Carol's Chickens

It was minus six degrees last night and today never got above minus two and in fact most of the day was minus three or four.

First thing this morning

An hour later

This was the best of the day. It looked beautiful in the morning sunshine but was deceivingly cold. Later the sun disappeared and it snowed more heavily throughout the day.

The main problem today has been keeping the chicken’s water defrosted. Every few hours throughout the day I had to defrost it again. The girls are holding up surprising well though. I am pleased with how well they are coping.

The chicken’s patio area is a bit gloomy because of the snow on the roof. I thought about trying to clear it but it is forecast to snow again tomorrow and Friday so I decided to leave it for now.

The good news is that this is supposed to be the coldest day and it will gradually improve over the next few days. By the weekend things are looking to return to more normal temperatures. It can’t come soon enough for me.

I had a light bulb moment last night. I decided to disconnect the automatic door opener for the duration of this cold spell and open and close it manually. This has a few advantages. The girls were coming out at quarter to seven but I am going to let them out at quarter past seven. This gives them an extra half an hour to stay warm in the mornings.

This also means that instead of defrosting the frozen water container I can empty it when the girls go in at the end of the day and fill it in the morning from a watering can which will be easier for me and will also save me worrying about the girls coming out to frozen water.

This morning I decided to give the girls some warm mash as a little boost. It doesn’t stay warm for long but it must be quite nice for them when I first put it down.

A dish of warm mash for the girls

Emerald joins the girls

Mid morning I noticed that Dandelion had a slight crust above her right eye. I made the decision to start the girls back on tylan as a precaution. Now that I am manually opening the door it will be easy to mix up their water and put it in place before I let the girls out.

I hope that this may be the last time this winter that I will need to this. It will give me peace of mind during this really cold spell to know that they will be protected.

For the last few days Cinnamon has been very vocal and has been looking in the nest box. At lunch time today when I checked there was an egg in the nest box. There were also two little dips in the chicken shed so I am sure that this egg is Cinnamon’s first egg of the year. She always likes to try several places before deciding where to lay her egg.

Cinnamon’s eggs are also a different shape to Freckles. Freckles eggs are quite round whereas Cinnamon’s are oval and usually quite big for such a little girl.

Speckles egg on the left and I think this must be Cinnamon’s egg on the right

This afternoon we had a sprinkling of snow. The flakes were very small and round. They reminded me of polystyrene balls. The first few flakes are on the napkin, above, that the eggs are on for the photograph, which I took on the table below before the snow got properly started.

Fine flakes of snow on the garden table

A light dusting of snow

I will be keeping to this latest regime for the duration of this cold spell and I am hoping that the girls will come through it ready for warmer weather. Having two girls laying is encouraging.

To my surprise Dandelion is coping well with this latest cold spell. I really expected her to have eye bubbles again but so far she is fine. Although her comb is very pale Apricot also has a pale comb and Dandelion’s face is a good red colour.

Dandelion this morning

The next three nights and following days are going to be the coldest yet. We are forecast minus five or six degrees for the next three nights and barely above freezing during the day.

I am ready to put the girls back on tylan if I see any bubbles in Dandelion’s eyes. I  feel that if she can come safely through the next three days she will probably be in the clear.

I think the girls are coping with cold but dry weather better than the earlier cold but damp or wet weather. We have been having sunshine despite the cold and the girls make the most of sitting in the sun although today there have been light snow flurries.

The girls haven’t been spending as much time in the shelters as earlier in the year. I have to trust that they know best and that they will be okay. I will be very relieved to come out the other side of this cold spell.

I will be out early defrosting the water for the next three mornings. The girls are also going to bed a bit earlier which again is a sign that they know best. Before the cold spell they were going in at quarter past five but now they are in by five o’clock.

I think we will all be glad when we get into some warmer weather. I really hope this cold spell is the last of it for this year. It’s felt like a long, cold, winter.

I had a booking for a lunch delivery today. I know, it’s a Saturday, a bit of a pain but it can’t be helped sometimes. I got back at twelve o’clock and my husband told me that Freckles was in the nest box.

I grabbed my camera and went to have a look. Perfect timing. I could see that she was just about to lay her egg. She was stood up with a look of concentration on her face and a slight whistling sound coming from her beak. All very familiar and I closed the nest box to give her some privacy.

A few seconds later she came out of the nest box and when I lifted the lid there was her egg. Well done Freckles!

Freckles is just about to lay her egg

Well done Freckles!

Freckles first egg of the year next to a, medium sized, shop bought egg

This is a week earlier than she started laying last year but last year she had only just matured. This is a good sign that all is properly well with her. I was so pleased by this.

I just wish I could feel happier about Dandelion. The tip of her comb is very pale and I am certain that the really cold spell that is forecast will not be good for her.

I intend to ring the vets on Monday and order some more tylan so that I have plenty in stock. I will start to treat with it again if Dandelion gets eye bubbles once more and I will perhaps continue to treat throughout the cold spell. If I can just get her through this cold spell then maybe the weather will improve and she will get back to normal again.

I have to stay positive though because for Freckles, laying an egg, means that she is back to full health again. It will be so nice to have our own little eggs again.

Cinnamon has become more vocal in the last couple of days and this morning I held my hand behind her and she too squatted for me. It may be a race to see who lays first between Freckles and Cinnamon.

I went to get my camera to take a photograph of Cinnamon and when I returned she was checking out the nest box.

Cinnamon checks out the nest box while Dandelion looks on

Freckles joins Cinnamon in the nest box

Cinnamon’s face and comb are as red as Freckles

At the moment I think they were just enjoying scratching and pecking  in the nest box more than anything else but they are definitely getting ready to start laying again soon. We are forecast a very cold couple of weeks though so I am not sure if that will delay the start of egg laying.

I dread another cold spell because I always worry that it will set Dandelion back again with the bubbly eyes. I may need to give another dose of tylan yet again. It’s forecast to get as low as two degrees during the day and down to as low as minus five at night. That also means having to defrost the chicken’s water in the mornings.

I was really hoping for better weather soon and this is really cold for the end of February and beginning of March. It is forecast to last for a couple of weeks and there will be bitterly cold winds as well. It’s a shame when egg laying seems imminent to have the worry of another cold spell but Dandelion has come this far so I will keep a close eye and treat again if needed.

I can’t wait to get the cold weather behind us and and start to relax about Dandelion and eggs would not only be a welcome bonus but also a sign that all is right with the girls.

My husband told me to bring my camera as all the girls were having a group hug on top of the little shelter. As I went through the gate Speckles and Emerald flew down to greet me.

I managed to get some photos of the little girls though.

The little girls on top of the shelter

What do they find to peck at on here!

They have taken to spending time on top of the little shelter lately. It is funny the places they choose to hang out together.

I think Freckles may be getting ready to start laying again. Her comb is bigger and redder and she is more vocal than she has been but most of all today when I came up behind her she dropped into a squat.

Last year she started squatting about a week or so before she started laying. I looked back and she started laying on the first of March. It is forecast to get really cold again in the coming week so that may delay her for a bit but it’s encouraging to see her squatting as it means all is well with her.

Freckles has just started squatting again

See how big and red her comb is. It’s difficult to take a photo with one hand while stroking her with the other and she had just squatted for me but was just rising back up as I clicked. You can get the gist though. This makes me happy because it means she is healthy.

Emerald is my oldest girl and  is top girl. I have had Emerald for four years and she was an adult girl of undetermined age when I got her, possibly a couple of years old, so she is probably about six years old now or even a bit older. I can tell that she is feeling her age these days.

When she is on the perch above the ladder and I take treats in she will be the last to come to me. Whereas in the past she would have jumped or flown down she now steps down on each rung of the ladder. In the afternoons she sometimes dozes and she is first into the chicken shed each night. She is still in good health though and is just slowing down a bit.

I have had Speckles for three years and she is second in command and surrogate mother hen to the little girls. When we got her she was already having a full moult so she was about a year old putting her at four years old.

Emerald and Speckles have become firm friends since becoming the last two remaining bigger girls. Emerald lightly pecks the little girls to show that she is top girl and to indicate that they need to get out of her way but she never pecks Speckles.

Speckles in her mother hen role never pecks at the little girls even when they do get in her way and she has never pecked Emerald. Toffee and Emerald came into the flock together and were firm friends. Speckles came in with Butterscotch but had no alliance to her and was always a loner. After these two girls had gone Emerald and Speckles gradually became a very tight pair. I dread losing one of these girls at any time in the future.

The cold weather is definitely having an effect on the flock this year. Speckles comb is getting bigger and redder but not nearly as big as it gets during egg laying and Emerald’s tiny comb and face are still very pale.

Speckles laid two eggs last February and five in March. Emerald started laying at the beginning of March and laid ten eggs. There is no sign of any intentions to lay this year so far.

I followed Emerald and Speckles today to get a few photos which show how together they are. These are without them dust bathing together as they did earlier in the day, perching in the sun together and at the food or water dish together plus of course roosting together at night.

What is in this corner!

I have no idea why they were both pecking at the back of the large shelter. I even looked behind the shelter to see if there was a mouse but there was nothing.

In the shelter together

Having some apple together

Freckles comb is getting redder whilst Emerald’s comb is very pale

Pecking at the shavings in the pop hole

I took all these photos in just a few minutes. These two move together in almost perfect synchronicity. It is a joy to see such a lovely friendship.

I love the way the flock do things together. I put out some mash in three little dishes to make it easy for them all to get their share. Despite this they all crowd around one dish and each dish gets emptied one at a time until there is just one dish of mash left.

Speckles comb is getting bigger and redder

Speckles always has her trade mark little feather standing up on the back of her head. Moulting never changes this little feature of hers.

Emerald’s tail has grown back

I love to see these two at the water together

Speckles and her girls at the mash dish

Three little girls at the mash dish

Four little girls at the mash dish

I love the togetherness of the flock. Every activity is a group activity.

Dandelion remains the most vulnerable of the girls to the mycoplasma during frosty spells. The sneezing throughout all the girls is only very occasional now and has almost disappeared. Freckles who along with Dandelion was the worst effected has shown no symptoms apart from the very occasional sneeze along with the rest of the girls.

But with Dandelion the frosty weather brings back bubbles to her eyes. It’s as if it is just there under the surface waiting for the frost to bring it out again. During the last frosty spell she had a crusty right eye for just one morning.

We have recently experienced, a prolonged, frosty spell. Yesterday Dandelion came out of the chicken shed, in the morning, with both eyes looking crusty. It’s almost like this has left her with conjunctivitis. As I watched her she scratched each eye in turn with a claw and removed the crust. I am thankful that she is able to remove it herself.

I decided to give all the girls tylan again, for five days, to be on the safe side. I am once again putting it in their water and making them mash from the tylan water to get as much as possible into them. This morning was frosty again and Dandelion had a little bubbling in her right eye. She usually just has it in the right eye and only occasionally in both eyes.

Dandelion seems to get the bubbles when at rest, overnight, or perching in the sun. As soon as she starts to preen she is able to blink her eyes clear.

Dandelion’s right eye has a slight bubbling

Dandelion’s eyes are clear again

I realised after I had taken this shot that  it is actually her left eye but both eyes were as clear as this.

Dandelion isn’t showing any other symptoms so I think that this eye problem is just, stubborn, rears up when it’s frosty, and will go with the better weather. I really hope that this is the last frosty spell. I feel that if we could just get to the better weather we could get free of this.

Dandelion is fine in herself and dust baths, eats and drinks and does all the usual chicken things so I am not overly worried. I think that she will always be the weakest link in the flock but I think having come through this far she will be okay once we get through the cold weather.

My husband delivered a lunch yesterday to a lady who said that her husband was giving the speech at the meeting. She said that he was a specialist, bird vet and he had brought along one of his parrots.

My husband told her about our chickens and she said that her sister had chickens and that her husband was always looking at them for her. They talked about mycoplasma and Dandelion’s eye bubbles and she said that was a sign that Dandelion was the carrier. She agreed that tylan was the treatment of choice.

I am not sure if this is true. I have  read everything I can find on mycoplasma and haven’t come across this theory before. It doesn’t really make any difference though because once you have had mycoplasma in your flock you have to treat all the chickens as potential carriers. I thought it was interesting enough to give it a mention though.

The encouraging thing is that the girls all look happy and healthy whereas in the past I could tell things weren’t right when they were dosing and looking unwell. If I didn’t check on the flock so frequently I could easily have missed Dandelion’s eye bubbles as they are only there for a few moments. I am just repeating the tylan as a preventative measure. It is better to be on the safe side.

As I have said many times recently, roll on spring!