Carol's Chickens

This afternoon I mixed the girls for the first time. I decided to leave the new girls part of the run closed and just open their gate to let them into the main flocks part of the run before closing it again.

I didn’t want the main flock to go in the separated part of the run and trash it. I know from the past that they would be straight in there and soon have dirt flicked in the food and water.

Gold was the first through the gate and as soon as Spot saw her she was straight over to her. They raised their ruffs at each other. Spot chased Gold on to the wooden block and aimed a swift peck to her head.

Then it was all over as quickly as it had began. Spot won the spat and after that she totally ignored Gold and the other two new girls.

The seramas took no notice of Snowflake at all. I wonder if it’s because she looks similar to them or if it is because they sense she is no threat.

Flame had been laying her egg and when she joined the flock she kept well out of the way of the new girls. Flame made a mournful sound as if she wasn’t happy having them close and she kept her distance.

There was one moment when Spangle rose up in front of Storm and made herself as tall as possible but no attempt at pecking. Sugar also briefly chased the new girls away. Salmon who is top serama took no notice of the new girls what so ever.

I’m not ready to leave them alone together just yet so I opened the gate and let the new girls back into their space.

I think it went really well and I don’t think there will be any problems. Spot had to show Gold she was above her but it was all very fast and soon resolved. Afterwards Spot refused to look at the new girls while pottering around them.

I will give them some time together every day until it’s time to mix them.

Today I closed off the bottom half of the run from the main flock. I then opened up the hatch so that the new girls could have half the run giving them more space to explore.

They immediately went out into the new space and explored all the way round the run.

The new girls went back to their familiar part of the run but when I checked again they were back down the bottom of the new part. They follow the rest of the flock and when the main flock is down the bottom end of the run these three were too.

Although Gold and Spot like to keep checking each other through the wire they haven’t been pecking through the wire. I think they are ready to start mixing tomorrow.

It’s been a while since I have had young girls at this end of the year so I thought I would check on the internet at what age they can start on layers pellets.

I had it in my head that it was at six months because that is the age that they can start laying. However it said that they should start on layers at five months to get them ready for laying.

This is great news because it means I can mix the girls towards the end of March instead of the end of April. I was glad I checked and it won’t be long now before the the girls can be mixed together.

The bedtime routine is now sorted and easy. Gold has become totally used to me and follows my hands when I am clearing up and my boots as I move around. She almost follows me out of the dividing gate if I’m not careful. She also gets right up to the camera when I am taking photos.

Storm doesn’t mind my hands at all and allows me to get close and to touch her but doesn’t follow my every move like Gold does.

Snowflake remains cautious and doesn’t like me to get close to her at all.

Gold and Storm will now peck at spinach from my fingers and they like to peck at my boots.

I have given the new girls a little chopped tomato in one of the white dishes I use for treats and they love it. The first time they were flicking it out of the dish but they are now used to pecking it from the dish.

It’s all going really well. Over the next few days I will open up the bottom part of the run for them and get them used to a bigger space. After that I will start putting all the girls together for a short time each day to get them used to each other.

At the end of April I will be able to mix the girls as the new girls will be old enough for layer pellets then. It will be good to have one flock again.

The step worked perfectly for the new girls at bedtime tonight. They easily found their way to the high perch with none of them ending up over the top of the wire. They looked so cute together that I just had to take a photo.

I waited until near dark to lift them down and put them in the coup. I am happy that we now have an easy bedtime routine.

Yesterday evening I kept popping out to see how the new girls were getting on. Earlier I had lifted Gold to the new perch and let her find her own way down in the hope that she would now know it was there.

That made no difference and like the previous night Gold was looking agitated and once again pacing the perimeter and looking upwards. I decided that they would just have to find it themselves.

The next time I checked on them both Gold and Snowflake were on the high perch and Storm was on the top of the wooden shelter looking ready to jump up. I was really pleased by this and retreated to leave them to it.

The next time I checked Storm was perched next to Gold and Snowflake was on the top of the shelter looking ready to jump up. I watched her jump up and nearly knock Storm down before she herself dropped back down. I imagined that Storm must have knocked Snowflake down earlier.

The next time I checked Gold and Storm were perched side by side but no sign of Snowflake. She wasn’t on the high perch or in their part of the run or in the little coup. I then realised that this time it was Snowflake on the main flocks’ side of the run. she must have gone over the top. She was on the chickens’ patio with the three seramas. Flame and Spot were already in the chicken shed.

Snowflake looked in one of the nest boxes and seemed to recognise it as the same as the new girls’ coup. Salmon then ran her off the patio but not in an aggressive way, just in the way that shows they are above a flock mate.

I opened the gate to the new girls’ part of the run and Snowflake ran through the gate and straight into their little coup. I think that if the other two girls weren’t so intent on perching high up Snowflake probably would go in the coup. I thought that as Snowflake was now in I may as well lift Gold and Storm down and put them in too.

I decided that another tweak was needed. I have now put a step on top of the shelter to make it easier for the new girls to get to the high perch. It’s an upturned plastic crate with a board on top. Luckily we have plenty of off cuts in the shed.

I really think this will solve the problem and that all three of them will get to the high perch tonight.

Tonight I did the same as the night before and kept checking on the new girls before bedtime. It’s as well that I did because I soon realised a further slight tweak was needed.

Gold was already on the high perch. Snowflake was trying to jump up to the perch. I had positioned the step on that end of the shelter because that was the spot that Snowflake was trying to jump from last night.

Instead of stepping on the step she was trying to jump from just in front of the step which was even more tricky as it needed a steeper jump. Of course the step is new so is not to be trusted! Suprisingly she did actually make it but it didn’t look easy and involved a lot of flapping.

Storm was unable to jump up so I went in to move the position of the step. Storm dropped back into the run and I moved the step to the other side of the shelter. This way the girls would have to step onto it when jumping from the top of the coup.

Storm jumped on to the step and easily jumped up to the perch. Phew!

It has taken a bit of tweaking to get this right but I think we are actually there now. I think these three will easily get to this perch every night now and I can go in after dusk when they are calm and lift them down and put them in their coup with minimal fuss.

I have been trying to address the things that were not working well in the new girls part of the run. In recent years I have had new girls in September. This has meant that the main flock had stopped laying and I could switch the whole flock to grower pellets for the winter and start integrating straight away.

Having new girls at this time of the year means that the main flock are just about to start laying with Flame laying already. This means that the main flock need to stay on layers pellets while the new girls need to be on growers for the next couple of months.

This means that it is worth making an effort to make their part of the run work as well as possible. Once I have sorted out bedtime I will be able to open the bottom half of the run and give the new girls more space but for the moment I need to sort out the issues with their current part of the run.

One of the problems has been that the new girls constantly stand in their water dish or run through it so it is always dirty and needing changing constantly. I decided to buy a different water dispenser.

The other problem has been bedtime. I had been going in to them at dusk in the hope that they would go in the coup without me there to distract them but each evening they were perched on top of the chicken wire just under the roof. This makes it awkward for me to lift them down and must be uncomfortable for them as its a thin edge to cling to.

Last night I decided to go in to the new girls earlier and see if I could persuade them not to fly up but to go in the coup. I soon discovered that it isn’t because they don’t know where to go it’s because they don’t want to go in the coup. They want to perch high up.

As it got near dusk Gold became very agitated. She was marching up and down the perimeter and looking upward. She looked stressed and was obviously looking for somewhere suitable to perch.

I tried picking each girl up and putting them in the coup in the hope that that they would then go back in later. They all three popped straight back out and Gold continued to look agitated. I decided to pick them up once more and put them in and close the coup. I decided that today I needed a new plan.

I remembered that I had the same thing with Peaches and Barley, the cream leghorn chicks of about the same as age as our new girls. They too wouldn’t go in the coup but used to perch on a plant holder that I had in the corner of the run. I ended up putting a little perch there in place of the pot and letting them perch there each evening until I would go in and lift them down and put them in the coup.

I decided that I needed to put up a high perch for the new girls that they would be happy to perch on and then after dusk I would be able to easily lift them down and put them in the coup.

I also realised that the where the coup is now, in the corner, water can drip in when it when it rains, through the mesh above the marine ply. I decided to cover it with tarpaulin to make sure it stays dry. I then decided to place a board over the tarpaulin as the new girls like to stand on it and were slipping and sliding on the tarpaulin. They will be able to use that as their way up to the perch so I wanted to make everything as safe as possible.

I also decided to remove the slates that the food and water dish had been standing on as I don’t want sharp edges in case they fly down from the high perch.

This shows the new perch which I can reach easily and the coup covered with tarpaulin and then a board on top.

My first idea for a new feeding station was to put it in the shelter.

The girls absolutely refused to go in the shelter. I tried picking up Gold and Storm and placing them in there but they immediately jumped back out. I abandoned this idea as I didn’t want them going without food and water too long as they are usually always in the food dish.

I decided this position was out of the way and with the new water dispenser and it’s new position I thought it wouldn’t be stood in. I also switched to one of our big food dishes so I don’t need to constantly fill it up.

With the food and water dishes in their new position the girls went to them straight away. All that remains to be seen is if the girls use the new perch tonight. This is going to be interesting!

I have been aware of Spot’s comb gradually getting redder over the past couple of months. However yesterday it struck me how much it had changed in size and shape too.

When Spot’s comb was pale and narrow the tiny feathers either side of it looked like hairs. It is now a wide strip with no hair like feathers visible. I looked back over the last two months to see how dramatic the change has been.

Spot has also really grown in confidence recently. I am sure she will start laying eggs any day now.

I love this photo of the girls and Spot checking each other out. It’s so unusual to get all the girls in focus at once.

The new girls have settled in really well. Having said that they were easy to handle I soon realised that wasn’t strictly true. Gold and Storm are very easy to handle. Snowflake isn’t at all. She lives up to her name and I could call her The Snowflake. She is the only one that is nervous and doesn’t like me to get too close.

I discovered this at bedtime on the first evening of the first full day with us. Getting new girls to go in at bedtime is always the first hurdle. I wondered if they would make their own way in.

The first night I was pleased that Snowflake was in as I knew she would be the difficult one to catch. Gold was perched by the hatch so I knew she would be easy to pick up. Unfortunately when I put Gold in Snowflake shot out. I easily picked up Storm and put her in but spent a bit of time chasing Snowflake from corner to corner before I was able to catch her in the corner.

Snowflake screamed when I picked her up as if I was trying to murder her. Not great at all.

The next day Storm discovered the coup during the day and was in and out. I knew this was good as once familiar with the coup during the day there was more of a chance she would go in at bedtime.

Sure enough Storm was in the coup at bedtime. Gold was perched above the hatch this time. Again easy to pick up and put in. Once again I chased Snowflake around the corners until I could pick her up. She didn’t make a sound this time so that was an improvement.

Last night I left it a little later in the hope that the new girls might be in the coup. The first thing I saw when I went into the run was Storm on the main flock’s side of the run. I was puzzled as to how she had escaped as there were no gaps.

I then looked up and saw that Gold was perched on the chicken wire divider just under the roof. I realised that storm must have followed her and then dropped down on the other side

We have had girls dig underneath before but have never had them come over the top. Luckily Storm is so easy to pick up that I picked her up and put her in the coup. I then stood on tip toes and lifted Gold down and put her in the coup.

I then started chasing Snowflake round but luckily as she went round the coup she went straight in the coup on her own. Progress.

This morning when I went out it had been raining all night and the new girls’ area near the hatch was wet where it drips in at that part where the original part of the run joins the later part of the run.

I had a light bulb moment. I decided to move their coup and feeding station into the corner of their space next to the large wooden shelter. This will give them a bigger dry area.

This also has the advantage that instead of chasing Snowflake into that corner I will be able to chase her straight into the coup. This should make bedtime a lot easier.

Originally we had a bush in that corner and when it died it left a stump that I left for the girls to perch on. I think that was why I had always put the little coup in front of the shelter.

The stump eventually fell over and I removed it but just hadn’t thought of putting the coup in it’s place until now. The coup is now in the corner that the girls are in in the first photo. As you can see it should be easier to guide Snowflake towards the open coup at bedtime.

I am hoping that over the next few evenings the girls will get the hang of going in at bedtime.

I am amazed how much these girls eat and Gold is permanently in the food dish. She is definitely the top girl of the three.

I am very happy with how it is going and am hopeful that bedtime will soon sort itself. It usually takes about a week.

Postscript

I have now updated all the pages that appear under the heading of my blog. I had got a bit behind with them recently. If anyone would like some information on my newer breeds you could click on “Some information about my bantam breeds”. You would need to scroll down to almost the bottom where I have now given information first on Spot and then on the three new girls.

My three girls were supposed to arrive between 2.00 pm and 5.00 pm yesterday. When they hadn’t arrived by 5.00 pm I started to get anxious.

The phone doesn’t get answered after 5.00 pm so I e-mailed the lady to ask if she could track when they would arrive. She was very apologetic and said that the courier had been held up in traffic and was running late but was on his way to me.

She e-mailed again that he was 40 minutes away and then again that he was 10 minutes away. He arrived at 5.45 pm.

I had separated the small part of the run and had put a barrier around the little coup and feeding station as I wanted to give the girls a chance to have food and water before going in the coup but wanted to confine them close to the coop so that I would be able to get them in easily.

After being confined to the chicken carrier for so long the girls were not interested in the food and water but just wanted to escape the small area I had put them in. As the main flock were already in the chicken shed and the pop hole was closed I decided the safest thing was to put the girls in the coup.

I checked back on them a bit later and they were settled down with the chabo and the modern game snuggled together and the ardennaise a little away from them.

This meant photos and blogging had to wait until today. I followed my tradition of giving them descriptive names. The chabo is Snowflake, the modern game is Storm and the ardennaise is Gold.

This morning at 7.00 am I let them out. Gold was first out and straight to the water then the food then the water again. Snowflake was next out and Storm was reluctant so I guided her out. They are beautiful and I am thrilled with them.

They must have been used to being handled because they are not bothered by me at all. It looks like Gold is top girl of these three. The only one of the original flock that took more than a passing interest in the new girls was Spot.

Spot was going all around the new girls’ perimeter and being very vocal. It is typical that it is the bottom girl that does this as they want to be sure they don’t remain bottom girl when new girls come along.

The new girls all had food and water then Gold had a dust bath so she is really making herself at home. I am really pleased with how it is going so far.

I feel that I definitely made the right decision to use a courier service to have a bigger choice of breeds. I think these girls are beautiful and make a lovely addition to the flock.

We shouldn’t have favourites really but I just love Storm so much for her quirky and different appearance and her small size. They are all beautiful but I think she is a bit special. I am so happy.

Over the last few days I knew that Flame was getting ready to lay her first egg of the year. Flame has been in all three nest boxes and all four corners of the chicken shed over the last few days and has been flicking the shavings out of the nest boxes. I am constantly sweeping up shavings.

Spot also looks as if she won’t be long. She has a red comb and blue lobes and has been looking in the nest boxes. Even Sugar and Spangle have investigated the nest boxes.

Salmon is the only girl not looking in the nest boxes but she too has a red comb and face.

Yesterday Flame finally settled in a corner of the chicken shed. The next time I checked on her she was in the process of laying her egg. What a clever girl. Flame laid her first egg of the year yesterday.

It feels like the circle of life to have Flame’s first egg of the year after our recent losses. Well done Flame.

Edit – Some exciting news

I e-mailed the chicken breeder with a courier service (Pippenchick) to see if I could put my name on a waiting list for the three breeds I had chosen which were bantams : chabo, modern game and sussex hybrid. They e-mailed back that they already have in stock chabo and modern game but not sussex hybrid. However they have ardenaise which was the next choice on my list.

I replied asking what I need to do to order them. The lady rang me to talk me through it and said that they could deliver this Friday.

I wasn’t expecting this to be so soon and can’t quite believe it at the moment. They are three and a half months old so are on growers pellets. I will separate the run today to get ready for them. Watch this space for the new arrivals.