Carol's Chickens

We are experiencing a bit of a heat wave at the moment as I think is the whole country. The little girls love the heat but the two bigger girls not so much.

Speckles continues to do sloppy poops and it’s obviously no longer because of drinking rain water.

I have researched this and it is suggested that providing the girl looks fine in every other way there is nothing to worry about but I still can’t help thinking that as it has gone on for so long there must be something slightly adrift.

Speckles has been laying fewer eggs than usual and yesterday for the first time she laid a soft shelled egg which I found broken in the nest box. Despite this she does seem normal in all other ways. She is active, dust baths, eats well and runs to the treats with vigour so there is nothing much I can do but see how she goes.

Emerald is feeling her age and spends more time sitting and snoozing these days. Today when it was hot and the little girls were sunning themselves she found a shady spot on top of the shelter and was snoozing there.

Emerald has found a new shady spot to sit

Emerald snoozing in the shade

I felt compelled to call her name to check that she was okay

Despite this Emerald is laying really well and recently laid two days in a row for the first time this year.

Dandelion has really come into her own. After many times of looking poorly over the winter she is now thriving in the hot weather. When I last did portraits of the girls Dandelion had black spots on her comb where I thought that she had been pecked by Speckles. She now has a beautiful red comb and is laying good shelled eggs every other day. It is as if she is fixed!

Dandelion in the nest box

She is more active than she used to be and even seems to have more confidence when the other girls are competing for the treats.

The other problem I am still trying to sort out is that the two bigger girls still want to sleep outside of the chicken shed. I have been hanging clear tarpaulin over the perches in the evening which worked for a while.

They then got braver and perched on top of the tarpaulin. I chased them down and then arranged my wellie boots over the spot they had perched on and went back later to check on them. They had knocked my boots down and perched there again. I am now hanging a black bin bag over the tarpaulin which at the moment is working.

We are away overnight at the end of next week so I am keeping this up for now so that I can feel confident that they will go in while we are away but longer term I am not sure if I am going to be able to break this habit.

While we are at home I can just go and herd them in each night but we are away overnight again in August. This is a work in progress.

And that is all the latest news from the chicken run. Overall I am pleased that all the girls are looking good and laying well, apart from Speckles, but then she has never been a particularly good layer anyway.

I had been doing some gardening today and all the girls were watching me and waiting for any worms that I dug up.

Then I went into the run and Dandelion was missing. I thought she was probably laying her egg and I checked both nest boxes but there was sign of her. I looked in the chicken shed and she didn’t appear to be in there either. Even though I know my run is secure and there was no way that she could get out a little pang of fear still clutched at me. I kept telling myself that there was no way she could have disappeared.

I checked behind the shelters and did the rounds again of looking in the nest boxes and the chicken shed.

I looked in the chicken shed

My common sense was telling me that she must be in here somewhere and I stepped into the chicken shed.

There she is

Dandelion had chosen a different corner to lay her egg

There she was tucked into the corner behind the pop hole. I have never seen Dandelion or any of the girls choose this corner before.

Dandelion soon laid her tiny egg in this corner and Emerald and Cinnamon laid their egg in the nest boxes so we have had a three egg day today.

These girls never cease to surprise me.

You would imagine that laying eggs for a hen would be a simple matter but that isn’t always the case.

When you have a small flock like we have you can see all their funny little habits. My two bigger girls don’t always seem to know when they are about to lay and will spend time in the nest box and then not lay until the following day or even several days later. I think of this as practising.

In the past they have made a huge fuss over finding their favourite egg laying spot already taken, but with only five girls at the moment, that hasn’t been an issue recently.

When they first started laying this year the chicken shed was the favourite spot but they have now moved on to choosing the nest boxes. I never know why they suddenly change their habit.

The day before yesterday Speckles suddenly decided that the large shelter might be a good place to lay. I have no idea why she would choose this spot. When Speckles is thinking about laying an egg Emerald is always with her standing guard. She cannot resist keeping watch while Speckles sits.

Speckles settles in the large shelter

The large shelter

Emerald watches over Speckles

When I returned a little later Speckles had sensibly abandoned the shelter for the nest box.

Speckles decides that the nest box is more suitable after all

Emerald watches over her once more

Once again Emerald stood on watch but it turned out to be another of those false alarms and Speckles left the nest box without laying an egg.

Emerald later went into the nest box and did lay her egg.

Yesterday when I checked both Speckles and Emerald were in the nest box together and both girls had some pine shavings on their back. I knew that it was very unlikely that Emerald would need to lay as she had laid the day before and never lays more than every other day at best. It seems that she just likes to keep Speckles company.

Emerald and Speckles are side by side in the nest box

They both have pine shavings on their backs

A little later I checked again just as Speckles laid her egg and then both girls left the nest box together. Talk about a close pair of girls!

Yesterday Cinnamon also laid her first egg after her broody break. She had taken ten days break which was exactly the same as Freckles. This means all five girls are now laying with the little girls usually laying every other day, Emerald laying an average of three eggs a week and Speckles laying only once a week.

I am very pleased that Dandelion is now laying good shelled eggs every other day. Her eggs are tiny though and she also has some confusion about when she is about to lay. She sits in the nest box without laying sometimes and she sometimes lays an egg then returns to the nest box as if she doesn’t realise that she has laid.

The day before yesterday we had some welcome sun and Dandelion loves to sit in the sun. I checked on the girls to find Dandelion having a lovely dust bath in the sun and there was her tiny egg in the dirt about a foot away from her. It seems that she hadn’t even noticed she had laid it.

It does make me smile how these girls have such funny ways over their egg laying. It is lovely to have enough eggs not to need to buy any at the moment and it is great to have all five girls laying again.

It’s so cold that it’s as if we have returned to winter again. It doesn’t seem possible that we recently experienced a mini heat wave. The wind is bitterly cold and we have had lots of rain. The forecast is better towards the end of this week though with a return to more normal weather for the time of year.

The last group of tulips that opened during the mini heat wave have stayed firmly closed ever since.

The last tulips staying firmly closed

In the first small corner bed as we go up the garden we had a huge lavender which we had planted when we moved in and it was really lovely for years but then it suddenly died a couple of years ago. It has been a struggle since then to get this patch filled but this year it is looking really good. I love the way the plants spill over and soften the edges of the patio.

A small corner bed is filled

The hard square edge has now disappeared. I can’t wait for better weather so that we can get back out into the garden again. The good news is that the weekend is forecast to be good.

It’s a bit slow news in the chicken run at the moment but that’s not a bad thing. No news is good news as they say.

Cinnamon has yet to restart laying after her brief broody moment but all the other girls are laying and Dandelion is laying good shells which is amazing.

The flock seems so tiny and I am longing to add new girls but I am having to remain patient.

I decided to give the girls some mash as an extra treat.

Some mash for the girls

They do love a bit of mash

It is good to see that all is well in the chicken run but I do miss seeing a larger number of girls. They are a happy little flock though.

I know I have said this quite often recently but the pulmonaria has taken over our garden so we are buying new plants then digging a clump out and replacing  it with the new plants.

This is the girls’ view of the garden. Notice the sea of pulmonaria in the background.

Cinnamon in front of a mass of pulmonaria

There have also been a few casualties of the harsh winter that we have had. When we first set up the chicken run we slightly extended the chicken’s patio area with some spare paving slabs that had been left in the garden. To do this we had to dig out a huge mature heather.

We transplanted the heather behind our cabin (work kitchen) between the windows where we needed something low that wouldn’t block the windows. It has never flowered much since it’s been there as it doesn’t get enough sun but it provided a patch of green.

This winter it turned an autumnal red/brown colour and stayed that way when spring came. As heather should be in flower at this time of the year we assumed that it had died and at the very least it wasn’t looking attractive.

This heather looks dead

While shopping for plants for the rest of the garden we chose a low growing evergreen to take it’s place. It’s actually a lovely blue colour.

New planting

We also added a smaller heather beside it which had out grown one of our pots. Hopefully these will spread to fill this space and will be happier here than the original heather was. I think this is an improvement.

We intend to keep adding something new to the garden each month until we get it back to the cottage garden we originally intended it to be.

I thought about Sophie’s comment that she doesn’t know which girls lay which eggs like I do and I thought I would demonstrate how different our girls eggs are.

I know that if I get more seramas, and I would ideally like another five, that it will no longer be easy to tell the different eggs. But at the moment with just three seramas and just two bantams it is really easy.

Our different sized eggs

Dandelion’s is the tiny egg on the left, next is Freckles, bigger, round, egg then Emerald’s egg and then Speckles, larger, egg on the right. We are missing Cinnamon as she is on a break but her eggs are the same length as Freckles but are oval in shape with a much more pointed end.

I love seeing the different shapes and sizes of our girls eggs and of course they are all delicious.

After the problems over the winter it is great to see all the girls looking really good and they are all laying now except Cinnamon who had a broody day recently so will take a break.

Freckles only took a break of ten days after her broody spell and today laid her second egg  since starting again. Speckles also laid today and she doesn’t lay too often so that was good to see.

Emerald and Dandelion laid yesterday and are laying every other day. I thought the girls looked so good that I decided to photograph them.

Emerald

Speckles

Freckles

Cinnamon

Dandelion

What a great bunch of girls with lovely red faces and combs. Emeralds tiny comb is a lovely colour and Speckles large comb always has dirt on the edge from her pecking at the ground.

Dandelion is a changed girl from the winter. All her eggs have been good after the first one. I am really pleased with the flock at the moment and long may it continue.

After the harshest winter for many years we have now had record high temperatures for April. It has felt like summer this week. The garden is bursting with flower.

Tulips in bud

These tulips have been like this for ages just waiting to open. Again just look at the sea of pulmonaria that surrounds them.

The last clump of tulips have opened today

These tulips have been here since we moved in and are the last to open every year.

My favourite clematis is just getting started

It’s my favourite because I like the colour of this one the most.

The clematis opposite our kitchen window

This clematis is on the new fence that our neighbours put up last year and has more flower on it than it has ever had before.

Pot of daisies in bud a week ago

Pot of daisies today

I have been waiting for these daisies to open. All the recent buds in the garden have opened and the cherry tree blossom from last week has all gone already. The garden is changing day by day.

The chooks are loving the better weather too. Dandelion continues to lay every other day with good shells.

Cinnamon is over her broody spell after just one day so that’s good news. She stayed out of the nest box all day today.

Since the better weather Emerald and Speckles have wanted to stay out and perch on the perches at the bottom of the run at bedtime so I am now blocking those too. I hang some tarpaulin over them an hour before bedtime and as long as I do that they go into the chicken shed. I am not sure that I am going to break this habit though. I will continue to do this for a while but I am not sure what to do long term.

I am happy that the girls all look happy and healthy and that is the main thing. They are definitely enjoying the better weather as much as I am.

Dandelion has now laid three eggs and has laid them every other day which is pretty good going. The first one was the soft shelled egg but the next two have had good shells so I am optimistic that she will now continue to lay good eggs. She is looking better than she ever has and I think the warmer weather is really suiting her.

Dandelion in the nest box yesterday

However Cinnamon has gone broody for the first time. This means my two best laying, little girls, are taking a break from egg laying so as one girl starts another girl stops.

Cinnamon is broody

Cinnamon was in the nest box last night before bedtime so I took her out and she then went in the chicken shed. I found her egg near her roost spot this morning when I went in so she must have laid first thing.

When I saw her back in the nest box later this morning I suspected she had gone broody. I knew for sure when she raised her tail up. I lifted her out and she tried to peck me. She isn’t docile when lifted like Freckles.

When I lifted Freckles out she would stay out for a while but Cinnamon would run straight back to the nest box. I could see that Emerald wanted to lay her egg so I let her get settled in the nest box and closed the other one.

Emerald is settled in the nest box

When I next checked the nest box this is what I found.

Cinnamon and Emerald in the nest box together

I should have known that the nest box being occupied wasn’t going to put Cinnamon off. She is a determined little girl. I left them to it.

When I next checked Emerald was back out in the run and Cinnamon was still in the nest box. I lifted her to find Emerald’s egg beneath her. I put her out in the run and closed the nest boxes. I would like to break her out of it as quickly as possible.

Emerald is laying well, almost every other day. Last year she laid twice as many eggs as Speckles so she is the better layer of the two despite being older and having a shorter laying season.

It seems that there is always some drama going on. It is good to have a couple of girls laying but with the flock so small now the eggs are still not enough to entirely keep us going without buying some to supplement them.

It would be really good to increase the flock and insure that there would still be eggs when some of the girls take a broody break. I hope the warmer weather is helping my breeder to hatch some eggs.

I am resisting calling him again, too soon, but I will give him a call in a couple of weeks time to see how it is going. I would so love to add some more girls to the flock.

I still look at the girls and momentarily wonder where the rest of them are and then realise that they are all there. The flock seems so small. I look forward to having a larger flock as summer progresses.