Healthy Hens

All are well – Bridget going through a very slow moult so not laying (which is good), all three Welsummers laying from time to time, and Charity as gobby as ever.

A moment of peace as they all have enough dandelions to keep them happy for a while!

Lots of weeds in the garden as we clear the veg patches … so the girls are very happy, and their eggs are very nice! The frames in the foreground are protecting grass seed … I’m trying to reseed the protected area that they are allowed to graze from time to time. In the rest of the garden, the pigeons had the lot and I need to start again!

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by LB on April 14, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Hen Pictures

Posted by LB on April 14, 2012

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Spring … and the weather’s changing

The weather forecast has been uncannily accurate recently, and after a sunny week with maximum temperatures at 20C or more, today is cloudy and cooler. Supposedly by Monday we’ll be back to a seasonal average of around 11C, which will be quite a shock to the system.

But it’s clearly spring (not summer), and the girls are laying … 5 eggs a day on a good day. So I have a box to sell – at last! I have an Egg Skelter, and my system is that when the Skelter is full, I fill a box of eggs to take to church to sell (£1 a box). Which leaves me enough to have a baking frenzy if the mood takes me! I have often felt guilty saying No to friends who want eggs, but I must overcome it. Once or twice last summer I left myself with too few eggs to feed the family … and since we’re not in it for the commercial benefits (!) that’s not really the idea.

But I am at a loss to be sure just who is laying and who isn’t. Bridget visits the nest box most days, but I’m certain that this last week she’s laid only one egg. On a five egg day we may get two Welsummer eggs, but never three  – so I can’t be sure which are laying. And we only rarely have two Light Sussex eggs – so again, are they mostly Charity’s? Or does Verity sneak in there from time to time?!

Delia is, of course, my faithful most days of the week layer. Her eggs are usually a middling size and a moderate brown colour. Light Sussex eggs are much bigger, and slightly paler, while Welsummer eggs are a much darker brown and rather small. Bridget’s have little colour at all and come in all shapes and sizes – but are clearly hers by the poor quality of the shell.

Yesterday we had a Welsummer egg that was even smaller than usual, and rather speckled. Could it mean that a third bird has laid her first egg of the year?

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by LB on March 31, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in All about Eggs, The Weather

Posted by LB on March 31, 2012

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Pics at last!

It’s been a while since I’ve taken the camera out in the garden …

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by LB on March 26, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Hen Pictures

Posted by LB on March 26, 2012

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As the clocks go forward …

… the light comes. But not because sunset has moved! Our neighbour must have had a word with the tree surgeon who did some work for us a few weeks ago, and as a result, the large conifer at the north west corner of our garden is gone :o bb)

It will take some getting used to. The hens have used it for shelter from the rain – it was quite dense – in that corner of the hen garden, and it kept the woodchip dry all along the wall. It also created fairly dense shade from the evening sun – we could often see our neighbour’s garden in full sun for long after we were in shade. As our garden is north facing, it’s quite shady in any case, so it’s felt rather gloomy at times. So we’ve lost some shelter, but gained some light … hmm, methinks there’s a sermon in there somewhere! :lol:

The girls were spooked by the chainsaw. So they had lots of treats to distract them. Not many eggs for a day or two I expect! We’ve been having a steady three each day … Bridget is moulting, so not laying. I wonder if she’ll change her feathering after moulting – when she came to us she was a boring brown colour, then after a moult became speckled. She’s moulting quite slowly, so hopefully won’t be laying for a while. Verity is a snowy white having moulted a few weeks ago. Which makes Charity look positively grubby by comparison! And Delia is simply looking scruffy – I can’t decide if she’s about to moult or not! She’s still laying for now … along with probably two of the Welsummers*, and either of the Light Sussex … only Delia lays most days.

*I had a good look at the girls’ combs this morning and Sugar’s is quite small and pale by comparison to her sisters, nor have I seen her visit the nest box …

We’ve not had the soft shells for a few days now – we added some limestone flour and mixed grit to the feed just over a week ago – if that’s why, then it’s been surprisingly effective.

Three eggs a day is enough for us, but not enough to sell. But we’ll not be adding to the brood this year. DH wants more ex-batts, but I’d like a Maran and a Speckled or Buff Sussex …

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by LB on March 26, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Hen Health, The Garden

Posted by LB on March 26, 2012

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Worried

We’ve had a run of broken eggs … it can’t just be Bridget, so I’ve added extra limestone flour into their feed, along with crushed eggshell and some mixed grit. But today, DH disturbed Charity in the nest box, only to find that she had laid a soft but broken egg herself – most unexpected.

She wasn’t herself afterwards, so I got ready to give her a warm bath, and prepared the greenhouse for a hospital … but I couldn’t catch her! So I left her to her own devices and went to church. She still seems a bit quiet now, but is much brighter than earlier … so I have no idea what’s going on. As usual.

I’ll keep watching.

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by LB on March 18, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in All about Eggs, Hen Health

Posted by LB on March 18, 2012

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Eating Eggs …

… is something the hens are not supposed to do. But we haven’t had an egg from Bridget for some time … and there is evidence of shell-less or thin shelled eggs having been in the nest box and the litter trays. In a sense, I don’t mind – at least they aren’t going to waste, but I really don’t want them to get into the habit of breaking into an egg to eat it (they haven’t, as yet … only thin shelled or broken eggs).

However, my main concern is that it probably means Bridget is still laying – how I wish she’d stop. Her shells are so thin now, it’s only a matter of time before one breaks inside her.

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by LB on March 13, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in All about Eggs

Posted by LB on March 13, 2012

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Back in business

The girls are laying again ...

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by LB on February 25, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in All about Eggs

Posted by LB on February 25, 2012

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Just in time for pancake day!

The heating was sorted pretty quickly – about 36 hours all in all, although the engineer is here again today to reposition the condensation drain that caused the problem in the first place. But the main repair was all done and dusted in time for us to go away for half term leaving the heating on at home because of the extreme cold.

The extreme cold lasted all of 48 hours before the weather became unseasonably mild and – fortunately for us – dry. So we had a lovely week away while the two Lovely Ladies cared for our animals (and as far as I can tell from the feed sacks, overfed the hens with nothing but corn for a week!). So one way and another it was an unnecessarily expensive week!

I thought too much corn would put the hens off lay, but they obviously haven’t gained too much weight in a week as they are now laying fairly regularly – 2, 3 or 4 eggs a day. Just in time for Pancake Day – perfect timing.

We had bacon pancakes with maple syrup, pancakes stuffed with chicken and mushroom, pancakes stuffed with spiced apple, Crêpes Suzette and plain pancakes with sugar and lemon. A feast of indulgence to mark the beginning of Lent.

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by LB on February 23, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in All about Eggs, All Things Chicken, Recipes

Posted by LB on February 23, 2012

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I spoke too soon …

… about having a warm house. When we woke up this morning we had no heat and no hot water … the engineer is coming out later today, and in the meanwhile we’re keeping warm enough.

So it was less hardship than usual to brave the weather and go out to the hens this morning. Oscar followed me into the Hen Garden and refused to leave when I’d done, so I left him there and went indoors for the camera:

Oscar waits to be noticed

Bridget is moulting, and for a while Oscar was content to play with a feather in the Eglu run, while the hens ignored him altogether. But after a while, he tired of that game …

I didn’t manage to get a picture of him stalking and then trying a playful pounce on Charity – it all happened too fast! But one squawk from a bird twice his size and he was off, while the girls went back to their business of seeing to a cabbage.

Top hens have first turns

Actually, I realise you can’t even see the cabbage in that photo, but it is there!

All the Welsummers have begun to crouch again recently, certainly at least one is laying. DH takes the opportunity to pick them up, but they’re not used to being handled and they really don’t like it. But as ever, Honey is the curious one and eager to see what’s going on …

Honey Welsummer

Their combs are now firm and red again, as you can see.

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by LB on February 7, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in All Things Chicken, All Things Feline

Posted by LB on February 7, 2012

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Winter – at last

I’ve been moaning about the warm winter all through. I like a nice cold winter, for the sake of the garden, and killing off all those bugs that ‘go around’ … but I realise that I live in a warm house (warm at a price, anyway), and that others suffer in the cold.

However, winter is here, at last. The drinkers are frozen each morning, the woodchip is frozen solid … and the hens have begun to lay :doh:

We’re getting a steady 2 or 3 eggs a day, with 4 on occasions. Clearly, one of the Welsummers is laying, as we have a small, dark brown egg most days. It’s quite a thin shell, however, so I think I’ll add some limestone flour to the feed mix. It won’t help Bridget – she’s currently laying around every third day, an egg with such a thin shell we’re never sure we’ll be able to pick it up in one piece. And they are all over the place, rarely in the nest box. I wonder if, with the thin shell, she’s not sure when it’s about to come?

With the cold weather we have clear skies, crisp, sunny days and the most beautiful sunsets. Every cloud …

 

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by LB on February 4, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in All about Eggs, The Garden

Posted by LB on February 4, 2012

http://henkeeper.wordpress.com/2012/02/04/winter-at-last/

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