Meet the new girls!

This is Pearl, she is a White Star.

meet Pepper, the Speckledy

Amber, the Amber ( you can see a trend, here, can't you?)

This is Treacle, she is a Partridge Star.

Meet Marigold, a Marigold. She has already started laying and she is only 18 weeks old. She is very sweet and gentle.

We moved the hen run and house again today, the third time in 6 days.

- see how much damage five hens can do to grass in just 2 days!

Winter eggspectations....

I have seen a number of forum posters and bloggers recently, writing about their hens not laying in the winter. I must admit I feel everso slightly smug as yet again my feathery ladies are still laying and I fully eggspect them to carry on through the winter...

My 12 hens are still laying!  4 are in moult, the other 8 potentially laying hens are laying 6-7 eggs a day. A few of my hens are year old -ish, rest are 2 years old ish and the moulty ones are 3-4 year old-ish plus

I count my blessings every day when I go out to them. I think an egg is a miracle of nature, despite knowing the science and biology which causes it to be laid!

So, what do I do with my girls to keep them laying? I am giving them hot mash at about 9 am which is made of layers pellets and hot water with various extra stuff added, poultry spice or marmite or garlic powder or natural yogurt on different days  just to make it more interesting. I do this first thing in the morning, then they have dry pellets ad lib all day as is usual.

I also make sure I give them their corn ration at about 2 pm, so they have space to fill up their crops again with pellets before bed time, as I found if they had the corn too late they didn't eat any more pellets. The layers pellets contain everything hens need to be healthy and to lay eggs but tbh probably get a bit boring for a bird whose natural habit is to scratch around on the jungle floor eating all sorts  of stuff. Which is why I try to give them a bit of variety in their diet! BUT it is important that they eat a final crop full of layers pellets before bed time as that is what helps to make the next days lot of eggs.

The hens also go out in the wood for an hour or so as well between 2 ish and 4 ish (if the weather is OK) otherwise they are in their paddock which is pretty huge anyway and I make sure they have lots of stuff in the paddock (grass mowings, wood chippings, leaf piles) to scratch around in and find stuff to eat.

This all seems to be working and my  regime means I get eggs all winter from the girls...maybe a few less in Jan and Feb but still I would eggspect 6 eggs a day from the flock of 12, which allows for my flock containing old hens/young hens/off lay hens.

and no, I do not use any artificial lighting as I personally do not agree with tinkering with my hens natural body clock...but that is just me and if others want to that is up to them...

Chicklet update

Here are some pictures of the chicklets aged 15 days old...growing fast, see the feathers forming?

Chickenailia catch up - March and April

I didn't really feel I wanted to post a "chickenailia " post for March, after what happened to Genghis and Cathy :-(


and the end of April sort of has passed me by as I have been sooo busy in the garden, polytunnel and wood......and I have realised I haven't given you an update on the hens for over 2 months!

So...to make up for my tardiness...the egg and general behaviour report for all things chicken related here at Compost Mansions ;-)

We are now into long days, an early start and a late bedtime for the chickens. The sun rises at about 5 am, although, bogglingly the silly males (Capt'n Flint and Long John Silver) often crow at 2 am ( why? it is dark then? so why crow?)

The days are lengthening noticeably and thus egg laying really starts to improve as it is controlled by day length ( which is why caged hens are kept under artificial light for most of their lives, to maximise egg laying :-( ).

The girls all look happy with this extra natural day length and seem pleased to be able to eat bugs and worms for longer and are mostly all laying an egg a day. Good job I now have a regular clientele for eggs at school .....otherwise we would be overwhelmed with eggs!





Henny laid 27 eggs in March and in April she laid 25!...she lays the biggest eggs! 90 - 100 g dark brown speckled whoppers!

Ginger has laid well both months (26 and 28), she is the Number 1 hen and by far the most intelligent of them all...I seriously worry about how bright she can be, sometimes it is quite scary! Henny and Ginger are now 2 1/2 years old and have been with us for just over 2 years, so they are doing very well for us and it is lovely to see them as the leaders of the flock..much brighter than the 2 males I might add!


Attila laid 18 eggs both months, many of which were soft shelled or shell-less... she really is not much good at this egg laying lark...ho hum..I forgive her anyway ...

Sweetiepie has now gone mad bad bok bok broody again but laid 22 eggs during March and in April ...she is now though puffed up like a powder puff, bok bok hogging a nest box and really quite behaving quite potty! I like letting a broody hen hatch out eggs BUT it means a long wait to get an egg laying hen AND, of course, the chick may not be a hen, but a cock instead...



Yet again though , the absolute stars of egg laying and general loveliness are Babs and Goldie! Yep they laid the most eggs and the most splendishous...! Babs and Goldie laid a magnificent 60 eggs out of a possible 61 for March and April.

I am seriously considering buying more Rhode Rocks from Oxenhall soon, as these two have been SUCH good hens, brilliant layers and such friendly hens as well.

The big girls laid at total of 157 eggs in March and 147 in April, which is really pretty good, from 6 egg laying hens they have averaged 5 per day, which isn't bad going I think! AND the egg laying was 5 or 6 a day from the 6 laying hens from mid Feb.

The Silver Dorkings continue to delight, Cap't Flint the naughty cockerel is on a re homing list..I hope to give him away in the next week ... Cap't Flint chases Compostgirl every time he sees her and *I* have had to push him off with my foot and show him who is boss!

Long John Silver still lives in Cluckingham Palace with all the big hens and they are HIS harem. He leads them off into the Wood at every opportunity! Long John Silver is reasonably friendly and I hope that continues.

Ruby, Violet, Buffy and Willow are very sweet and cluck and croon at me and follow me around! And, of course, they are all now laying!




Dorking eggs are small (55g)at the moment but with the MOST amazing yellow yolks! Even more so than all the other hens! See what egg mayo sandwiches look like made from ther eggs....





The Fab Four Dorking girls coming into lay means even more eggs for me to sell and I recoup all of the feed bill as well, now. I have now 4 regular customers who LOVE the eggs and think they are fabulous!

Egg mayonnaise sandwiches, home made bread, salad, eggs, mayo...mmm delicious!



THANK you all, my lovely, lovely girls, you make my life very happy (and now you are finally paying for all the layers pellets and corn, I am made even happier!)

Chickenailia Feb 2009

It is that time again! February has whizzed by in a having-a-rest-from-writing-my-portfolio and planting seeds and stuff but I DO have the egg and general behaviour report for all things chicken related here at Compost Mansions ;-)

February sees the day lengthening noticeably and thus egg laying really starts to improve. The girls all look happy and pleased to be able to eat some bugs and worms and are very happy that nasty cold white stuff has all gone!





I have had a good lot of eggs from all the girls and of course the BIG story this month was the Fab Four Dorking girls all started laying!



Henny laid 21 eggs in January, she lays the biggest eggs! 90 - 100 g dark brown speckled whoppers!

Ginger has laid well this month, 22 eggs and she has done lots of funny things as well! I have worked out that Henny and Ginger are now 2 years old, so they are doing very well for us.

Attila laid 18 eggs BUT is in disgrace for trying to eat the eggs from the Dorkings whenever she can steal them from the Eglu...I am going to have to have a good hard think about her I am afraid as I can't have that happening.

Cathy has laid no eggs at all but is a sweetie and very gentle and loving.

Sweetiepie was a joint star of the month in January and has continued this, laying 23eggs in Feb.

Genghis Hen has been ill and I was very worried, I had to up end her and massage her crop this week as she had got "sour crop" where the contents ferment and go smelly and disgusting. So I now can add "making chickens vomit" to the skills list on my CV...



Genghis NOT at all impressed with the snow!

She is also suffering from Sterile Egg Peritonitis where her egg laying workings have gone wrong and she swells up and leaks fluid out of her vent. I had to clean her bum up as it was raw from the fluid, isolate her from the others (as they would have pecked her red, sore bum until it was torn) and give her lots of TLC. She is OK now and back with the others but it WILL happen again, poor old girl :-(

But yet again, the absolute stars are Babs and Goldie! Yep they laid the most eggs! Babs and Goldie laid a magnificent 26 eggs out of a possible 28 this month.

The big girls laid 136 eggs this month, which is really pretty good, from 6 egg laying hens (forget about Genghis and Cathy the ex battys) they have averaged 4.8 eggs per day, which isn't bad going I think! AND the egg laying was 5 or 6 a day from the 6 laying hens from mid Feb.

The Silver Dorkings continue to delight, Cap't Flint has "claimed" the Fab Four Dorking girls as his personal harem and they live in the Eglu, although he still tries to get off with the big hens whenever he can. Long John Silver is now living in Cluckingham Palace with all the big hens and they are HIS harem.

Long John Silver is very friendly to me and I hope that continues. Cap't Flint has chased Compostgirl a few times and I have had to push him off with my foot and show him who is boss!

Ruby, Violet, Buffy and Willow are very sweet and now cluck and croon at me and follow me around! And, of course, they are all now laying!

After an erratic start mid Feb where we had an egg then a day off then an egg from each of them, they ALL laid an egg every day in the last week of Feb AND they managed to do it in the nest boxes, not on the ground!



They lay quite small eggs at the moment but with the MOST amazing yellow yolks! Even more so than all the other hens!

Ruby has laid the biggest egg so far (50g) and so is therefore Chicken of the Week (see top right sidebar)



The Fab Four Dorking girls coming into lay will mean even more eggs for me to sell and recoup some of the feed bill as well. I have now 3 regular customers who LOVE the eggs and think they are fabulous!



Eggs in the 'fridge, 3 days worth, 30 eggs.....

THANK you all, my lovely, lovely girls and boys, you make my life very happy!)

And Buffy makes four!

And Buffy made it four eggs, today :-)

This is Buffy!



She laid an egg today ! a 45g whopper! the biggest one of all of her siblings!



Buffy, Willow, Ruby and Violet are all from the same cockerel but could have 4 different mums..they came from a batch of 7 eggs laid by 4 hens over 4 days..so at least some of them are full sisters and ALL of them are half sisters....the two cockerels Capt Flint and Long John Silver Dorking are also at least half brothers to all and full brothers to some....( which I will have to consider in future breeding plans I suspect...)

Now the Fab Four Dorking girls have ALL started laying they have become more tame and follow me around a lot...They are such little sweeties! They are so gentle and tame and VERY friendly!

and yes, I CAN tell them apart without the leg bands...its hard, but it IS possible!

Just in case anyone doesn't know.....these are their VERY first eggs! not just the first of this year...which is why I am so eggcited about it..

These are chicks Sweetiepie hatched out for us when she went broody last August, I got some Dorking eggs for her to hatch and she did a WONDERFUL job with the chicks..... and we have been watching them grow throughout the winter ( stupid time to try to raise chicks, but there you go.....)














and in the last week they have all started laying, at 24 weeks old which is about right for chicks hatched out at the normal time, but NOT in the depths of winter!

These times are for "normal" clutches, hatched in summer....NOT clutches hatched in September!


The results have been comical; mad clucking, squarking and general mayhem as the new girls get to grips with laying eggs..sitting on a nest for several hours but not, actually, laying an egg...and then dropping an egg as you leave the nest box...ooops how rude.....( I swear a hen CAN look embarresed...!)

.....Fab Four Dorking Girls..you have amused us enormously this week and you are WONDERFUL!!

(anyone else think they sound like a WW2 dance band?)

First Willow, now Ruby and Violet!

Willow was the first of the Silver Dorking Fab four to lay an egg but her siblings were not far behind... first Ruby yesterday and then Violet, today... They both laid lovely little eggs of 35 g and were VERY proud of themselves! Willow has laid several more eggs since the first one but got a fright yesterday...she was sitting in the nest box of the Broody Ark and the door blew shut and she was trapped in the run. When she realised, she made SUCH a fuss and both the cockerels joined in....you can hear them all creating on this bit of video I took...




I eventually realised what had happened and let her out whereupon she legged it for the safety of Capt Flint.... but she eventually ventured back to lay her egg in peace.

Willow lays an egg!

This is Willow. She is a very sweet, rather shy, very small Silver Dorking pullet. This was Willow yesterday, she kept on fussing around, repeatedly going in and out of the Eglu, not settling down to eat or dust bathe...she seemed agitated, so I watched her carefully for a bit to see if she was OK. Willow is very scared of "the big hens" and never goes near Cluckingham Palace, where they all live, so imagine my surprise when I opened up the nest box and saw...this! I had noticed her comb was looking more red in the last few days and she had started to squat when I went near her, so I had a good idea what might be going on.... and later on I found ....this! A tiny egg! it weighed about 40 g, as compared to the Henny one next to it which was 85 g. Willow came strutting out of Cluckingham Palace, SO pleased with herself! She proclaimed to the WHOLE WORLD very loudly that she HAD LAID AN EGG!!!! Long John Silver was very agitated all the time she was sitting inside the nest box, he kept on running back and forth... and finally settled on standing next to it...he was VERY pleased when she finally emerged!

How I amused myself today....

What do you do when its cold and snow covered outside and you don't want to play in it any more?

You worm the hens! well I did!

they were all given a course of Flubenvet over the Christmas holidays but I give them a precautionary dose of Verm X on wholemeal bread for 3 days at the start of every month, just to be on the safe side.

Chickens have worms, due to all the stuff they pick up off the ground, but the trick is to make sure they only have a small worm burden, so it doesn't cause them discomfort or harm their health.



The chickens all really LOVE this stuff! I have to work quite hard to make sure they only get their recommended dose as they all try to eat each others food.



icicles on Cluckingham Palace



Today was a Red Letter Day as well! For the first time since the beginning of December all 6 of the laying hens, well, laid!

Yes, today the lovely lovely girlies laid 6 big beautiful eggs.

And because I had the odd five minutes to spare ( for that read "because I am so proud and besotted with my hens" ) I thought I would put up these pictures of the different shaped and coloured eggs the girls lay, as so many people seem baffled that I can tell them apart!



Babs, Attilla and Goldie eggs with their typical weights.



Henny, Sweetiepie and Ginger eggs with their typical weights. The Henny egg in this picture was actually 90 g as she hadn't laid yesterday and after a missed day an egg is usually laid very early in the day and is bigger.

Can you see the different colours and shapes? Surely you can?

For a comparison with shop bought eggs, I went to the Defra web site to see what the weights were and it made very interesting reading!

I am not governed by most of these rules as I only sell direct to people, I don't grade my eggs and I have less than 50 hens, but it makes for interesting reading.

XL - VERY LARGE eggs weighing 73g or more
L - LARGE 63g up to (but not including) 73g

So ALL my girlies lay Large eggs, and most routinely lay Very Large eggs!

I also discovered a few things I wasn't aware of.

The term “extra” or “extra fresh” may only be shown on packs until the ninth day after lay. This nine-day time limit and the laying date shall be shown clearly on packs.

so a shop bought "fresh" egg can be up to 9 days old, hmmm? that's not MY idea of a "fresh" egg!

“Display Until” or “Sell by” dates are not required on packs of eggs, however, there is an obligation to ensure eggs are sold to the consumer within 21 days of lay, so retailers may prefer to have such additional stock control dates on their packs

So, a shop bought egg could be up to 21 days old when you buy it.....

The eggs *I* sell are usually 1 to 3 days old at most.

Food for thought, indeed!

Chickenailia Jan 2009

It is that time again! January has whizzed by in a wrtiting-portfolio-and-not-much else blur (for me) but I DO have the egg and general behaviour report for all things chicken related here at Compost Mansions ;-))

Despite January being of very short day lengths, and thus in theory being one of the lowest egg producing months, I have had a good lot of eggs from all the girls. It started badly, the first few weeks went very wrong! I was cock a hoop over how well the girls had done in December, if you remember and then I had hardly any eggs the first week of Jan!

Henny laid 20 eggs in December after coming back into lay from her moult and I was eggspecting a good lot of eggs from my best and biggest egg layer. But then she stopped! She HAS just started again and laid a good total of 5 eggs in the last 5 days.

Ginger started (finally) to squat for me and then came back into lay and has laid 9 eggs in 9 days, so I am hopeful that Henny and Ginger will be contributing regularly to the feed bill very soon!



Attilla laid 12 eggs and has more nice new feathers on her wings and bottom now, she looks very smart!

Cathy has laid no eggs at all but is a sweet ex battery hen and "purrs" most sweetly. I have finally managed to capture her purring on video! Listen carefully!And she IS purring, I think you will agree!




Sweetiepie started laying 4 days after she left the Sweetie Six to their own devices and had laid 13 eggs in 15 days at the end of December. She has continued this trend and laid a grand total of 27 eggs this month so is a joint star of the month with Babs!

Genghis Hen has been in fine form this month, no illnesses at all, she DID lay a very strange "egg" last week though, ...poor old girl :-(

The forced egg laying (due to the artificial light they are kept under) messes up battery hens sometimes and they just can't lay properly afterwards.....




But yet again, the absolute stars are Sweetie, Babs and Goldie! Yep the new girls laid the most eggs! Babs laid 27 and Goldie laid a magnificent 28 eggs out of a possible 31.

Goldie is therefore Chicken of the Week (see top right sidebar)

Babs head feathers are slowly growing back (she lost them due to being pecked, poor thing) and I have had to paint some magic purple spray on her head to stop the feather pecking. She was NOT impressed with this process I can tell you...

The Silver Dorkings continue to delight, Cap't Flint is now as large as the big girls although he still keeps a respectful distance from them. They all bully him and he keeps well away!



Long John Silver is very friendly to me and I hope that continues. He has just started mounting the hens and yesterday he "had a go" at Henny, Ginger, Babs, Goldie and Cathy! Phew where does he get the energy? He has also (this week) started to crow.....but that's OK, it's rather nice!



Ruby, Violet, Buffy and Willow are very sweet and now cluck rather than giving strangled squarks all the time.

With the weather being so cold I have been giving the chickens warm mash and lots of extra treats and high protein nibbles to keep them warm and happy and as a reward because I love them so.

As we have been having short days and it has been quite overcast and gloomy on some days the girls are doing really well to lay so many eggs! Hen egg laying is controlled by day light so we really are getting a good return from our girlies.

They laid 110 eggs this month, which is really pretty good. From 6 egglaying hens
(forget about Genghis and Cathy the ex battys) they have averaged 3.5 eggs per day, which isn't bad going I think! AND the egg laying was 5 or 6 a day from the 6 laying hens this last week. Hopefully the better weather, the end of moulting and the beginning of the fab four Dorking girls coming into lay will mean more eggs for me to sell and recoup some of the feed bill as well.

I have, however, finally broken even with the feed bill this month....the girls have earned their keep this month, quite literally!

THANK you all, my lovely, lovely girls and boys, you make my life very happy!)



Henny and Sweetiepie.