So far, still no sign of our first egg. Myrtle and both Marans have now got well developed combs and wattles and their faces are reddening, so it should hopefully not be long now. I am beginning to wonder however if the drawing in of the nights will mean that they go off lay before they've even begun!
Now that they have the run of a substantial part of the garden they're really getting used to it. If I choose to leave them in their run for a while in the morning - if the weather's bad for instance - when I return and open the door I'm almost knocked over in the rush! Birds emerge like parachutists from a troop plane, charging out in a flurry of flapping wings and racing legs - often they won't stop running or flying for 50 feet or more. Clearly, they really enjoy the freedom and I'd feel pangs of guilt if I had to confine them to the run all day now.
From today, our six hens have free range across the bottom third of the garden, instead of just a restricted pen. Overall, they'll now be able to wander around in an area of about 40m by 12m, which should hopefully spread the poo across a sufficiently large area that it doesn't cause any problems with the grass.
Interestingly, they stayed pretty close to us for most of the time and when we came indoors they wandered back closer to their house. I suspect that they'll travel further when they feel safe enough. There's plenty of cover from overhead menace, perceived or real. Chickens, being descended from Jungle Fowl, don't appreciate wide open spaces that much as they fear attack from airborne predators. They should be OK in Sussex, although we do occasionally get Common Buzzard overhead. My other reason for giving them much more space is that should a fox get into the garden, they've at least a fighting chance of escape. The Marans can fly quite well, and given a run-up, the Orpingtons can make a decent fist of it too. Better than being in a pen where they're a Fox ready-meal.
Of all our hens, Daisy (the Silver-laced Orpington) is the meekest. A shy and retiring chicken, she's always last to get at any corn unless I make a special effort to fend off the marauding Marans. One of the Marans (we really must name them!) will tear after her, pecking at the first opportunity where corn is at stake.
All the other chickens will now take food from my palm, but poor Daisy keeps her distance, apparently distrusting me as much as the Marans. I'm hoping that once I allow them the run of the garden, that I shall be able to offer her some food separately, away from the bullying.
Meet Betty, the top bird amongst the Orpingtons. She only defers to one of the Marans, although not always. She's a big girl for a bird of her age, and rises from a settled position like a hovercraft, her feet apparent only after the blousy skirt of feathers have lifted.
I've taken to hand feeding some mixed corn and occasionally bread as a treat, to get them more used to contact and as a taming tactic. When I enter their run, Betty will be first at my feet and will take corn from my hand with little hesitation now. She always appears to eye me with some suspicion however and you have the impression that there's to be no funny business or there'll be trouble. She's a little scary at close quarters, but a beautiful bird.
Betty was the first to create a dust bath under the hedge which she, one of the Marans and JD (the Buff Orpington) have all had a jolly good time rolling around in. I've been surprised by how much of this they do - I had assumed that they would just squat down and use their wings to dust themselves as small birds do, not lay on their sides and roll their heads and bottoms about. They certainly seem to have an enjoyable time of it.
As I type this, the charging about has begun again. This involves one or two hens charging straight at each other and upon stopping short of collision, rearing up and puffing out their neck feathers like a cockerel. There will then either be a stand-off or one of the birds will career off in the direction of a different hen to repeat the process. It's like watching feathered billiard balls bouncing off each other.
This afternoon, it began to rain as forecast and the little folk once again made for the shed. Chickens do not like to get wet. I decided to persuade them into the covered run under the new house with the aid of some corn. By the time I had got a tarpaulin on top of the attached run I was soaked. But at least the girls were dry if somewhat spooked by the tarp.
As it started to get dark, the heavens opened - the girls had gone up the ramp and through the pophole into the house. As I want them to develop good perching habits, I placed the four not already perching up on the perch. As usual, the only real complainant was a Maran.
Later in the evening, the rain became even heavier complete with thunder and lightning. Being a new house, and after consultation with a chicken keeping friend, I thought it best to go back out and make sure there were no leaks. No leaks. Great. Dry chickens, dry house... soaked me... again.
At dusk, the girls all gathered around the potting shed door (which has been closed since the morning), and refused to entertain their new home. Not a chance of convincing them to move into their smaller coop, now that they've had a nice big garden shed as an executive home. Creatures of habit these fowl.
A little craftiness is called for...
Once they had all settled in the shed, I went in and scooped each one up in turn and placed them in the new house. Three remained on the perch, while the Marans (who looked most put out) and the Buff (Janet Doroty) decided the floor and the nestbox looked much more appealing. I thought it best not to distress them further by attempting to get them to do otherwise.
After only a few days of ownership, we're already very attached to our girls and have taken many meals sat outside their run, watching their antics. Personalities and pecking order are already in evidence; the Marans have a noticeably different temperament and although friendly aren't as easy going as the Orpingtons. Daisy, the Silver-laced Orpington is definitely the meekest bird and is getting picked on a little. Hopefully, given the space we intend to allow them, this won't develop into anything more serious.
At 5.30 today, the long awaited chicken coop arrived. We were obviously a lot more impressed than our birds, who quietly put themselves to bed in the potting shed whilst we were still assembling the new house and locating it in the run. I thought it best to leave them there for tonight and to try to encourage them into the new quarters tomorrow. Hopefully, the reduced size of the new penthouse apartment should stop some of the ridiculous sqaubbling. The perch I made in the potting shed had so be about 12 feet long to prevent them perching on a narrow edge to a bench... despite this, only one end was used resulting in the farthest bird being shoved off the end in a flurry of feathers.
The nice chap from Catsfield who supplied us with the house assembled it onsite for us and gave us some advice. We got a KR1 unit with a biosecure run to confine the birds should we need to. After a cup of tea and a fair bit of chatting, he finally left around 8pm and we finally sat down to dinner.
Today, after a search lasting some weeks, including at least one wasted trip, off we went to Horsmonden to collect our new chickens. Tucked away behind an apple orchard, we found a poultry breeder with an interesting and varied selection of birds, including ducks, turkeys and even a couple of Peacocks. When we arrived, there was no sign of the owner, until I located one of her friendly Collies that showed me where she was at the bottom of a field. Once the dogs had finished proving who could announce my arrival with the greatest enthusiasm, we returned to the stables near the house, where a selection of birds in two crates awaited us as arranged.
From the selection, we chose two Cuckoo Marans and four Orpingtons; a Buff, a Silver-laced, a Partridge and a Blue. All were popped into cardboard boxes with plenty of holes and some straw and placed together in the boot for the short drive home. A little gentle clucking was occasionally heard, but mostly they stayed quiet and seemed happy enough.
As their house had not yet arrived, I had temporarily converted my potting shed for them. This seemed to meet with their approval. They've been given a reasonably sized area for now of about 400 sq ft, fenced in with chicken wire panels, but the intention is to allow them free run of much of the garden.
So far, still no sign of our first egg. Myrtle and both Marans have now got well developed combs and wattles and their faces are reddening, so it should hopefully not be long now. I am beginning to wonder however if the drawing in of the nights will mean that they go off lay before they've even begun!
