Carol's Chickens

Over the last few weeks Red’s comb had reached full size and turned red. For the last week Red has squatted every time I pick her up to put her in the chicken shed at the end of the day.

Despite this Red hadn’t shown an interest in the nest boxes until today. Late this afternoon Red was missing. She was scratching in the nest box by the gate. I checked a little later and she was scratching in the nest box by the chicken shed. When I next checked Red was settled in the nest box.

Half an hour later Red was back out in the run and her first egg was in the nest box. What a clever girl. I felt so proud of her.

Red is between eight and nine month’s old. She is a late starter but it’s a good size egg. She got on with the job with no fuss either and laid quite quickly just half an hour before bedtime. Well done red!

Sugar is the last girl to moult. She always moults around October. There have been flurries of white feathers in the chicken shed and run. The last three days there have been long tail feathers too. Yesterday Sugar had one last long tail feather remaining. Today she has dropped that last tail feather leaving her with short new tail feathers.

Sugar looks quite cute with her short tail. It will soon be back to it’s normal length.

Snow has also been dropping tail feathers. It’s easy to tell them apart because Sugar’s tail feathers are white and Snow’s tail feathers are black. Snow’s tail doesn’t look any different though. She must have had the new ones already grown in. It’s unusual for a first year girl to moult much. I wonder if this is why Snow has stopped laying. Her comb is also paler than it was. It’s three weeks now since she stopped laying.

Red on the other hand has now got a red face and comb. I noticed on my last post that her comb had finally matured. I am still having to put Mango, Cloud, Snow and Red in at night. They settle on top of the nest box and wait for me to put them in.

Red is always the most keen to be put in and as soon as I go through the gate she stands up and moves to the edge of the nest box, towards me, ready for me to pick her up. It makes me question why she doesn’t go in herself but that’s another matter! Anyway for the last three nights when I have reached to pick her up she has dropped into a squat. I have tried putting my hand behind her during the day but she doesn’t squat, it is only at the end of the day when I go to pick her up.

Despite that Red hasn’t shown any interest in the nest boxes and I still don’t think she will lay until spring. I think it’s too late in the year now and the days are too short.

The other thing I have noticed is that Autumn hasn’t moulted and it’s her second year. I wonder if it’s to do with the fact that she hasn’t laid all summer, her last egg being the first of February. She is such an anomaly. She still goes and sits in the nest box each day but doesn’t lay and she still squats. I have never come across this before.

We do seem to get our share of oddities but as long as the girls are healthy that’s okay. After the lack of Wyandotte eggs this year I am hopeful that they will both lay in the spring.

I have been waiting for the chance to get some photos of Autumn and Red together. I wanted to show a size comparison between the two of them.

I think Red is bigger than Autumn but I also thought it may partly be an illusion because Red has lighter coloured feathers.

They don’t often hang out together so it’s not easy to get a direct comparison. However I think that Autumn is narrower than Red and Red is also a bit taller than Autumn.

Autumn has the distinct wyandotte shape. Red is a less distinct shape. She is more rounded and fluffy. She is a beautiful girl. It will be interesting to see if she turns out to be a good egg layer when she eventually starts laying. Time will tell.

We have had a few frosts lately so my husband decided to dig up the allotment chard before the frosts got it. It had survived so far because the netting had protected it from the frost. By digging it up it would keep longer and we could give one plant at a time to the girls.

This kept the girls entertained all day and at the end of the day I picked up the bare stems. They love any kind of greens.

We have good friends and neighbours in both houses across the road from us and have regular get togethers. We have lived in this house for seventeen and a half years. The neighbours opposite on the right have lived here longer and on the left not so long.

The house opposite on the left had a huge walnut tree. It was so big that it filled both the large front gardens of the neighbours opposite. It completely blotted out our view of both houses. Every four or five years they had the tree lopped but afterwards it would regrow to an even bigger size. It has probably more than doubled in size since we have lived here.

About a week ago we got a whatsapp message from our neighbours opposite on the right. They said that this time the tree was being taken down. They said it was sad to lose an old tree but it had become unmanageable. The tree roots were lifting the tarmac on their drive and they said next door had very kindly said that it was time for the tree to go.

I have taken before and after photos of the tree in the past so hadn’t this time until I realised it was now going. By the time I took the first photo a chunk of the left hand side of the tree had already been removed, which had spread out to the left side of the hedge.

We have also seen the hedge opposite strimmed many times over the years and that too soon grows back bigger than before.

Yesterday our neighbour’s dad started to take a lot more out of the hedge than usual. We assume this is so that as well as reducing the height it will also reduce the width. It will of course start to green up again in the spring.

The view across the road is now quite different. We have said that we could now wave to each other from the windows. They also said they may now need some net curtains.

I felt that such a huge change would be good to be recorded to look back on. I can imagine us saying in future that we remember the giant walnut tree.

I always give the girls greens every day. Most of the time I give them spinach but in the summer they have any of the greens from the allotment that are either abundant or have gone to seed. Today they have spinach.

Snow went broody three days ago. She had laid eight eggs in thirteen days. This is less than usual for her but it’s probably because it’s late in the year and potentially the last chance to raise chicks, which of course is never going to happen, but she doesn’t know that. This means we now have no girls laying.

Snow isn’t a committed broody and after a few days of closing the nest boxes she comes through it. She may start laying again in a couple of weeks time because as a first year girl she could continue laying through the winter.

Sugar has now started dropping feathers. I am finding them below wherever she perches. This means that she is starting her moult and as she usually stops laying in October I don’t expect her to lay again until the spring.

Red is now eight months old and still showing no sign of coming into lay. I think this means she probably won’t start laying until the spring.

In other critter news I have seen the frog again on the path near the chicken run. On my way up it was sitting on the path in light rain. On my way back down it was further down the path and jumped into the undergrowth.

We have also seen slow worms frequently. We are still seeing all sizes from tiny to really long. It seems late in the year so conditions must be good for them. We obviously have a good breeding population as they are all sizes from tiny through to full grown.

I finished worming the girls four days ago and found no worms so that’s good. The girls are all looking good and are very harmonious. We have a lovely flock.

I worm the flock twice a year in March and September. I am a bit late this time. I have been waiting for Sugar to get through her broody spell before starting as she eats very little when broody. She came through it a few days ago and I started worming yesterday.

I use flubenvet mixed in dishes of mash for seven consecutive days. This has always worked well for me and makes it easy for each girl to get a share.

By the end of the day the dishes are always empty. So far I haven’t found any worms but it’s always best to be on the safe side. It’s also a good chance to get a couple of group photos.

Sugar has stopped laying after laying only five eggs in nine days. She hasn’t followed her normal broody pattern. She usually lays six eggs then is broody, staying in the nest box after laying and puffing herself up and when I lift her out of the nest box she is full of angry broody hormones.

This time Sugar laid five eggs then missed a day without going to the nest box. She lays every other day. The following day she went in the nest box for what I thought would be her sixth egg. Sugar didn’t lay egg number six but has been going in the nest box ever since.

Sugar doesn’t look broody though and there is none of her usual behavior. It is as if she is still waiting to lay her sixth egg. We have never seen her looking so not broody and yet she is spending most of her time in the nest box. When I lift her out she preens, eats, drinks and sometimes has a dust bath. It is without the usual frenzied speed. She then returns to the nest box.

Snow has come back into lay today after a two week break. It’s funny how the pattern continues with one girl stopping and one girl starting.

Snow’s torpedo shaped egg on the left, Sugar’s last egg in the middle and a medium shop bought egg on the right for size comparison.

I wonder if having a day of not laying after Sugar’s last egg has changed her behaviour so that she isn’t looking broody even though she is spending her time in the nest box. It is most odd.

I will continue lifting Sugar out for breaks before deciding if she needs to go in the broody crate to break her out of it. I am perching Sugar at bedtime.

Well done snow! It’s good to continue with some eggs even if they are rather tiny.

Snow, who was recently our only egg layer, went broody two days ago. She had laid thirteen eggs in three weeks. Today Sugar has come back in to lay after a three week break. Sugar will only lay six or seven eggs before going broody again but it may just take us up to Snow coming back into lay.

We seem to be following a pattern of one girl stops and one girl starts.

At this end of the year we are just happy to have any eggs at all. Well done Sugar!

Since I started spraying Autumn’s legs and feet every night with the “healthy legs and feet” spray she has healed nicely. She pecked two more small spots after that but now hasn’t pecked her legs for a week.

I suddenly realised how many sprays I now have in my chicken store cabinet.

This seems ridiculous but I actually feel that they are all invaluable.

Storm is now moulting and I am finding lots of little black feathers in the chicken shed and the run. I think this means she is finished laying for this year. Both Storm and Gold stopped laying at the end of August last year so I think they are finished for now.

I think only Sugar will come back into lay as she finished laying at the end of October last year and she isn’t moulting yet but she only lays six to seven eggs before going broody so it won’t be many.

That leaves just Snow laying and possibly Red if she ever gets started.

I gave the girls a fish treat today as the extra protein is good for them while moulting.

Red has been dropping feathers ever she since she came to us. I can’t remember having a first year girl drop so many feathers before although she never looks any different. She is taking her time maturing.

Snow is giving us enough eggs for one breakfast a week but as long as the girls are happy and healthy I don’t mind.