What cluck to wear

16 May, 2010

Took advantage of a weekend of sun by giving the eglu and run a thorough clean. Ache all over today as hard work lifting the eglu across the garden and raking several tubs of earth. The chickens escaped into the garden when I was busy (but was considering releasing them anyway). Started raking to discover Katy had tired of freedom and wanted to be there for the digging. Then of course Abbie came along and every time I put down a rake there was a chicken in the way looking offended I'd try to move them. Katy spent the first part of freedom hiding under the herbs possibly making a nest. She was behaving a bit wierdly pecking at plants and putting her head over her back like she does when on the nest and wants to be left alone. Abbie just found a spot and started digging. She actually cleared the weeds back to earth, but some of the tulips looked a bit wonky afterwards.

Can you see Katy behind the tulip?!

18 Apr, 2010

Yesterday the chickens lounged around in the sun. Today the chickens have been productive digging a hole. Here they are looking smug about their handiwork. You can see the hole in front of the run on the bottom right of the photo, and also the front corner of the run behind the brick. You can also see how they have been redistributing the aubiose (pale bedding) I replaced in the run last week. Abbie  (More)

9 Jan, 2010

Well, the blog is not very exciting as not seen the chickens as it is dark when I am at home. At weekends they are refusing to leave the eglu for most of the day as it is cold-even when daylight, and refusing to leave the run as there is snow!

I came back from the gym one evening to find the pitiful situation of chickens that had shut themselves out of the eglu. I couldn't actually see but realised the door was shut and when I opened it the noise was from the wrong side.Katy went straight in and felt cold, but it took Abbie longer to work out how to go through the door.

Anyway, here are some photos of my garden in the snow and a view from my window.

20 Dec, 2009

The chickens are not impressed by the weather. They are refusing to leave the run and freerange even for mealworms. Katy just stood in the doorway stretching her neck out towards the food. Abbie is now fully feathered but not very thickly and she still looks skinny next to Katy who is fluffed up as it is cold. You can see this in the photo where Abbie looks like she is an alien as she moved when the picture was taken. In the other Abbie photo she looks uncomfortable but she is drinking, chickens can't swallow and have to take in water, then tip back their head to drink.

I am trying to see if adding ping pong balls to the water reduces freezing. So far I found it freezes around the balls leaving a tiny hole in the ice under the ball. It didn't freeze all the way through though, just the surface. I need to add glycerine really.

I have not mentioned we have put polycarbonate sheeting over the eglu run. secured with bungee ropes. The eglu run covers perish very easily and fall to pieces in a few months. So far the covering is working, and it is a bit lighter. Ultimately the plan is to get a walk in run.

12 Dec, 2009

Abbie's now growing back feathers. She still looks very scrawney, but is now fully covered. Her back has short feathers and only her neck has quills now. Abbie is now at the dandruff stage as feather quills are coated with skin and it sheds as the feathers come through.

 (More)

29 Nov, 2009

 (More)

28 Nov, 2009

25 Nov, 2009

As the temperature has dropped Abbie is going through her Winter moult. She ignores all the books that say a moult should be about August-October and waits for the moment it gets really cold. I will post pictures when I have time. She started by coating the run and eglu with feathers (I had to remove a thick layer of feathers before I could clean out the eglu)! I let her out at weekend and she left a trail of feathers and everytime she shook more bits dropped off! Even Katy had Abbie feathers stuck to her. She has a bald patch on her neck and back and these are slowly racing towards each other. I feel more sorry for her every day when I check on her. As the nights are closing in I now don't see the chickens on weekdays as dark before and after work. I just peep into the eglu at night to watch the deteriorating state of my chicken. Sometimes I send John out as it is so cold, wet and miserable outside. We don't turn foxwatch off as it goes dark before I can turn it on again. Abbie has stopped laying eggs and Katy gave up a long time ago. Feel guilty and want to bring her inside or knit her a little jumper! I know taking her inside then back into the cold would be worse though, and I can't imagine Abbie taking well to having a jumper fitted. There would be flapping and clawing.

I'm wondering if the feathers she drops in the eglu are providing some insulation. I know that at night she can snuggle up to Katy with the door shut and will be quite warm. In fact John said one day he went to work and they still weren't up-they normally get up with daylight. I think Katy gets trapped into having a lie-in as it is fat chicken who pushes the eglu door open in the morning. At weekend Abbie perches hunched up and looks miserable. I gave her a mini lettuce to cheer her up and she proceeded to eat it protectively, ready to peck at Katy anytime she looked like she might meet eat any of her lettuce. I ended up giving Katy some leaves of her own through the fence.

12 Aug, 2009

The chickens went a little crazy last night. It was all a bit hazy as so early in the morning!

We had the window open and were woken by a dragging noise and a loud boc boc at 5ish. Worried, John checked on them and thought maybe a bag of hedge trimmings had fallen over and disturbed them. The chickens had let themselves into the run and proceeded to sit there in the dark as it was just before sunrise. The noise may have been fat chicken pushing the eglu door open. I spent a sleepless half hour or so.

Then the crowing started....

They are hens but Katy started with WAAK boc boc boc WAAK boc boc boc still at around 5-6am. Then Abbie joined in. This time I ended up going into the garden in my dressing gown. I find that they quieten if I talk to them and luckily they changed to more gently boc bocs and similar.

This morning when I got up, bleary eyed, I turned off foxwatch and discovered more to the saga. Katy is apparently moulting and has dropped a number of fluffy feathers in the nest and run. Don't know if it will be a full moult as she's not really had one yet despite being about 3 years old. At least she's not waiting until Winter like Abbie has the last 2 years.

12 Aug, 2009

Sadly we're now down to 2 chickens. Despite nursing Megan over 4 weeks and spending a fortune at the vet she died of an unknown illness in July.The first suggestion was gout, followed by neurological but we never got to the bottom of it. She got a very high fever and developed a limp. She was treated with baytril, steroids and B vitamins.The limp improved a lot and at one point she got better and we let her into the pen supervised. Unfortunately the other 2 got through the fence for her food and injured her comb. We don't know if she got over her fever or not. She was very lethargic, hunched and went off her food. At the end she lost a lot of weight and only ate if John syringe fed baby food and sugar into her beak. She had a fit and died while John was syringe feeding her. We spent days automatically checking up on her in the dining room as so used to her living in a cage inside. We really miss her.

24 May, 2009

It's been sunny and warm for the first time in, well....a long time. Caught Katy sunbathing this morning and was very cute.

24 May, 2009

Didn't blog in March but had some pictures from when I was cleaning the eglu and the chickens were overseeing it.

8 Feb, 2009

The chickens have spent all week refusing to leave the run because of the snow. I cleared some of the snow in their favourite areas and scattered some pearl barley, but they just pecked at it by stretching from the run or going out a few cm. Katy pecked seed from my hand if I picked it up from the snow. Today I put down some woodern roosting bars in the hope they would stand on the bars. Finally I got them to slowly emerge and peck up the seed from yesterday. Unfortunately they went back almost as quickly as they came out. Katy posed shamelessly in the run. At one point she turned her head on one side whilst eating so she would be fully in shot, and there is one pictrue where she is behind Abbie in shot. Megan is the most comfortable in snow and perched on the log roll and on top of the eglu run that I had cleared of snow. I offered her some seed in my hand but she spooked and it took her a while to consider taking some. Abbie has now grown back her feathers and is looking very handsome and shiny. I also optimistically put a bowl of soil in the run as a dust bath but so far they have just pecked at it.

2 Feb, 2009

This morning...

This evening...

1 Feb, 2009

The chickens weren't impressed with the snow. They stood in the run just watching the snow. Occasionally Megan wandered out and stood still watching the snow. I fed some pearl barley and they ate it, then went back to the run to watch the snow. Abbie looks a bit pale but feathered (I don't really have a good picture as she kept moving and blurring). Megan has lost some tail feathers and I found them in the run. I'm now paranoid she's moulting again as there are some new feathers in the run and a tiny fluffy patch on her back. Katy has a small patch too and a slightly receeding hairline.