There are a few changes happening among the girls at the moment. Toffee and Emerald are in the full swing of their moult. I pick up a handful of feathers every morning. Yesterday Toffee lost her last single remaining tail feather.
Toffee has lost her tail
I think the girls always look quite cute without a tail.
Emerald is looking a bit shabby
Emerald hasn’t much of a tail either and her feathers are so loose that any sudden movement sends some feathers fluttering from her.
Topaz continues to sit in the nest box for a little while most days and often shouts upon leaving but when I check there is no egg. This is a mystery.
Topaz does this most days
Sparkle always looks full of attitude
Sparkle remains our best egg layer at the moment and is laying most days. Her eggs are tiny compared to Honey’s but she is a year younger so they may get a bit bigger in time.
This is a favourite spot of the chicks and if they are chased this is where they usually go. Emerald is the one who chases them because being bottom girl, she doesn’t want to slide further down the pecking order. I think she is also grumpy because of her moult.
The chicks love the table
They are growing so fast and we have now noticed their wattles growing as well as their combs.
Honey
Honey is looking good and her head feathers are almost back in with just one little gap.
Amber looks great
Amber may look a bit shabby to most people but to us she looks really good. Although she has a bare neck her head feathers have grown back in. Her face is back to normal and her comb is not only red but it seems to have grown. This is the best Amber has looked for ages.
With Amber’s return to good health comes the dreaded return to egg laying. She isn’t looking as unwell as she used to though. Yesterday I knew she was getting ready to lay her next egg as she becomes a lot more vocal.
In the afternoon she sat in the nest box for about an hour. I thought this was a good sign and might have meant her actually laying an egg in the nest box. She didn’t though. She came out without laying her egg.
At bedtime as all the girls settled on the high perches I thought Amber looked near to laying. She had her penguin like stance for a little while but then sat down and dozed.
I have been covering the little coops (nest boxes) with newspaper overnight while the girls are sleeping above them as they were getting splattered on.
This morning when I went in to clean them up there was Ambers broken egg on the newspaper. As always the shell was like paper. I think she must have laid it at first light from the perch.
Today she is looking her usual self again. It is hopeful that she isn’t looking as unwell as she used too and hopefully she will continue that way.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Hi, Carol
Another very informative post, with excellent photos. Your flock much mirrors my own: I have 3 moulting already and there are feathers everywhere; that said, my garden vac does a brilliant job of picking them up, along with various other bits of detritus! The good thing is that they should be back in lay towards the end of the year, especially as they are youngish birds in their first moult.
I also have some ‘chicks’, now integrated with the main flock – 4 chocolate marans bantams, which I bought as day-olds and gave to my silkie to rear. They are now 13 weeks old and clearly at the bottom of the pecking order; the one who gives them the most grief (nothing serious, I hasten to add) is the lowest-ranking of the rest of the flock, which is exactly the scenario you perceptively describe.
Your Vorwerks do indeed look the best I have seen them – alert and business-like; maybe Amber’s egg-laying problems will reduce in time, as she has lost the stress of the feather-picking. Certainly, 2 of mine have often looked unwell before laying, although I’ve never had soft-shelled eggs, and they have improved over the season. Topaz is a real conundrum: she looks a prime example of a first-class layer – in tip-top condition. The only certain thing with hens is that there is nothing certain!
I am so glad to have another like minded bantam owner on board to share experiences.
I too am hopeful that the now moulting girls will be back in lay when the rest of the flock moult.
I call it “bottom chick syndrome”, when it is always the bottom chick that makes the most fuss with new girls. As you describe though, it isn’t serious as in pecking but just chasing so it’s acceptable. The chicks are well able to get out of the way.
I feel Amber is actually at her best at the moment so am hopeful that she will be okay. So many times I thought I would lose her (I have shed tears many times when I thought she wasn’t going to make it) and she keeps bouncing back so I am more optimistic now.
As you say Topaz is a conundrum because she is top girl and in top condition. I talked to the farmer who I got her from and he was surprised and asked if she was healthy. She is healthy and on top form and seems to be practising laying as she has since I have had her and yet after laying three eggs in ten days she hasn’t laid since. It doesn’t bother me if any of my girls don’t lay but it is odd that such a good looking healthy top girl can’t seem to lay. We will have to see how this one pans out. I can see that she looks really good though so I am not going to worry about her. Time will tell. Perhaps some hens really don’t lay or perhaps in spring she will hit her stride. Watch this space. All I do know is that with all my experience I know she is happy and healthy and firmly in top place so I know that I don’t need to worry about her. Perhaps she is unique!
As you say nothing is ever certain. Maybe that is why these girls get into our hearts and we just can’t help but love them.
I would love to know more about your flock. If you have an e-mail or blog you could share with me, I would love that.
If you want to e-mail me, you can on: http://www.crumbs-catering.co.uk
Otherwise, I just love having your input on my comments and am enjoying knowing someone else with a banty flock and similar experiences to me.
Her email address is carol (at) crumbs-catering.co.uk
Oops! Silly me.
It seems that at last you have got a great little flock . I know how well you care for them and any flock we have there is always a hic cup .
I was wondering how it would have all panned out if I had not adopted Blossom . I think you would have still been having problems due to the mix .
Since rehoming Shadow my girls have been so calm. You don’t realise how one upsetting chicken for what ever reason can affect the others.
You are so right. I have a lovely flock now but had you not adopted Blossom and set of the following chain of events, I may still have been struggling now. I am so glad that I did follow the advise given to me. In hindsight (which is always a wonderful thing) I definitely made the right moves and I love my happy banty flock.
Hi, Carol
Thanks to you – and Steve – for the email address. I’ll email you information about my flock, but need to get one of my sons to take some photos and show me how to upload them; that’ll take a bit of time, but I shall get it done. You’ve provided an excellent template in your blog about your current flock!
Oh that would be great. I would love to see your flock.
I am completely useless at technology and my eldest son Steve has taught me everything from scratch. I didn’t think I would be able to cope with a blog but he helped me set it up and to make it easy for me he wrote a program that resizes my photos automatically. He knew if it wasn’t easy I wouldn’t keep it up.
He has recently shown me how to put in links and sub titles.
I started my blog when I first got chickens two and a half years ago and now I love it. I love getting feed back and I love how it gives me a complete record of everything going on in my flock. You can probably tell how much I love my little chooks too.