Carol's Chickens

Over the last few days I had felt Snow was getting ready to lay again. She was having a twirl around the nest boxes. She has moulted in two halves but has now stopped dropping feathers again. Her tail feathers are almost at their full length.

Yesterday it looked as if she was getting ready to lay. I decided to take a photo of her in the nest box and was surprised to find her next to Ginger’s third egg. Ginger had only laid the day before so has now laid three eggs in four days. Ginger is so quick to lay that I have yet to catch her in the nest box.

Later in the afternoon I checked again and Snow had laid in the corner of the chicken shed. Snow’s egg was it’s usual torpedo shape and until now Snow had laid our smallest eggs. Ginger now takes that spot of laying our smallest eggs.

Snow’s egg is on the left, the next three are Ginger’s eggs and a medium shop bought egg on the right for size comparison.

Snow laid her last egg on 5th October last year and she was the last girl to stop laying. I wasn’t expecting her to lay again this year as all the other girls have stopped laying about a month earlier than last year. But she has surprised us. Well done Ginger and Snow.

Ginger obviously gets her eggs laid quickly because today she laid her second egg and I missed her in the nest box again. To be fair she had already laid it first thing this morning when I first went up to the girls. I knew to check the nest boxes because once more the pine shavings had been thrown out over the ramp.

The second egg on the left is slightly bigger than the first one which is usual.

I thought Red may have gone broody because she spent all day in the nest box laying her last egg. She usually lays eight and this time laid nine. Anyway she hasn’t laid since four days ago so I think she has just come to the end of her laying for this year. Red has laid for eleven months now so she is due a break.

As Red stopped laying Ginger started. Ginger laid her first egg the day after Red laid her last egg so we still have one girl laying which is lovely.

I thought Ginger was getting ready to lay her first egg. Her face is red although her comb is still tiny. She was squatting and more vocal then usual. She had been looking in the nest boxes. Yesterday both nest boxes had pine shavings thrown out onto the ramps.

I went to check on the girls and more pine shavings were thrown out of the nest boxes so I checked inside. There was a tiny egg in the nest box next to the store cabinet. I had missed catching Ginger in the nest box but there was her first tiny egg.

What a clever girl! First eggs are always so special and she laid it in the right place which always amazes me. It never ceases to be exciting. I am sure I will manage to get a photo of Ginger in the nest box next time.

I have now changed the the pellets over to just layers pellets. Well done Ginger, what a clever girl.

Within days of Snow coming out of her broody spell she started moulting again. She has been having a moult of two halves. After her last broody spell she started moulting and was dropping feathers wherever she went. She then stopped dropping feathers and started laying again.

Snow then went broody again and after that resumed dropping feathers wherever she went. One by one her black tail feathers dropped out. I was about to take a photo of her with one remaining tail feather but by the time I got to her with my camera that too had fallen out.

Snow’s long black tail feathers have dropped out along with her long black wing feathers. It won’t be long before her tail comes back in though.

The bedtime routine is sorted now. As the days are getting shorter we now find that when we check on the girls after our evening meal they are already all in and settled. Gold is always on the corner perch, she has claimed that as her own. Snow, Storm and Red are always on the back perch and Mango, Cloud, Ginger and Silver are always on the side perch. Cloud sometimes pecks Silver’s head but Silver just ducks her head down and it’s soon calm again.

Ginger and Cloud are now five months old so I have changed the pellets to a fifty fifty mix of growers and layers. Apparently the gradual transition is easier on the young ones digestive system.

I decided to this now as I think Ginger may start laying fairly soon. Her face is quite red although her comb is still small but she squats easily. Snow started laying at five months so sometimes they start laying sooner than six months.

Red has laid nine eggs since she last went broody. She usually lays eight then goes broody so she seems to be keeping going this time.

I am very happy with how well the flock have settled together and having all eight girls putting themselves to bed is a huge bonus.

Today I thought it would be good to get a group photo of the current flock while they were having some apple. Ginger and Silver now run to the treats along with the rest of the girls.

Ginger and Silver are on the right side of the photo.

Ginger is at the back and Silver is in the middle of the next row.

I think we have cracked the bedtime routine. On the third evening with the new corner perch Ginger and Silver were first in as usual and were perched on the side perch. Gold was on the corner perch once again and as usual Storm, Snow and Red were on the back perch.

I had decided to stay more hands off so although Mango and Cloud were still out I left them to it. I checked back just before the pop hole closed and saw both Mango and Cloud jump to the side perch. I looked in a few minutes later and all was calm.

On the fourth evening which was yesterday there was the same line up when I checked after dinner with Mango and Cloud still out. I decided to check just after the pop hole closed. Mango and Cloud were on the side perch with Ginger and Silver. I think they have now got the hang of it.

It’s three weeks today since we got the new girls so the progress has been amazing. I am very happy with how it’s all gone.

Yesterday’s end of day was once again dark and wet. I went to check on the girls after dinner. To my surprise Gold was on the corner perch. She looked like queen bee in the middle of the perch and looked really comfortable.

Storm, Red and Snow were on the back perch and Ginger and Silver were on the side perch. This time they were at the corner end of the perch with Ginger nearest to Gold and Gold was taking no notice of her.

Mango and Cloud were still out. I left and returned a bit later. Mango had jumped up to the inner, child, gate and Cloud was perched on the edge of the tarpaulin covered nest boxes.

I think the problem lies with Mango and Silver having had just over two years of having the side perch to themselves. There is room for them on the side perch but they need to learn to share.

I decided to perch them next to Ginger and Silver and was pleased that there was no pecking. I checked again as the pop hole was closing and all was calm.

Dare I say that I think we are finally getting there. I just need Mango and Cloud to learn to go to the side perch with Ginger and Silver. I feel a lot more positive now though.

I have also removed one of the extra feeding stations each day. Today I will remove the last one. Ginger and Silver happily eat from the two dishes on the patio and I haven’t seen any of the girls chasing them away.

Yesterday I opened the gap by the patio and hammered in a stake to keep the side gate open. I emptied the shavings from new girls’ little coup into the chicken shed and hoovered it and it’s stored in the garden shed. So everything in the run is now returned to normal.

With Gold on the corner perch she was settled and didn’t do her usual going in and out. She also wasn’t doing any pecking so after thinking the corner perch wasn’t working I now think it just needed more time and Gold needed to find it herself.

I am feeling hopeful now that given a bit more time the bedtime routine will sort itself out.

The new girls have been sitting on top of their little coup at bedtime and I have been lifting them at dusk and putting them in the chicken shed.

But the weather has changed from warm and dry to lots of rain. I had a tarpaulin over their little coup because when it rains water drips through the weld mesh above the solid, marine ply clad, fence and drips on to the top of the little coup. As the new girls insist on sitting on top rather than inside this is no longer suitable as they would be sitting in the wet.

A few nights ago I decided to remove the little coup and see what they would do at bedtime. It was a dark and wet end of the day. I went up to check and to my surprise all the main flock were still out but Ginger and Silver had perched in the chicken shed.

This shows that they know where to go and they want to go in. The next time I went up the main flock had gone in and Mango and Cloud were on the side perch and they had chased Ginger and Silver out.

The head pecking at bedtime is brutal. I can never understand how girls that get along fine during the day can be so savage at bedtime. I have been watching them each night. What happens is if Ginger and Silver perch on the side perch Mango and Cloud peck their heads until they are forced to leave.

But if I perch Mango and Cloud on the back perch the other girls peck their heads until they are forced to leave. This is why I have only been able to perch them all at dusk when it’s too dark for the pecking.

This is making it really hard to progress. I felt something needed to be done but there isn’t much room for another perch.

In the end I decided to try a perch across the corner of the shed where the other two perches almost meet. I found a piece of wood in the shed that was the same width as the perches. My husband shaved off the square edges and I sanded it down. It is now rounded on the edges and smooth. We screwed it to the brackets.

It looks higher but is only very slightly higher due to it being a deeper piece of wood . The pale edges are where it’s curved which doesn’t show up very well but it gives the gist of it.

Gold is the worst head pecker. The main flock always perch up one end of the back perch and Mango and Cloud on the side perch with Gold on the back but in the corner next to the new perch so that the other girls are away from her, out of reach of her pecking. I am hoping that Ginger and Silver may use the corner perch or maybe Gold will use the corner perch keeping her away from the rest of them. It will be interesting to see what happens at bedtime.

Later

I kept popping up to see how it was going. None of the girls were interested in the corner perch. Ginger and Silver were first in on the side perch. While the girls go in and settle Gold is constantly in and out. She has made it her job to terrorise the girls. Mango and Cloud actually settled next to Ginger and Silver. The rest of the girls settled on the back perch. Gold was still out so I put her on the corner perch to see what would happen.

Gold moved to the edge of the corner perch and pecked Cloud’s head until she forced her off the perch. Gold then followed her out. I perched Gold the other end of the back perch next to Snow. She pecked Snow’s head making her squeal and move away. I then moved Snow to the corner end of the perch and put Gold next to Storm.

Storm has moved up to the top girl position with Snow in second place. Gold and Red seem about equal in the next position with Cloud next then Mango. Silver is next and Ginger is bottom girl.

Gold doesn’t bother any of the girls during the day but she turns into a monster at bedtime. By this time it was dusk and the pop hole closed. I checked in the shed again and all was settled.

I don’t know how this is going to resolve itself. Maybe I shouldn’t watch and just leave them to it and see what happens but it’s hard.

Yesterday Snow went broody and Red came back into lay. Snow had laid eight eggs in thirteen days which is four less than the last few times. I am going to leave her broody this time round but just lift her out a few times a day for breaks.

Red, like snow before her, abruptly stopped dropping feathers and came back into lay. She had been in the grit and oyster shell a few days before so I thought she was getting ready to lay. She had taken a break of twelve days since she last went broody.

I am happy for Snow to be broody as they are all on growers pellets. Her egg shells had been good but it would be good for her to have a break. Red tops up her calcium from the oyster shell and her eggs always have good shells. She has recently only laid eight eggs before going broody so she probably won’t lay for long.

They always look so funny straight on. I thought I would try to get a photo of these two together and they both turned to me at the same moment.

In other news I have been putting Ginger and Silver in the chicken shed at dusk. I know it isn’t helping them to go in themselves but it is getting them used to being perched in there overnight and coming out with the rest of the girls in the morning. It also means I don’t have to go out early to let them out of their little coup.

I am attempting to do this in easy stages. I know we will get there in the end.

After blogging every day about the new girls there hasn’t been so much to say after the first week as things have settled between the new girls and the main flock. The new girls have got more confident around the flock. They have also become much friendlier with me which is lovely.

I have hand fed them spinach which means they now come to my hands to see if I have anything for them. At first they used to move away from the camera but were not bothered if I took photos on my phone. I guess that’s what they have been more used too. But now they are used to my hands they are not bothered by my camera and in fact Ginger comes right up close now, sometimes too close.

They always look so funny straight on and she would have put her beak on the camera if I had let her.

At the end of their first week I decided to close their corner with their little coop and see if they would follow the main flock into the chicken shed. I kept popping up to check on them.

Mango stayed out later than usual and was on the patio area keeping the new girls away. Once all the main flock were in I decided to put Silver in as she is the braver one. I perched her next to Red as Red is usually the least aggressive. It was awful. Red pecked Silver’s head mercilessly. Silver cried out each time and then jumped down and left the chicken shed. I opened up the new girls’ corner and both Silver and Ginger rushed into their little coup.

This is why I haven’t tried mixing them at bedtime again. I feel that Silver and Ginger would soon get the hang of it but it’s the other girls that won’t let them at the moment. We need to wait until they are older and more able to stand up to the other girls.

Red, Storm, Snow and Gold always perch on the back perch and Mango and Cloud always perch on the side perch. I now think that this may have been the reason Mango and Cloud liked me to put them in. They were the bottom girls and probably got similar treatment. Now they have learned to perch on the side perch away from the other girls. But this means that if the new girls perch on the side perch they would be at the mercy of Mango and Cloud who being the previous bottom girls are now the worse aggressors to the new girls.

It has always worked out in the end before so I have decided for now to just leave things as they are and give it more time.

In other news Red is now moulting. She is leaving heaps of feathers especially when she has had a dust bath.

This is actually good timing because that means she is probably finished laying and it makes easier to keep the whole flock on growers pellets.

Snow is the only girl still laying. She has laid five eggs since her last broody spell so is half way through the amount she lays before going broody again. I plan to leave her broody this time round so that she will probably finish her moult and also finish laying.

We had Snow’s eggs for breakfast this morning and I was pleased that they had good, hard, shells so she seems to be doing okay on the growers. I am giving yogurt once a week at the moment to give her some calcium. And that is all the latest news from the chicken run.

The day after Silver found the ladder and the branch perch on one side of the run both Silver and Ginger found the other ladder and branch perch.

These two girls are very adventurous and have quickly found their way round everything in the run.

I have now opened up the wire between the two ladders as it makes a good escape gap for the new girls if there is any chasing. It is a week today since we collected them and they have come on such a long way already.