Sleeping Rough

September 30th, 2009 .

At the weekend, me and my girlfriend went out for the day in London. By the time we got back it was dark already, and I needed to change the food and water for the chickens. When I went in the run I found all of them sleeping on the roof! I propped the door open with a stick and put them inside.

The chickens actually looked quite cute huddled together on the roof

The chickens actually looked quite cute huddled together on the roof

The next day I thought I’d better check on the chickens and they were on the roof again. Last night they went in by themselves so I thought they had stopped trying to sleep outside, but tonight I looked out the window and they were all out there again, so that’s 3 nights out of 4 that they haven’t managed to make it back inside.

I propped the door open with a stick, and with a little encouragement they went back inside

I propped the door open with a stick, and with a little encouragement they went back inside

I think that they have not adjusted to the shorter days properly, so I will probably need to adjust the sensor on the door opener/closer. I don’t really mind putting them back in though – it’s all part of the fun of keeping chickens…

Poor Meg

July 24th, 2009 .

Since I discovered the mites I have been cleaning out the bedding each day and lining the bottom of the coop with newspaper. When I removed the newspaper again today it was covered in tiny red mites. I also emptied the area that they lay eggs and gave it a good sprinkling of stalosan f.

In general the girls have seemed happier the past couple of days – I think the reason that they have been making so much noise in the mornings has been because they were being eaten alive by mites. When I let the girls out today they all seemed fine, but after about an hour I noticed that Meg was wandering around slowly and not scratching around in the mud like the others. I gave her some meal worms and some poultry spice, but she has been getting more and more lethargic as the day has gone on. She has spent the last few hours standing by herself under a tree.

Meg has been sitting all by herself for hours

Meg has been sitting all by herself for hours

I’m not sure if she is sick or just tired – the last few times that I went out to look at her she had her eyes half closed, and kept closing them for a while. I’m wondering if the mites have made her slightly anemic or something…

I hope she is just tired...

I hope she is just tired...

I think I upset them…

May 4th, 2009 .

I just realised about 20 minutes ago that the girls had gone to bed and that I had forgotten to block off the nest box. I went down to the garden and chucked them out of the nest box which didn’t go down at all well. They really didn’t want to leave!

I finally managed to push them back into the coop and block it off but now I feel pretty mean about doing it. The grey one looks a bit upset and has been in and out of the coop a few times. I must remember to block it off before they go to bed tomorrow…

Tired? Sick?

April 20th, 2009 .

The girls were out in the garden free-ranging today, and I went outside to find Daisy sitting down on the floor with her eyes closed. When I moved up to her she waddled off and I went back inside.

A little while later I went back outside to see what the girls were doing and I could only see the other two. I checked all of the usual places such as the side passage and the bushes down the back of the garden but she was nowhere to be seen. The only place I hadn’t checked was inside the coop so I lifted up the lid and there she was inside.

Is Daisy just tired or is she sick?

Is Daisy just tired or is she sick?

I am a bit worried about it because I have never seen the girls disappear inside the coop before bed time. One thing I did notice is that when she was laying down she seemed to have her butt in the air a bit so maybe she is trying to lay an egg. Also whenever I grab her she squats down on the floor but she has done that since I first got her. This could be another sign that she is coming into lay.

One other thing that I noticed today when Daisy was sitting down outside is that chickens close their eyes differently to people. Where people close their top eye-lids down over their eyes, it seems that chickens raise their bottom eyelids up! I’m still learning things about chickens every day…