Carol's Chickens

Yesterday we had our first, five egg, day of the year. Cloud was the only laying girl who didn’t lay as she had laid the day before. Mango and Cloud are recent layers and only lay every other day whereas the other girls sometimes lay two days in a row which is how we ended up with five eggs from six girls.

Tho funny thing is we haven’t yet had a, four egg day. We had our first, three egg day, at the beginning of March and have had eight, three egg days, since then. Five eggs from six laying girls is amazing and I wonder if we will ever have have a, six egg day, but it seems unlikely.

From the right we have Red’s biggest egg followed by Gold’s next biggest and most white then storm’s roundest egg. We then have Mango’s egg and on the left Snow’s egg which is the smallest but not quite so pointed as usual and with a white patch on the pointed end where there is less pigment than usual.

I don’t think Autumn will ever lay again as she still goes in for her, sit, every other day but doesn’t lay. Sugar is an unknown as she started laying again in May last year. With the problems she has had with her feet I don’t know if she will lay again but she may surprise us.

The eggs are plentiful though and we are very happy with our girls’ offers.

This morning Snow was in and out of the nest box.

Snow later settled and laid an egg. She had only taken a two week break from when she laid her last egg.

Well done Snow! We now have five girls laying, Red, the three game girls and Snow. That should increase egg production.

Edit

Today, the day after Snow laid, Gold also came back into lay. She had only taken a one week break since she laid her last egg. I didn’t manage to catch her in the nest box but she had been in and out earlier. Later her egg was in the nest box and is bigger and whiter than the game girls so I knew it was her egg.

This now gives us six girls laying. We should be getting plenty of eggs now.

Yesterday I managed to catch Cloud in the nest box before she laid her second egg of the year. I don’t quite know why but I like to get a photo of each girl in the nest box as they start to lay.

Today I had the first sighting of the year of a slow worm in the garden.

We know we have a thriving population of slow worms in our garden because we always see them between March and September. This one was a medium sized one. It’s always good to see them for the first time of each year.

I usually worm the girls in March and September. I have been waiting for Snow to come out of her broody spell to start but then Gold went broody. I decided to get on with it as there will probably be a succession of broody girls.

I always mix the flubenvet powder into mash in four little dishes for seven consecutive days. This means all the girls get some and is an easy way to do it.

Gold doesn’t seem too committed as when she hears me come through the gate she pops out to see if I have any treats. She had her share and then returned to the nest box. Each girl got stuck in straight away so it is very easy to do.

I missed getting a photo of Cloud in the nest box. She was going in and out of the nest box by the gate but by the time I grabbed my camera she was back out. I then went indoors for lunch.

After lunch I went back out with my camera. There was a warm egg in the nest box by the gate and Cloud was at the water with a bit of pine shaving on her back.

Mango and Cloud seem to do every thing in unison so I had been expecting Cloud to lay soon after Mango.

Their eggs are very similar with Cloud’s egg just a little longer and more pointed than Mango’s. Well done Cloud!

Today there was a lot of nest box activity. Mango has been squatting, vocal, going to the grit and oyster shell and looking in the nest boxes so I knew she was on the verge of laying her first egg of the year.

There has been lots of flicking pine shavings out and Mango was very interested in Gold who was in the next nest box.

Red is a creature of habit and only lays in the nest box next to the chicken shed. She was unhappy about Gold occupying her favourite spot and there was some growling from these two girls.

The dispute attracted Mango to go and investigate. Once Mango left the nest box I lifted Gold intending to move her next door but found that she had actually laid her egg so I put her out in the run. Red soon settled to lay her egg.

On the right is Storm’s egg and next to it is Mango’s egg which is a good size. Next is Gold’s egg and on the left is Red’s egg.

Gold has been spending more and more time in the nest box over the last few days. Although she laid today she later returned to the nest box so I suspected she was broody. She has laid ten eggs in just over two weeks. It seems to be a pattern that as one girl starts laying another stops.

For the rest of the day Gold stayed in the nest box and returned after each time I lifted her out. She is definitely broody.

The broodies seem to be starting early this year, sigh!

I gave the girls some yogurt this morning.

I love doing this and getting group photos. The girls get yogurt splattered all over themselves but when I return later they are all cleaned up. They are very good at cleaning each other and the dishes look almost licked clean.

They do love a yogurt treat.

Snow was out in the run this morning instead of in the nest box. I expected her to return to the nest box but she stayed out in the run all day. After only three days of being broody she is done with it already.

Snow is such an easy broody girl. She allows me to take her out without any protest and always goes to the food and water and then preens or dust baths before returning to the nest box. She allows me to perch her at bedtime and stays put.

I think this may be why Snow comes through it so quickly. I looked back at last year’s egg records and when broody she only took a two week break each time before she started laying again. This means it won’t be long before Snow is laying again.

Autumn is still sitting in the nest box every other day. She puts a few pine shavings on her back and comes out shouting but no egg. I am now certain she won’t lay again but the odd thing is that she doesn’t seem aware of that.

Gold is hard to photograph without it being really close up. As soon as I point the camera at her she is right in my face so I thought I would go with this photo as it’s so typical of her.

A happy flock of girls and still plenty of eggs with plenty more to come.

On the same day that Storm laid her first egg of the year Snow laid her last egg before going broody. We had one day of four girls laying before it dropped back to three.

Snow has laid seventeen eggs in one and a half months.

Luckily Snow is a docile broody. I have been lifting her out for a break and she goes straight to the food and water and then back in. I am also lifting her from the nest box at bedtime and perching her in the chicken shed. She accepts being perched and stays there.

Storm approached Snow when I lifted her out and Snow puffed herself up. I didn’t get to my camera quick enough but the next moment Snow did her “look how tall I can be” pose and I caught that instead.

Snow does look beautiful in this pose and her face is very red. For now I am going to leave her to it as there are three girls laying and Mango and Cloud will probably start soon too so it’s not possible to close the nest boxes. I will just make sure she gets plenty of breaks.

Luckily there are still plenty enough eggs for us.

Today at last Storm settled in the nest box. She has been very vocal leading up to this. Red and Snow were already in the nest boxes so after much fuss Storm settled in the third nest box by the gate.

A little later Storm had laid her first egg of the year. Storm lays quite a good sized egg for her small size.

Red’s egg is on the right then Gold’s egg then Snow’s egg and Storm’s egg on the left. Well done Storm. We now have four girls laying and plenty of eggs.