Barley’s comb is flopping further over now and is definitely to the right whereas Peaches flops to the left. I am actually really pleased with this unexpected development as it now means I can tell them apart instantly and when they are not together. It’s also quite nice just having one of each.
Peaches left flopping comb
Barley’s right flopping comb
Right and left flopping combs together
So we can easily tell that Peaches is on the left of the photo and Barley on the right standing on the block with Toffee getting in on the act in the background.
Peaches is the more bold of the two and has just found a new game of jumping on my back when I am crouched down.
A few days ago she was on the storage cabinet and I was stooped cleaning a splat from the patio when she jumped from the cabinet to my back. I thought that she was probably just using me as stepping stone down from the cabinet.
But today when I was bent over poop picking the run she jumped on my back three times. When I returned later to take the photos of their combs I crouched down to get on their level and she jumped on my back again.
She has also taken to pecking at my dress or skirt especially if it has a bright pattern. I love this interaction with her as I know that none of my girls like to be picked up or stroked (it’s okay to touch them if they are “helping me” clean up and I have to move them out of my way) but I like that they come to me on their own terms.
Other news today is that after five weeks of not laying Amber laid a soft shelled egg again today. I only know this because she had been more vocal for the last few days which she always does when an egg is due and she had sat in the nest box for a while but didn’t lay.
Then at lunch time when I returned from my deliveries I found wet patches on the patio that turned out to be egg yolk and egg white when I wiped them up and I found the remnants of a thin shell in the run. The good news though is that Amber no longer looks unwell when about to lay so I am thankful that she looks so good at the moment.
With eggs so thin on the ground at the moment it’s a shame that we never get Amber’s egg but I am sure the girl’s enjoyed it. I think she probably laid it from the coop roof and it fell to the patio and smashed. This isn’t the first time this has happened.
Luckily they have never attempted to eat a properly shelled egg but a broken one is of course just too tempting. I don’t think Amber will ever lay properly but after two years of this I am just thankful that she is still with us and she seems happy and is no longer looking unwell before laying so I am content with that.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
I am amazed at how quickly the combs developed. Days rather than weeks.
I am glad that Amber is OK and hopefully she will go on to lay more without a problem as it is so sad seeing them struggle to lay.
I too am amazed at how quickly their combs have developed.
I am resigned to Amber’s problem after all this time but I am so pleased that she isn’t looking unwell now. I have recently changed the girls from grower pellets to layers as I had run out of growers and thought that Peaches and Barley are well developed enough now to start layers. I wonder if this is why Amber has laid again. Although Sparkle and Honey continued to lay on growers perhaps with Amber’s problematic laying the change in pellets may have been enough to stop her laying. I am only guessing but maybe it’s possible. I am just glad she is looking so much better than she has done in the past.
They are in superb condition: eggs this month, I suspect.
That would be great. I can’t wait for them to start laying. Barley has taken to looking in the coop in the morning when I poop pick but I think it’s just to see what I am doing.