Proud of our eggs!

I bought this Egg Skelter to 'display'/'dispense' our eggs. The oldest one is at the bottom and you add newer ones (from the side) with the pointy end downwards and inwards. It comes in about half a dozen colours - mainly tasteful! I wanted this to shout "Fresh Eggs from the Rock Chicks" though, so it's as in-your-face as they come!

It's only when you have your own chickens that you appreciate the amount of effort that goes into producing those eggs, and you really don't take them for granted any more. I have had them hidden away in egg boxes in the kitchen. I shall now display them proudly in the Egg Skelter!

The Riddle of the Sands

The chickens have a sand pit which, being chickens, they regularly fill with wood chippings. I regularly rake it out for them. Last week I bought another bag of sand and today, with one to sieve and add and one to distract the chickens, we gave them a refill. I took in the old garden riddle and sieved out most of the wood, scraped the dry sand to one side and added a new sack of sand. It had to be investigated. In fact, as I write, I can see all four in there, scraping and scratching. If I go out again with the camera they'll rush me so I still won't get the shot!

Here's Ruby, watching me. I was taking a few snapshots of them interacting with Himself when Ruby decided to jump onto the ladder next to me to see what I was up to.

Here are Garnet (darker, in the background) Amber (lighter, smaller build, middle ground) and Ruby in the foreground. Topaz, being in Boss Hen mode, was haranguing Himself about the lack of treats during the visit and is thus out of shot.

This was another 3 egg morning. I'm no longer convinced that it's a case of 3 laying every day. I think they maybe take turns for a day off? Someone's eyes must have been watering though as the egg on the left was laid this morning. Compare it to the usual size we are getting. Amber had another off-colour day yesterday (she doesn't like Saturdays!) so was she brewing up this monster? Today she's eating for England - making up for being so picky yesterday.

4 x 4

We had a lovely day out yesterday - in the upper reaches of Teesdale where daughter, son in law and the 2 grandchildren are on holiday. We joined them for a walk and lunch out as it was Himself's 60th birthday. When we got home, as if they'd known, the beautiful gift of FOUR eggs awaited us! One was speckled. I don't know if this is just a one-off as a first egg. So far today we only have 3 again, so someone isn't convinced she wants to be an egg layer when she grows up!

Since the first 3 eggs last Sunday we have had a consistent 3 a day and they are getting gradually bigger. The first 3 weighed in at 110 grammes total. The three above (apart from the speckled one) weighed a little over 140 grammes. Good girls!

They are also becoming either braver or greedier. (No points for guessing!) I occasionally go in (with a few greens as an offering) to sit in the run with them, and on several occasions Topaz has flown up onto my knee and tolerated, if not actually enjoyed, being stroked and petted. A couple of evenings ago, Himself was doing the tea time corn treat and evidently wasn't scattering fast enough. He too was in the chair and 2 flew up to his knee at once - to poke their heads in the little yellow corn bucket. Chickens are so much fun!

First eggs!

After a worrying Saturday morning when Amber went all mopey, wouldn't eat or drink, and stood around hunched up, occasionally closing her eyes, we were very relieved when she started to scratch about, eat and drink again by afternoon. No other symptoms! Don't they scare you? Anyway, she is happily nicking greens from others and scratching about as always.



On Sunday morning I filled up the nest box with clean bedding and Ruby was in after me - almost as I was doing it - and scratching about and sitting in there. I closed the lid and we had to be out all day. I wondered if Amber's little 'blip' and Ruby's anxiety to get into the box indicated eggs on the way. When we got home there were 3 - perfect little pullet eggs! I'm not sure who isn't laying - both Amber and Garnet have slightly paler combs and wattles. Anyway, I'm sure whoever it is won't lag for long.





The eggs were absolutely beautiful with lovely golden yolks. They almost looked too lovely to eat, but it would be a shame not to make use of their sterling efforts. Good girls!

Cupboard love!

What a welcome you get when you go down the garden! All the chickens rush over making little coo-ing, persuading sounds, to get me to give them some goodies! Usually they get a few chopped up grapes, some greens or a very few dried meal worms. The evening treat is some mixed corn which I usually scatter in the run, together with mixed grit, so they can forage for a while before bed time. Here, though, they are keen to take it from my hand. I've been offering them all their food - apart from the layers' pellets - by hand to get them used to me. After they've had a scattering of corn they don't take any notice of me at all, even though I pass their run many times afterwards on the evening plant patrol. I take my tender plants indoors to the dining table each evening from the cold greenhouse and back out again in the morning. Scratch time is the only time I'm ignored passing the run!

Adolescent chickens

The chickens act very much as a flock. This may well be because they were all part of the same group when they were raised so they have always been together. We've not had any squabbling - although I'm sure we would if we introduced strangers. They all tend to do the same thing at the same time. In the picture above, all four of them had squashed onto the small perch. I rushed inside for the camera but by then, one had decided to come down.
The green garden chair you can see on the left and side of the run (on its side so that the rain drains off) has become part of the Chicken Gym. They love to perch on it and use it as a staging post to fly onto the hen-house roof. I hadn't appreciated until we got them how 3 dimensional they are. And to think that our original run design would have been 3 feet high, with access panels in the roof. There would have been no opportunity for the flapping and perching up high which they so much enjoy.


Over the time we've had them I think we've only had one sunny day and this is Amber's first 'dip' in the sand pit. Even in the dismal, damp weather we've been having, they really love to flap and play dead in here, sometimes several at a time!

Like typical teenagers, they haven't been keen to go to bed. Initially, once the pop-hole had closed, we had to round up 2 or even 3 strays who had gone into the house and then come back out of it again! Last night however, all 4 went up to bed like good girls. Himself said, all dewy eyed, "I'm quite proud of them." Yes, chicken keeping gets you like that!

First day out

Three of the laydees enjoying the big outside. Amber in the foreground is distinctly lighter than the others. I keep thinking I've sorted the other 3 out and then the sun goes in and I've changed my mind again! Today is Day 4 if you count Sunday as Day 1 - and they were banged up most of Sunday. We knew they were ready for off. The first two days they really hid, kept to the perches and nest box and didn't even like to come near the pop-hole. By yesterday evening they were trying to shove past me as I leaned in the cleaning door to poo pick and add a little corn for supper.

We let them out this morning and it's obvious they aren't used to the wind in their plumage. They were reared in big roomy pens inside a poly tunnel. It was open both ends and had lots of fresh air (and no smell!) but a sudden gust up your bum makes you skitter and fly a few feet apparently.

Under the ladder (which they have already used in both directions by the way) - Amber on the right. She decided that after I'd given the house a good clean out and left it open to the air for a while, she would just check whether I'd scattered anything other than Easibed in there. So the new floor covering is well scratched!

This view shows my makeshift perch. They have all used it and also like to perch on the bucket. We bought a smaller green and white water dispenser but our poultry supplier was using these - very easy to clean out and refill from the garden tap. The girls are used to it, so we bought one. It's shorter and wider than the standard bucket so it's way more stable.

Shaun of Outgate Poultry suggested that we keep them at least a fortnight within the run before we let them try the rest of the garden. His suggestion of 3 - 4 days in the house seemed a bit extreme but it has worked. They are so settled and comfortable with the set-up now and obviously do perceive the house as 'home'.

Day Two at Beak House

Caught in the act of having a bit of a gossip, here are the young ladies, 2 in the nest box and 2 on the perch and facing one another. They don't like my offerings of chickweed or chopped up grapes but it's early days. These things might look different out in the cold light of the chicken run.

I reached in to remove droppings this morning and to clean out and refill the water pot and the feeder. I think I woke them up! The auto pop-hole opener will have woken them at dawn but when I got there at 7.30 they were sitting on perches and didn't seem bothered about foraging. However, the disturbance of the bit of a clean out got them wing stretching and they all came down for a good drink, a peck at the grit and a good feed. By the lunchtime water-top up they all had good full crops so everyone has eaten.

Day three tomorrow then - big wide world, look out!

Here they are!

First view of The Rock Chicks - Ruby, Garnet, Topaz and Amber. I'm sure some fellow pedant will be dying to point out that Amber is not a rock but a resin, but for the purposes of Precious Treasures it is near enough for jazz!

We set off this morning and went to the little North Lincs village of Ealand by way of the North Cave Wetlands - blogged about previously on Vegetable Heaven (http://vegheaven.blogspot.com) to see if the sand martins had arrived. They have - and the avocets. We then went straight on to visit Shaun at Outgate Poultry as we were too excited to postpone the moment any longer. I was impressed straight away by the invitation to dip our shoe soles in a disinfectant bath, and by the lack of smell in the poly tunnel that housed several pens of pullets. We had opted for the Rangers as they are reputedly the friendliest and there are 2 grand-daughters who will want to befriend them.

Shaun said that the pullets are 17 weeks old today and had just been moved into the pen this morning. Bearing in mind that they will have had 2 changes in one day, he suggested that we leave them in the house with temporary food and water containers in there, for 3 - 4 days to allow them to recognise the house as their place of safety. To do this, he suggested that we temporarily cover the pop-hole with wire mesh so they have light during the day but can't leave the house. He also suggested at least 2 weeks in the run before they get out to explore the garden further. I'm happy to go along with expert advice. Himself found a wire grid that covers the area well and still allows the pop-hole to move freely.

There will be more pictures later in the week.