LL's chicken keeping adventures

[lancashire lass]

I like bless but still cant smell any of the eucalyptus in mine

I have to confess the bale of Bliss is still in the house because it is messy and damp round the feed and bedding bins outside, and every time I got a scoop of the stuff, the wind would blow it away LOL. Maybe because it is warmer and drier, the smell is more noticeable. After saying that, the coop has a completely different aroma at the moment!

On Tuesday morning, I could hear very loud squawking as I prepared their greens and seeds for the day but when I got to the run, I couldn't see what the problem was. I opened the nest box and Baby had laid an egg ... she is such a noisy girl, I didn't think anymore about it. Until I got home. Now that we have lighter evenings, I'm definitely getting home before they go to roost and because mornings are so rushed, it's nice to see them out and about. As per usual, they came flying to the gate all except Baby. I just knew something wasn't right because she was hiding in the coop run and along with standing awkward, I could see the feathers on her leg were dark and matted - blood.

Although I'd bought the can of Scarper the week before, there seemed to be harmony of a sorts in the run and I put off using it. Now I wish I'd done it so out came the gentian violet and the anti pecking spray and I spent the next half hour dealing with an injured bird and treating the others. Baby still put up a fight but on the whole, she was a lot quieter than usual. There was an open wound about the size of a 10p piece behind her leg but it wasn't deep. I put a lot of gentian violet on it and all under her tail, followed by the Scarper spray. It was a little staining so I could see where I sprayed and it seemed to match her mottled feathers so not too distracting. I gently put her in the run with the others and watched Ginger make a dash for the wounded area and then backed off. Surprisingly Scary wasn't really bothered with her, so I may have been a bit premature blaming her on this occasion.

Meanwhile, Posh and Ginger got a dose of Scarper, and I also put yet more gentian violet under Posh's rear end. The spray does have a strong smell, but not particularly off putting - a bit like charred bone. And the smell really does linger though - 2 days on and as soon as I go to the chicken run, it meets you. The coop in particular is rather pungent. On Wednesday night when I checked on the girls before locking up, for the first time ever, all 4 girls were on the perch together and all facing the same direction. I couldn't help notice Scary had put herself near the vent side of the perch rather than smack in the middle like she normally does

Baby seems back to her usual self and eating the food that I put down and looks none the worst. Of course I only get to spend a few minutes morning and evening so just see them scoffing rather than the usual interactions so I can't be sure if she is still being bullied or not. I do know I'm an egg short today so she might be recovering from the recent trauma. That, or the hemp seed trial is not working.

As for Ginger, she does seem a lot more confident - I've always had a soft spot for her since day 1 when she seemed utterly lost and too frightened to go into the coop for the first few days, but now I've seen another side to her. If I didn't know better, I'd say she has moved up the rank and even ousted Posh from her demoted 2nd place

[lancashire lass]

Not a lot to report this week. On the rattus front, I thought he/they had either died or moved out as there was no evidence of activity in recent weeks since laying down the brick floor. I've been letting the girls have the occasional sprout stalk with the blown sprouts still attached but they've not been going down too well. Anyway, I've not bothered picking them up at the end of the day as the girls might turn their attention to them another day, but I couldn't help notice one of the stalks had made its way to the bottom of the fence where the rats had been nesting before. Other than that, I would have been none the wiser.

Baby is back to full recovery and (touch wood) once more harmony of a sorts has returned to the run. I have even quietly sneaked up to the run and peeked in and there are no hositilities so fingers crossed it will remain quiet on the chicken front. Egg tally was down slightly this week to 26 and as Baby missed an egg soon after the trauma, I'd say the production line is still going strong after one week of testing the hemp seed again. The ridiculous thing is that the amount of seed is about a teaspoon in mash for 4 chickens so hardly the maximum 20% of their feed LOL. We'll see if one more week is going to tip the balance although I suspect that before next weekend, the girls will be on medicated pellets. The sack of layers pellets is rapidly running out and I'm a bit short of cash but they still have half a sack of the flubenvet pellets so maybe a good opportunity to worm them again to tide me over until I can buy more.

This past week egg sales were well down so I have quite a build up of surplus - I gave the girls a treat and scrambled some of the older eggs. Scary as usual was rushing round the run like a walking pneumatic drill whereas the others were singing yum yum and Baby was squealing with delight ... you'd think I'd never given them any treats LOL. I'm so glad spring will soon be around the corner then they'll be able to get some proper fresh greens. Meanwhile the soil in the run had got compacted where some rain had got in driven in by strong winds so I went around with the garden fork to loosen it. I left the door open and watched them with one eye as they furtively wandered out together to investigate the bit outside. I didn't mind the pecking but they seemed determined to scoff down hard brittle leaves and goodness knows what so I quickly got a bit of corn out of the feed bin and it didn't take much to encourage them all back into the run where they enjoyed scratching up the loosened soil. In particular, I watched Baby and her scratch method is up to full strength so her injury isn't causing any problems.

As for the egg nest, I think the girls are playing tricks on me - one day a clutch in the nest box, another day by the coop door, the day after in the other nest box. I'm not sure why they are doing this. I even put some extra DE in the coop and nest boxes last weekend but I didn't think it could be mites and it made no difference I am wondering about lice especially after the feather pecking incident but I couldn't see anything. I'll get some stuff on my next chicken shop trip and treat them all as a precaution.

[sandy]

Poor Baby, I havent heard of Scarper? Thank goodness you noticed her wound in time. I have used half of my bliss and have had to cover it in a towel as Olive will peck at the bag! You know another way of finding if you still have rats is there tidy little pile of brown jelly beans don't you? This laying of eggs is weird isn't it? Mine chop and change all the time, never been explained to me properly. Sending Baby lots of for her wound to soon heal bless her.

[lancashire lass]

I havent heard of Scarper?

Whoops I meant ukadex

After searching Ukadex, it would seem it has been taken off the market for some reason but Scarper is the equivalent according to Wells Poultry. I got a can off e-bay for about half the price/postage

[KarenE]

Poor little Baby - hope she's doing okay. They can be such terrors - I wonder what prompted that attack then? Does the scarper seem to be working?

I love it when they squeal and cluck with delight at unexpected delicious treats - mine all do it regularly, Gabby was chuckling away to herself the other day when she re-discovered the grass outside. Bless!

[lancashire lass]

I wonder what prompted that attack then? Does the scarper seem to be working?

Baby is the most docile of the group - Ginger just dodges out of the way, and Posh seems to still have some authority over Scary. I have no idea why it escalated to blood letting. It only happens when I'm not around ... whenever I get to the run, they bunch up together for coordinated treat begging, and seem to have community eating (surprisingly no bullying when it comes to food or water) when I give them their feed. The only change has been a chimney stack that I had laid down on its side which they all like to jump up on and be queen of the castle - it is so popular that every time I go to the run, I see them jumping off it.

So far the Scarper does seem to be working as in no new injuries. Soon after spraying, it put Ginger off going for the exact spot under Baby's leg. So fingers crossed.

[sandy]

I wonder if Baby caught her upper leg on something that made it bleed? Glad Ginger is scarpering away from the Scarper

[KarenE]

Ginger sounds like a very smart girl. A VERY smart girl... A Super Intelligent girl, I'm sure...

(HAVE YOU GOT THE HINTS????)

[lancashire lass]

I wonder if Baby caught her upper leg on something that made it bleed? Glad Ginger is scarpering away from the Scarper

no, I think she got pecked and maybe nipped and then it was a free for all. It wasn't her leg but more under her wing/tail. It's now a big purple scab. I was in the run earlier and noticed that in the mild (but wild) conditions, all the girls combs are big and bright red ... I'm hoping that's a good healthy sign.

Ginger sounds like a very smart girl. A VERY smart girl... A Super Intelligent girl, I'm sure...

(HAVE YOU GOT THE HINTS????)

LOL She is indeed a very clever girl. When I brought the girls home, she needed a lot of TLC as she seemed completely lost (she spent the whole day hiding in the coop run or on top of the pallet fence, pecking at the wood all the time, even when I put some food there for her ... I did wonder if I'd got a brain damaged bird LOL) so I spent a lot of time building up her confidence and handling her and giving her treats. The others were a lot more wary of me and would run away - now she thinks she can get away with mur.der and is rather cheeky. And she is definitely an athlete compared to the others, able to fly up to the top run (and I don't mean flapping wings and with luck getting there) and when she jumps down and lands, it is graceful and calculated unlike the sack of potato landing of the others.

Well, the pellets lasted a little longer than I expected but I'm definitely scraping the last of the pellets out of the bag so the medicated pellets will be used soon and that's when the worming will begin. Meanwhile, I had 5 egg sales this week so had a little money to go and buy some much needed grit and oyster shell, and a bag of their favourite shrimp and silkworm mix. The latter will get doled out in small amounts - it's the alternate to dried mealworms and slightly cheaper.

Up until today, the girls egg laying was on a roll - an egg a day each for 6 days in a row, but today only 2 bringing the tally to 26 this week (though I think Baby was trying to lay when I was in the run so will have a look again later) The maximum egg laying might have been for longer but I just work out the tally on a week by week basis. Thankfully I had some customers lined up this week after last week's quiet sales, and hence the mini shop today. And I wanted to get some mixed grit to fill a new box in their run - at work, the last of the old wooden first aid boxes have been taken out and replaced with plastic green ones. The boxes are in excellent condition and it was a shame to see them being thrown away so I rescued one, cut the lid in half and glued the bottom half down so now it forms a mini trough. The girls don't seem that impressed at my diy skills but at least there is a proper place for the mixed grit now.

Weatherwise, Nottingham hasn't been subjected to the hurricane force winds or deluges that the rest of the country have endured, but it has been very gusty. When I built the run, the ash tree in the neighbour's garden provided welcome afternoon shade but in recent weeks, watching and listening to the branches creak and sway in the wind has been worrying. I had put a heavy piece of wood on top of the plastic roof run because I wasn't overly confident the fittings would hold if wind came up from underneath but touch wood, have been fine. I couldn't help notice this morning that the wood had definitely shifted since last night as the wind really was wild. The run however, seems fine so that's a relief.

[lancashire lass]

Just amending the tally to 27 - Baby did indeed lay an egg later yesterday

But she now has another pecked patch under the other wing I couldn't help notice her feathers looked ragged and even more chewed than ever, and Ginger may be the instigator now ... Scary seemed uninterested in Baby and I think she is getting blamed only because she is the only one with a full set of bum feathers but possibly because the others (Ginger especially) dare not try and peck her feathers. So just before bedtime the girls got another dose of purple spray and Scarper. Baby seemed resigned to the spray and was a lot easier to handle than last time. Posh on the other hand is getting very good at dodging and making use of the cherry tree and the chimney stacks in the way to evade capture but eventually treated. I found it rather funny that they all went to roost a lot earlier than usual and I found myself alone in the run even though there was still a bit of daylight left for the last minute pecking LOL

[sandy]

Aw no, poor Baby! I know you know your stuff but has she got a problem where she is bleeding? Something nasty in there?

[lancashire lass]

Aw no, poor Baby! I know you know your stuff but has she got a problem where she is bleeding? Something nasty in there?

I don't think so - just looks like the pecking from the others have been a bit over zealous. And I know Ginger has been putting her beak where it shouldn't .... evidence of purple staining on her beak and cheek feathers ...

Today it was so lovely, I decided to get on with the run make over. How to make a perch so that all the girls could get to the high rise run was looking complicated. After wandering in with bits of wood and trying to get a mental picture failed to work, I nearly gave up until I spied a wooden chair on the patio. In recent years of wet summers, it hasn't been faring so well but it looked perfect for the run ... first I moved it into the run (the girls went running in the opposite direction in a panic), then a bit of wire to tie the new perch to the chair arm rests and the cherry tree, then a couple of screws to fasten it down properly to the chair and it is now very solid.

I left the girls alone and came back later to find only Ginger on the top run (that's when I noticed the purple beak) but Scary was intrigued and surprised me by jumping up to the pallet shelf via the new perch - this is a first for her as she has never in the past been able to get to that shelf. She wandered on to the high rise run and began pecking (at what I've no idea, as I've not put any food up there in months) with Ginger in hot pursuit LOL. I don't think Ginger was too happy that her personal sanctuary is now open access, especially to Scary. After a while, Scary decided to come down straight off the top run into the main run ... even Ginger hasn't attempted such an ambitious jump down ... and landed on the girls near the coop.

Anyway, some piccies (you can just see Posh peeping from under the chair):






The orange thing is an upended garden kneeler that a friend thought I might find useful but I've never used it. When the girls started to jump onto the chimney stack on its side, I added it to the end and it gets used a lot. The standing stack is directly under the hole in the roof and it really works well keeping the rest of the run dry. The tomato pot fits nicely and I'll be growing a selection of grasses and other seeds in a number of pots for the girls to graze on soon (I like the idea of covering the top with mesh to stop the girls from pulling things out of the pot and they just nip off the top of the shoots)



Posh and Baby with their purple rear ends

Spot which chicken still has a full set of bum feathers ....



I'm glad to see all the girls have found the new mixed grit box and been using it

[Thomassio]

It sounds like eastenders in your coop LL, full of drama! Really interesting read and I will be keeping a close eye on it as mixed hybrids are on my 'strong contenders' list of choices for my hens! Thanks.

[KarenE]

It sounds like eastenders in your coop LL, full of drama!

Ginger Mitchell: 'Ere, gerr out'a moi COOP!!!

[lancashire lass]

yep, I can see some Eastender characters in the run too. I think Ginger is more a Bianca, Scary is Phil Mitchell, Baby would be Ian Beale and Posh is Carole LOL

Last night Baby once again got pecked and I think the others had knocked the scab off the first injury (or she managed to knock it off - not really sure what happened). There wasn't any blood but the others were showing more interest in the wound than the afternoon treat. So out came the purple spray and I used the Featherite spray this time - I put a little diluted disinfectant on the wound even though it wasn't bad and cleaned it first before spraying. I think the disinfectant smarted as she was very vocal afterwards and I'm sure she was cussing me. The others were temporarily put off going in for another peck but I've noticed that both sprays don't work for long (or with knocking the scab off it looked like a belisha beacon that was just too tempting to ignore) So this morning I gave her another Featherite spray before letting her out of the coop (soooo much easier than chasing the chickens round the run LOL)

I made a slight modification to the make over this morning - I put a deep tray on the chair seat and filled it with sharp sand and some DE, and using that as a weight, put a long piece of wood underneath to act as a perch in the run. Only Ginger uses the other perch like a step up to HER high rise run but I'd like the others to use it as well. I thought the new sand box might encourage them to jump up, and as the (temporary) perch is about the same height as the chimney stack on its side it shouldn't be difficult to jump up to it. I honestly thought they'd all take a greater interest in the modifications especially as they took to the chimney stack and garden kneeler straight away. I'm even considering putting a ramp up from the kneeler to make it easier to get up and down to the pallet shelf that leads to the high rise run