Our settings:
Since summer 2019 we live in an isolated old family house in the french pre-alps, 1060 meters high. Our coop is a vaulted 18m sq basement in the main house that used to be a stable and was turned into a coop in the 50's. Our chickens have about 500 meters of land and are outside all day except when we leave the house.
The original six ex-batts :
In January 2020 we got six 3 months old pullets from a battery that was giving away rescues. They had given all when my partner arrived, so he was given young pullets. We knew nothing about chickens and would discover that they would both steal our hearts and break it. Ex-batts are high production hybrids, as such ours were laying daily their first year but soon after began having difficulty in that regard, leading to serious health problems after their second year of life.
Nougat :
She was the biggest and most agile of the six pullets and had a very calm temper. She was also the first to lay, and has always laid very regularly a big, perfect egg. In spite of this she landed at the bottom of pecking order. She was very human friendly as a pullet but grew very shy as she aged.
Blanche : she is that chicken, that is slightly nutty and not quite finished in her head ! A very small hen in spite of eating huge amounts, she has had several severe feather losses for which we never found the cause, and several long periods having troubles laying soft shell or no shell eggs.
Brune : her counterpart! A sensible hen except at bed times, she has always hated going to roost, is always the last and cries when all the others sleep. She is a very good hunter. She went through a hawk attack with only a peck in one eye. She has the best health of all.
Caramel, RIP 28/07/22
a big beautiful hen with a husky voice. She laid big light wrinkled eggs from the start. Although this made us suspect infectious bronchitis she was in perfect health until May 2022 when she turned really ill, probably for worm overload. Though she healed, she never went back to laying and to her old self. What began as respiratory distress was due to peritonitis, and she did not survive the surgery meant to save her.
Cannelle : as a pullet she was quite wild and often escaped to lay in funny places. When growing older she became a rather discreet hen that hates being held.
Vanille : RIP 21/07/2022.
the alpha hen but she has been having reproductive problems since about a month after her first egg. She has been very unwell countless times and was very sick for two months in September 2021. She is our only hen that loves cuddles and climbing on human knees or shoulders. After so many difficult times laying one day she didn't manage to get the egg out and didn't make it.
The bantams
In November 2021 a farmer from our village gave us a cockerel, Théo, and a bantam pullet Chipie. Théo was a few months old and cross bantam/ standard so very small. Integration was awful and the bantams were constantly bullied.
The chicks
After a few months Théo started tidbitting and mounting the hens and slowly got integrated, but Chipie was still badly rejected. When she went broody we gave her five eggs that came from the same farm she did. She hatched four chicks on 5 June 2022 : one cockerel, two pullets. The last chick was very slow to grow and had trouble flying, and it's gender remains uncertain. On 15 July Chipie let the chicks on their own and went back to her Théo.
Gaston the.cockerel , a huge goofy boy with a loud musical whistle
Merle, a black bantam that can fly as well as a bird and knows no fear. Her name means blackbird.
Léa, a sweet pullet, the most sensible of the four, always curious of what the humans are doing.
Piou-piou, the small chick with a growth problem. Still full of life and running about at nine weeks though it's a month behind in growth.
Since summer 2019 we live in an isolated old family house in the french pre-alps, 1060 meters high. Our coop is a vaulted 18m sq basement in the main house that used to be a stable and was turned into a coop in the 50's. Our chickens have about 500 meters of land and are outside all day except when we leave the house.
The original six ex-batts :
In January 2020 we got six 3 months old pullets from a battery that was giving away rescues. They had given all when my partner arrived, so he was given young pullets. We knew nothing about chickens and would discover that they would both steal our hearts and break it. Ex-batts are high production hybrids, as such ours were laying daily their first year but soon after began having difficulty in that regard, leading to serious health problems after their second year of life.
Nougat :
She was the biggest and most agile of the six pullets and had a very calm temper. She was also the first to lay, and has always laid very regularly a big, perfect egg. In spite of this she landed at the bottom of pecking order. She was very human friendly as a pullet but grew very shy as she aged.
Blanche : she is that chicken, that is slightly nutty and not quite finished in her head ! A very small hen in spite of eating huge amounts, she has had several severe feather losses for which we never found the cause, and several long periods having troubles laying soft shell or no shell eggs.
Brune : her counterpart! A sensible hen except at bed times, she has always hated going to roost, is always the last and cries when all the others sleep. She is a very good hunter. She went through a hawk attack with only a peck in one eye. She has the best health of all.
Caramel, RIP 28/07/22
a big beautiful hen with a husky voice. She laid big light wrinkled eggs from the start. Although this made us suspect infectious bronchitis she was in perfect health until May 2022 when she turned really ill, probably for worm overload. Though she healed, she never went back to laying and to her old self. What began as respiratory distress was due to peritonitis, and she did not survive the surgery meant to save her.
Cannelle : as a pullet she was quite wild and often escaped to lay in funny places. When growing older she became a rather discreet hen that hates being held.
Vanille : RIP 21/07/2022.
the alpha hen but she has been having reproductive problems since about a month after her first egg. She has been very unwell countless times and was very sick for two months in September 2021. She is our only hen that loves cuddles and climbing on human knees or shoulders. After so many difficult times laying one day she didn't manage to get the egg out and didn't make it.
The bantams
In November 2021 a farmer from our village gave us a cockerel, Théo, and a bantam pullet Chipie. Théo was a few months old and cross bantam/ standard so very small. Integration was awful and the bantams were constantly bullied.
The chicks
After a few months Théo started tidbitting and mounting the hens and slowly got integrated, but Chipie was still badly rejected. When she went broody we gave her five eggs that came from the same farm she did. She hatched four chicks on 5 June 2022 : one cockerel, two pullets. The last chick was very slow to grow and had trouble flying, and it's gender remains uncertain. On 15 July Chipie let the chicks on their own and went back to her Théo.
Gaston the.cockerel , a huge goofy boy with a loud musical whistle
Merle, a black bantam that can fly as well as a bird and knows no fear. Her name means blackbird.
Léa, a sweet pullet, the most sensible of the four, always curious of what the humans are doing.
Piou-piou, the small chick with a growth problem. Still full of life and running about at nine weeks though it's a month behind in growth.
