Updates

Before we got the new girls we put new tarpaulin over the triangular part of the run. The heat wave summer had caused the tarpaulin to go brittle and crack and then one windy day chunks of it blew away. It had been hot and dry for three months so we weren’t too worried.

I would like to put something more permanent here but it is such an awkward shape. Suddenly the weather changed and the rain came. One day it rained heavily for hours and that part of the run became very wet. I knew we needed to sort this out before I could think of getting new girls.

We found a much thicker, stronger, tarpaulin and re did it. We are hoping that it will last longer and shouldn’t need doing again for a few years.

Yesterday I also bought another “small animal house” as a third nest box. I think in the future with three bigger girls laying we will need three nest boxes.

Speckles stopped laying after she had re started and had laid a further four eggs. She had never laid so late in the year before. As soon as she stopped laying she started moulting again quite heavily.

Speckles is moulting quite heavily

It looks like this under her roost spot every morning at the moment and also around the run and in her dust holes. Sometimes the feathers waft from her as she moves.

Speckles checks out the top of the new nest box

It is a bit orange but I am sure it will soon tone down.

Dandelion tries out the new nest box

Dandelion laid her egg in here today so it seems that the new nest box has passed inspection.

Cinnamon is laying again

After Cinnamon’s three weeks broody she had one further week back to normal and then resumed laying with her first two eggs two days running. She has now settled back into laying every other day.

Ebony continues to lay most days

Flame is still manic

For a week Flame has been rushing about like this looking for eggs. She patrols the patio at speed and checks every corner of the shed and watches over any girl that is laying. The weird thing is, that while she is doing this, she is also still laying most days. We seem to have experienced all the different types of broody girls and this has been a new one for us.

I continue to remove the eggs immediately and once the girls have laid I close the nest boxes to limit her to the shed. I had expected her to give up by now but I am now wondering, if like Cinnamon, she is going to keep this up for three weeks.

Sienna and Jasmine are always together

The silkie girls are never apart and do everything in perfect unison.

I had hoped the new girls would find their own way into the little coop last night but like the night before they were still outside at dusk and chirping loudly. I managed to direct them towards the coop though, instead of picking them up, so that’s a move in the right direction.

I am hoping that maybe tonight they will get the hang of it.

A heap of chicks

They still like to hang out very close together. I have been grinding up growers pellets with my pestle and mortar  but found that they were eating the powder and leaving any whole pellets behind so I decided to buy some chick crumb.

I think these girls would be easy to integrate as both flocks have taken no notice of each other but I need to keep them separate until they are eating pellets. What I may try doing is letting the girls mix for periods of time, while I watch them, so that the new girls get used to the layout of the rest of the run.

It might be possible that if I put several dishes of chick crumb around the run maybe they would just eat that for now. It would be good to start integrating soon and once the bigger girls stop laying I could just feed all the girls growers pellets.

I will play it by ear a bit and see how it goes but at the moment I am happy with the progress. It will be interesting to see what happens at bedtime tonight.