Carol's Chickens

Jasmine didn’t look happy yesterday afternoon and I thought that maybe she had an egg problem. I wondered if she was about to lay a soft shelled egg. At bedtime she was perched in her usual spot but looked odd with her tail raised. I hoped she would lay an egg first thing in the morning and bounce back.

Jasmine didn’t lay this morning and still didn’t look at all happy. After the morning sunflower seeds she went to her bedtime spot in the chicken shed. Although she was on her bedtime perch rather than in a nest box I recognised this from when she laid her last egg.

Jasmine is not happy

Jasmine laid her first tiny egg on 18th January. She laid it early in the morning from her roost spot. A week later I felt she was about to lay her next egg but she kept going to this same bedtime spot from where she had laid her first egg.

I lifted her down and put her in the nest box where she stayed put. Later she laid another egg which was bigger than her first tiny egg but still smaller than the usual serama sized egg.

Today I lifted her down again and put her in the nest box but she didn’t stay and went to perch on the ladder where there was some sun. She sat dozing in the sun.

Jasmine dozing in the sun

At this point I was torn as to whether it was an egg problem or was mycoplasma. It seemed more likely to be an egg problem but sometimes the symptoms can be the same. Freckles would doze in this position when she had myco. I decided to wait and see if she laid today before making the decision to treat with tylan again.

Since the freezing temperatures at the weekend I had seen Dandelion with a bubble in her eye on one occasion for the first time this winter. She soon blinked it away and I decided to just keep an eye on her. Today Dandelion was on the perch above Jasmine and I noticed she had a slight crust over her right eyelid. This was something that used to happen last winter.

When I next checked Dandelion had scratched the crust away. This added to me being unsure if it was an egg problem with Jasmine or myco. I decided to treat with tylan tomorrow if Jasmine didn’t lay but at that point she went to the nest box.

Dandelion has a crust over her right eye

Jasmine in the nest box

To my relief when I next checked Jasmine was back out in the run looking her usual self again. There was an egg in the nest box of a bigger size than her previous egg. I think she had been struggling to lay a bigger egg but it had a good shell.

Today’s eggs

On the right is Ebony’s large egg and next is Spangle’s egg which is always a beige colour like Ebony’s. Next is Marmite’s pale egg and on the left is Jasmine’s, bigger and rounder, pale egg. This is probably why she was having difficulty getting it laid.

It is a week and a half since her last egg so she is obviously getting started slowly. Hopefully she will soon get the hang of it. Another crises has passed and hopefully all is back to normal once more.

Yesterday and today the weather couldn’t be more different than it was on Sunday when we walked to the allotment. Sunday was very cold but with the sunshine and a clear blue sky it was a lovely day. Yesterday and today have been milder but have been dark and wet and gloomy starting with some fog this morning.

The good thing is that it has cleared all the snow and it has stayed above freezing overnight. This means I don’t have to worry about the chickens’ water freezing.

On the way up to the girls with the bedtime corn I noticed that the snowdrops had water droplets on them. It looked like ice and although I knew it wasn’t I couldn’t resist touching a water droplet with my finger. It was odd how the droplets were just on the snowdrops and not on any of the other plants.

Snowdrops with water droplets

The snowdrops looked quite beautiful.

Yesterday we decided to take a walk to the allotment to see how long it takes. We had walked before but we were pushing our little grandson on his trike so it wasn’t a true test of how long it takes to walk.

From our door to our plot it took forty minutes of brisk walking. We haven’t been able to do anything more with the plot because of the weather.

Allotment plot in the snow

And from the other end

Despite frozen, crunchy snow, it was a lovely day. Cold but sunny with clear blue sky. It was good to get out for a walk.

Back home I thought I would take another photo of our snowdrops this time in the snow.

Snowdrops in the snow

The snow is gradually going. These snowdrops were completely buried and have gradually been revealed again. They look fragile but are so resilient.

I will be glad to see the back of the snow as it feels like enough now.

Marmite has laid a total of nineteen eggs since she started laying at the end  of December. Her first two eggs were really tiny and then her next one was normal sized. The day before yesterday Ebony, Spangle and Marmite all laid. The three girls were in the three nest boxes at the same time and all laid at about the same time.

While Smoke is taking a break, since going broody, these three girls are the only ones laying regularly at the moment.

Yesterday the run was quite dark due to the snow on the roof of the run and it continued to snow lightly on and off all day.

Dandelion and Cinnamon spent most of the day in the large wooden shelter. The rest of the flock hung around just beyond the patio area. It was the most inactive I have ever seen the flock.

Late afternoon Marmite was in her favourite middle nest box. She was the only girl to go to the nest box all day. I checked a little later just as she came out and her warm egg was in the nest box. The odd thing was that it was another tiny egg. Not as tiny as her first two eggs but not much bigger either.

I know that it was Marmite’s egg as she was the only girl to go in the nest box otherwise I would have put it down to another girls’ first egg.

Marmite lays another tiny egg

On the right is Ebony’s egg from the day before yesterday. To the left of that is Spangle’s egg and then left of that Marmite’s egg from the day before yesterday. On the left is Marmite’s egg from yesterday.

Marmite’s egg next to a pound coin for size comparison

Marmite’s first two eggs were tiny enough to sit on the pound coin so this is about double that size but still very small. It is interesting. I am guessing that her next egg will probably be normal size once more but we will see!

I decided to do an end of month egg count while I am still able to see which girls are laying which eggs.

Ebony laid 17 eggs in January.

Smoke laid 17 eggs in January.

Marmite laid 16 eggs in January.

Spangle laid 14 eggs in January.

Jasmine laid 2 eggs in January.

Salmon laid 1 egg in January.

This gives us a total of 67 eggs for January which is amazing.

Ebony has slowed down a bit in the winter months compared to the summer but is still laying well. Smoke is a really good layer because not only did she equal Ebony in January but she hasn’t laid during the last week since she went broody. This means her 17 eggs were in fact laid in three weeks. Her eggs are also the biggest serama eggs so far.

Jasmine and Salmon haven’t got properly started yet so they can’t really be counted at the moment.

Sienna and Vanilla are yet to start and haven’t yet shown any interest in the nest boxes.

I wonder how many eggs we will be getting in summer when all the girls are laying! As well as Sienna and Vanilla we will be able to add Flame, Dandelion and Cinnamon.

We will have loads of eggs!

When we went to bed last night it was snowing.

Snowing last night

Bobbly snow on the vehicles

The garden this morning

Lots of snow

We have had quite a lot of snow. It is a bit milder this morning though. Saturday is forecast cold again at four degrees during the day and minus four overnight again. I think after that it is looking a bit more normal.

Compared to some parts of the country we have got off lightly but even so we have had enough of this now.

This morning when I refilled the chicken’s waters it was still minus four degrees. There was the hardest frost that I can remember seeing.

This morning’s frost

Minus four degrees

It is such a hard frost that it looks like snow. It looks beautiful but the path is lethal and I walked on the edge of the crisp planting for safety.

I will certainly be glad when this cold spell comes to an end.

The weather here has been very cold with night time temperatures of minus two to four which means the chickens’ water freezes.

I seem to learn the hard way every year. If there is only a little ice on top of the water a jug of hot water poured on top is enough to defrost it. If it is frozen solid, as it has been the last few mornings, I have to bring the waters in and run them under the hot tap to remove the block of ice from the china dish and to be able to separate the top from the bottom of the metal water container as it freezes together.

I then fill my plastic watering can, take that up and refill the water dishes. What a palaver! It is always at this stage that I wonder why I am making it so hard on myself. So tonight I have emptied both water containers and separated the metal one so it can’t freeze together and bought my emptied watering can down to the back door.

In the morning I will fill the watering can and take it up to fill both water containers. Easy! No defrosting. I always remember this after doing it the hard way first.

In other news Smoke got over her broodiness very quickly. On Friday she laid her last egg after behaving half broody for four days. On Saturday I posted the photo of her making herself as big as possible. That evening I had to lift her from the nest box and put her on the perch in the chicken shed.

To my surprise on Sunday morning she was out in the run. She didn’t go in the nest box all day and at dusk settled in the chicken shed. Just like that she had snapped out of it! I would be happy if it was that easy every time.

And since I blocked off the store cabinet Spangle has laid her eggs in the nest box nearest the chicken shed every time so another problem solved. I will leave it blocked for a while until I am sure she has forgotten all about it.

We are continuing to get plenty of eggs and the girls seem to be handling the cold okay for now. Dandelion and Cinnamon spend time in the shelters when it’s cold but the rest of the girls don’t seem bothered by the cold which is really good to see.

The silky girls and the amigos remain active during the cold so I am pleased that the girls from my  latest breeder seem to be more robust. She did say that she continues to breed during the winter so we wondered if that makes them hardier. I have no idea if that is the case but if it is that bodes well for the future.

We have been a bit busy this week with an appointment to the accountant, a dentist check up for me, an M.O.T. for one of the vans and catering a funeral for tomorrow, so I haven’t managed to take any photos of the girls. I always think a post with no photos at all is rather dull so on the way back from locking the girls up tonight I stopped to take a photo of one of our snowdrop patches.

Snowdrops at dusk

These were completely buried under our recent snow but seem none the worse for that.

We have been watching the forecast as we were due more snow which was a worry with the funeral tomorrow but the forecast is now saying sleet and rain so I think we are going to be okay.

I know we mustn’t wish our lives away but roll on spring/summer and better weather. Like the chickens I prefer warmth and sun.

Recently there has been the usual surge of hormones that comes with the start of egg laying and it always causes spats to take place.

Dandelion picks her battles carefully but Cinnamon does not. Cinnamon was over confident and rushed around picking fights with all the amigos. They cottoned on to her game and started retaliating two at a time. Two amigos would fight back together and corner Cinnamon until she had to back down.

This has really knocked her confidence and she has since taken to hanging back away from the flock. It has been really hard to see our confident little girl suddenly become nervous and hanging back from the treats.

If only she hadn’t kept pushing her luck I feel sure she would have maintained her joint top serama position. Now with her obvious loss of confidence all of the amigos have taken to chasing her away.

Dandelion on the other hand picked just a few fights and therefore came off better. She has maintained her top serama position.

A few days ago Dandelion had a spat with Smoke who is top amigo. The pair of them were really going for it when Ebony spotted them. Ebony ran over and broke it up once again. She had three attempts before she separated them and then grabbed Smoke by the wing as if admonishing her. When it was all over Ebony returned to scratching in the soil as if nothing had ever happened.

Dandelion kept her top position. It’s a pity Ebony hadn’t been around when Cinnamon was picking fights all over the place.

One thing that is certain though is that Dandelion and Cinnamon remain firm friends. They dust bath together and sit together whether in the sun or the shelter. I have also noticed that Cinnamon sticks close to Speckles when in the run. She knows that Speckles will always protect her and will chase away the amigos.

There are strong relationships within the flock. The three bigger girls along with Dandelion and Cinnamon will often be grouped together almost like a flock within the flock. The two silky girls are also always together. The amigos are sometimes together and sometimes spread out but there are definitely three groups within the flock.

Cinnamon and Dandelion sitting in the sun

Dandelion and Cinnamon in the large shelter

I wonder if once Cinnamon starts laying again she will regain her confidence and her status. One thing that seems certain in the chicken world is that pecking order may change but friendships borne out of being together over time become lasting friendships. The girls that have been together longest or have come in together have strong bonds.

When I lift Smoke out of the nest box she will stay in position on the patio for a while so I am now putting her straight into the run. When I do this she holds up her wings and tail and makes herself look as big as possible.

Broody Smoke

She does look hilarious! Unfortunately she does attract pecks from Dandelion and the silky girls. On the other hand though she chases away the rest of the amigos. I think it’s those angry, broody, hormones.

I am pleased to see that when I have taken her out she has plenty of water, some spinach and some pellets. It’s good to see her eating and drinking while out of the nest box.

I am guessing we are in for three weeks of this. I am used to having shut broody girls out of the nest box in the past but that’s no longer possible. Oh well, what will be, will be!