Windy hill chickens - first flock(s) of my own

[kattabelly]

Four eggs from the usual suspects. Nora was sitting in a nest for a while this evening but eventually decided to just go and roost. Tiny and one of the younger Rock pullets chose to roost with the big girls tonight and the other Rock was happy to join them once I grabbed her and stuck her on the roost next to her sister, who she'd been calling for. Roost time ss+35 and the last day we'll see the sun after 4pm for a couple of months (though it's probably been disappearing behind the hill by then for a while already).

Didn't get a picture of them all before my phone died but everyone's been sharing the greenhouse quite happily, including the (not so) littles.

 

[kattabelly]

One of the Hylines dropped dead at my feet earlier. No warning, her usual chatty underfoot self just moments before and then she had a massive seizure and was dead maybe 90 seconds later. I don't need "I'm sorry"s - my head isn't wired to feel sad about death the way most folk do - but it's frustrating when there isn't any warning or hint of a cause. At least it was quick and not the miserable, drawn-out deterioration they so often experience when the reproductive health problems kick in. It might've been better if it'd been the more timid of the two that died, though. I hope she'll not take it too hard.

It's been pissing down most of the day, so I brought her home to maybe necropsy tonight if I decide I can face it when I have to be up at 4:30am.

Bit confused to get eggs from the three surviving regulars who aren't broody, and what looked like a second Sussex egg. Broody shouldn't be laying still, and if it was from Saturday when I last thought her sister hadn't laid then she's somehow managed to keep the egg hidden since then, despite multiple nest checks and even being dragged out for a bum check and trim. Looked too pink to be Nora's.

We're underwater again after a couple more days of heavy rain.

 

[Perris]

usual chatty underfoot self just moments before and then she had a massive seizure and was dead maybe 90 seconds later

sounds just like Uppsala a few days ago. Hopefully idiopathic and not an indication of something nasty in the air/environs.

 

[kattabelly]

sounds just like Uppsala a few days ago. Hopefully idiopathic and not an indication of something nasty in the air/environs.

Yes, I was thinking the same.

 

[kattabelly]

Last stragglers were going to roost at sunset+35 again. That seems to be about their limit, for now at least.

 

[kattabelly]

Kinda screwed up a bit, maybe. I gave Yellow Legs a few older eggs from the egg mountain, so she could keep those for a wee while and then I'd evict her and mess up the nest and all that stuff. I've not experimented enough to have a strong opinion about this but I feel like collecting fresh "volunteer" eggs from under a broody every day can sometimes almost seem to reset their timer and lead to them wanting to keep sitting for weeks on end.

Anyway, using my phone's torch to collect new eggs from under her the other day when it was already getting dark and managed to get it close enough to one of her marked eggs to light up the air cell... and not much else. Egg was mostly dark. Pulled it out for a proper look and yep, veins and a live embryo. Checked the other three she had and only one was clear. I knew there was a very small chance they might've been fertilised but they'd also been sat on the side for several weeks and not turned or any of that, so I figured it wasn't a big enough risk to really worry about Clearly I was wrong. They could still quit but I should probably come up with some kind of plan, in case any of them do actually hatch and she doesn't eat them. I'd lost track of time but if any do hatch, I think it'll be this weekend.

Wednesday's hurt her foot as well - looks like a couple of broken toes, no idea how - so things are going brilliantly all round I noticed the other day that the Fayoumi has a bent toe as well but she seems totally fine on it. Looking back through photos, seems like it was fine on October 23rd but looked a bit bent two days later. Never noticed her limping, but then she does fly a lot! Wen's clearly in some pain but getting around ok. I'm feeding either her or that group separately to make sure she's managing to eat enough, and putting her in a crate in the greenhouse or bringing her down to the polytunnel for a few hours every day just to give her a break from dodging big chickens or sitting out in the weather.

Already had a few frosty mornings and yesterday it was cold enough today for a few patches of sleet to take most of the day to melt. Today it's been snowing on & off all day and it was just starting to look like some might settle when I got home this evening. Hoy is already snowy.