will be interesting to see how our first year turns out and we are looking forward to it.

Salmon has struggled with egg laying up until now. She laid two tiny grape sized eggs, one mid January and the next mid February. Then two weeks ago she looked hunched and miserable  in the afternoon and the next morning there was a soft shelled egg in the chicken shed. One week ago exactly the same thing happened and there was a second soft shelled egg.

Yesterday Salmon was very vocal and was digging in the corner of the chicken shed when I cleaned in the morning. Later she was looking in the nest boxes and settled in the one nearest the chicken shed for a little while. I found this quite encouraging.

A little later still salmon had settled in the corner of the chicken shed nearest the pop hole. Salmon was picking up pine shavings and placing them around her. I felt that this time she was going to lay properly.

Salmon is in the corner of the chicken shed moving shavings around

Salmon settles down to lay her egg

The next time I checked on her Salmon was just leaving the chicken shed. I checked her corner and there was a good shelled egg. It was smaller than the other girls’ eggs but I was so pleased that it had a good shell.

I am hopeful that Salmon will be okay from now on and that it was just a problem getting started. Hurrah! Well done Salmon.