Smart Feeder - Light sensor values

[squiffs]

Babs and Margot arrived this morning, and upon being placed on the ground scuttled straight into the eglu run

 

One of the two laid an egg in the carrier the omlet man brought them in! We forgot to ask for it so we haven't kept it

Margot is our Miss Pepperpot and Barbara is the Gingernut Ranger - Margot is a lot more skittish - she was hiding in the eglu nestled down in the nesting box bedding with her head poking out of the door for the first half of the day, whilst Babs was brave enough to be handfed pretty much straight away, Margot is now taking food from our palms but we're not allowed to stroke either of them yet

 

 

Babs has also been trying to show Margot who's boss - and as she seems like the braver of the two anyway, I think that's how it will stay.

 

Margot.

 

Babs.

 

The moment Margot realised she was missing out on treats.

 

The moment I realised that they preferred using homegrown salad leaves to throw around the run, rather than eat!

 

 

Babs has also started trying to tunnel her way to freedom through the woodchip

 

I can't wait to see if we get another egg tomorrow morning - although we're perplexed as to who laid today. I've put a bench in front of the run and been sat watching them most of the day (between torrential downpours) and am posting this from my conservatory - whilst watching them through my window!

[beach chick]

lovely! you need an air bed or something though if you plan to spend much time lying next to the run

[squiffs]

I had wellies and my trespass waterproof gore-tex jacket on at one point! (and a brolly and a cup of tea, dutifully brought to me by the OH )

[Chortle Chook]

Lovely girls - love your pink eglu too.

You may find that you need to tear up the salad leaves into small bits as chickens don't have teeth (of course you knew that ) and they don't seem to have the brain to tread on one end and pull at the other to tear a bit off. If I tear up the salad leaves my chooks will eat them, but if I don't they trash them all over the ground

[fluffy chick]

[squiffs]

Lovely girls - love your pink eglu too.

You may find that you need to tear up the salad leaves into small bits as chickens don't have teeth (of course you knew that ) and they don't seem to have the brain to tread on one end and pull at the other to tear a bit off. If I tear up the salad leaves my chooks will eat them, but if I don't they trash them all over the ground

Thanks for the tip! I'll try that. they seem to also be getting the salad leaves mixed up with the beech leaves that came with the natural woodchip I put them on

 

and yes, the eglu is quite pink isn't it no one can accuse these ladies of not having style and co-ordination!

[jennym]

Lovely ladies, congrats on your new friends.

 

I'm betting on Babs being the egg-layer, for completely unscientific reasoning based on my hen-keeping experience of exactly 1 month (I'm a statistician so shame on me!!)

 

Reasons:

 

1. Our calmed down loads a few days before she started laying

2. Our had a smaller wattle & comb than yours when she started laying.

3. Our has a bigger wattle and comb than yours and has only just started laying.

 

So there you go, my 2 cents worth, which is probably worth even less than that. But it'll be fun for you to observe tomorrow and find out who's responsible

[squiffs]

Interesting theory - the omlet man said 'oh it was probably that one' - and admittedly her wattle and comb are a more obvious red colour now (the pics don't show it but it's much darker than the 's) although I'm unsure if you can check for 'yellow legs' in a , the 's legs are definitely quite a pastel yellow colour still.

 

Wish they'd let me pick them up so I could feel their hip bones! So curious!

[jimnpaula]

I agree with jennym on Babs being the egg layer. This is because laying hens go higher up the pecking order, and the way she is behaving, (more confident, being bossy) suggests that she is currently top chook.

Whose face is reddest?

 

 

P

[squiffs]

I agree with jennym on Babs being the egg layer. This is because laying hens go higher up the pecking order, and the way she is behaving, (more confident, being bossy) suggests that she is currently top chook.

Whose face is reddest?

 

 

P

 

 

Margot's hence the mystery! Babs' face is very pale still, and her legs a lemon yellow - I'm not sure what colour Pepperpot legs are before they're in lay, but Margot's are grey with a pinky tinge in places.

[jennym]

Our Pippa has always had a much redder face, I thought it was her laying until we caught Lucy laying (a chook-cam is very handy sometimes!). Have either of them been squatting when you approach? The squatting definitely told the truth, if I had only known what it meant at the time

[chickanne]

I suspect Babs is the older looking at combs.

 

You do realise your personal productivity has just plummeted to 20%! Let's hope the weather does pick up so you can get maximum bonding time. (Or lure them into the kitchen whilst OH is out )

[squiffs]

No egg this morning, and Babs even slept in the nesting box

 

I guess they're getting aclimatised to their new home, and they're still young, so it's not a worry if there aren't eggs every day straight away.

 

I'm not an expert on chicken bullying - but Margot seems very flighty when Babs comes near, and Babs likes to wind her up with a peck to tell her who's the boss. Yesterday Babs spent most of the afternoon digging the woodchip out underneath the grub, she went in to roost first (between 10pm and 10:30) and when I went out to shut the coop Margot was sleeping in the wide end of the run in the hollow that Babs had dug - I manage to stroke her for a little while, she stirred and then when she'd had enough she gave my hand a little peck so I tried to coax her into the coop which took FOREVER - I didn't want her sleeping there, right out in the corner of the run, in case Mr. Fox paid a visit and manage to get the through the bars

 

Anyway, I let them out this morning and Margot was out first, she had some food until Babs came out and started digging there again, I thought - EVEN IF she isn't deliberately restricting access to the food, she's doing it, so I put a bowl out with some extra layers pellets in it, which Babs has since knocked over and started digging around instead.

 

 

I'm not really sure if I'm doing it right - they're very strange ladies, but I came to let them out at 7am with the intention of going back to bed (they kept me up late last night not going to roost til it was pitch black outside!) but I found myself making a coffee, putting the cushion on my chicken bench and grabbing my laptop, I've been out here an hour and 40mins now!

 

 

Also my cat is petrified of them, and they're still in the run, I'm sort of concerned he'll hole himself up in my neighbour's house (he used to do that when he was younger after we got another cat, he's a funny old thing, acts like he's not bothered but likes nothing more than being the only child).

 

 

My personal productivity has dropped way more than 20%! I took yesterday AND today off work - so I could try and bond with them over the weekend too before I go back to work on Monday morning!

[squiffs]

Our Pippa has always had a much redder face, I thought it was her laying until we caught Lucy laying (a chook-cam is very handy sometimes!). Have either of them been squatting when you approach? The squatting definitely told the truth, if I had only known what it meant at the time

Neither of them squat yet actually - they both shy away a little less when we come towards them now but if we go to touch them they dodge out of the way still albeit less quickly and panicked than before. Ryan (OH) tried stroking Babs when she was roosting last night but she sort of panicked and fluttered a bit so I told him to leave her for now and just try and get some more hand feeding done this afternoon after they've eaten their layers pellets.

 

I daren't let them out of the run until at least after the allotted 5 days - as I'm really not confident I could pick them up in a pinch yet, I hope they tame up a bit quicker - but we'll be spending the next few days at home all day with them so hopefully that'll speed it along a bit.

[squiffs]

Babs just laid an ! She's being very noisy about it now, "ow ow ow! OW! That hurt!!"

 

 

Come on Margot - don't let the side down!

Edited June 24, 2011 by Guest

[Luvachicken]

Is that a pink spotty shower curtain ?

I think I need a lilac one

[squiffs]

Is that a pink spotty shower curtain ?

I think I need a lilac one

Yes! Less than a fiver in argos! they only had blue and pink though and it isn't clear like I wanted - really hard to find a cheap plain PVC shower curtain - who'd have thought it? I'm going to save my pennies and buy a glass tarp soon - but this does the job really well - even in torrential downpours - result!

[Chortle Chook]

Oh don't get rid of your pink spotty shower curtain. It goes so well with your eglu that I assumed it must have come with it and be something new that Omlet are doing

[squiffs]

Oh don't get rid of your pink spotty shower curtain. It goes so well with your eglu that I assumed it must have come with it and be something new that Omlet are doing

 

 

yes it seems like fate to have that curtain - but it's not very thick so I'm worried I'll have to stock up on them whilst argos still does them - otherwise a strong wind would probably tear this one... or a hungry fox

 

here's the dotty curtain in action

 

 

 

and here's jelly - keeping plenty of distance between himself and those strange dino-birds that have appeared in the garden!

 

[Chortle Chook]

Oh pretty That's something for my Omlet wish list (the curtain, not the dear little cat).