It’s been over a week since Amber went and I have just realised that in that time I haven’t taken any photos of the girls or posted about them. Somehow I just haven’t felt able to. After my post about Amber passing I did one on the garden, one on my birthday plaque, one on the apple tree and one on the veg plot.
I need to get back to the girls but somehow it’s just felt too painful. Ironically two days before we lost Amber, Steve my eldest son and I.T. guy, set me up with a new computer as my old one had become really slow and my photos were not importing which was a real problem to me for my blog. I chose my favourite photo of the girls having yogurt, with all eight of them in shot, as my screen saver.
My screen saver
Steve put this on my computer on Thursday evening and I love this photo. Saturday morning I found Amber’s dead body and now every morning I switch on my computer and there she is in the middle of this shot with her beak in the yogurt. It tugs at my heartstrings, she is so cute. I still absolutely love this photo.
Today I decided that as a part of moving on I would give the girls yogurt again and take some photos.
The girls have yogurt as a treat
Look at those yogurt beaks!
Enjoying the yogurt taken from a different angle
Notice in all three photos Peaches and Barley are together eating from the same dish. They remain as inseparable as ever.
Honey has been the most changed by Amber’s passing. Amber and Emerald had formed a little friendship and would often sit together and Honey never much bothered about sitting with any of the girls.
Since Amber has gone Honey has taken to sitting with Emerald and also to going in the nest box with her. Yesterday Honey and Emerald were settled side by side in the main coup nest box. When I went back a little later they were out in the run and their eggs were side by side in the nest box. This is when I realised that I should have taken a photo. They looked so sweet settled in the nest box together. I will try to get a photo another time.
Another slight change in Honey is her behaviour leading up to bedtime. Early evening the girls settle on the high perches ready for bed but when we check in on them after our evening meal we always find Toffee, Peaches and Barley still out in the run. These three are always the last to perch up in the evening.
Since Amber has been gone Honey now comes back down from the perch to greet us when we check in on them. She then stays out in the run with the usual trio until they are ready to perch up. It’s as if since Amber has gone Honey is participating with the flock more than she did before.
Toffee has also changed but this isn’t anything to do with Amber it’s just been a gradual change. She used to be so shy and nervous but she has really grown in confidence recently. She now doesn’t mind me being close to her. She has become really nosey when I am doing anything in the run and comes to investigate and she now jumps to the coop roof to get on eye level with me which she never used to do. It has taken a year for Toffee to become really confident around us. It is lovely to see her blossom and makes me much more fond of her than when she would have nothing to do with me.
Despite the loss of Amber the flock are really united and apart from perpetually broody Topaz they are all laying well. We had our record breaking total of one hundred eggs last month and this was from just six girls as Amber wasn’t laying and Topaz laid only one. On quite a few days we are getting four eggs a day and sometimes we are getting five eggs a day. I wonder if we will ever get six as it will be unlikely that Topaz will lay on one of the days that everyone else does but you never know.
My remaining girls are all quite robust whereas Amber was always fragile so I am hopeful that my flock of seven should be quite settled for some time or at least I hope so. You never know what chickens are going to throw at you.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Your girls are just so pretty and healthy. Love seeing them all so happy.
I went on a garden tour this weekend. They had four hens. All were quite roughed up as they lived in too small a run. One was particularly roughed up and when the owner told me it was a Buff Orpington (just like mine) well I nearly cried. In a million years, I would never have guessed. The poor thing was just so roughed up. I was really angry and disturbed that someone would get chickens and just ignore them like they were doing. I wanted to steal that little hen and bring her home to live with me.
I am really pleased with how good the girls look and how red their combs are. Putting them to bed each night also gives me a chance to feel their weight which is one of the reasons Amber’s passing was such a shock because she felt a good weight compared to times in the past.
That is so sad. It makes me feel upset when I see runs that are clearly too small. Giving my girls the best life I can is so important to me.
It’s always interesting to see how their behaviour changes after any kind of change to the flock. Whether you add or remove a hen, it always seems to have unexpected effects on the dynamics of the whole group.
I so agree. I have also just put out a follow up post about something we discussed recently and your name is therefore mentioned. I felt the two posts needed to be separate as they show different effects on Honey after Amber’s passing. I had written it this afternoon and was going to put it out tomorrow but feel that after your comment it’s the right time to put it out now.
They are looking in peak condition; mine love yogurt, but the black ones in particular always look such a mess by the time they’ve finished: literally, they become ‘splash’! Does this happen with Emerald? On a side note, I have 4 in the anti-broody coop tonight!
Yes this does happen to mine too, they look paint splattered at the time but I am always amazed how quickly it gets cleaned up. They all peck the specks from each other and a short time later they all look back to normal.
Oh my! Four in the broody coop! I find broody Topaz quite enough to deal with and even she is only a part time, but constant, broody. I wonder if she is unique!
I find if the girls can lay before she is aware or if I can get to the eggs before her then she will skip a day. If she finds the eggs then she will sit. It is an ongoing situation but manageable. Her lack of egg laying is not a problem as there are plenty of eggs and I am supplying our neighbours with the excess as well as enjoying plenty for us.