BDutch's bantam flock & natural breeding projects #5 🪺 🪺 and #6

[BDutch]

Wise choice. Camping above 30° is no fun ; and in most campings I've been to, they will keep the shadiest places for either their usual customers or people who intend to stay at least a whole week.
Glad to hear the chickens are doing well, and hope your health gets better !

Yes you are right. Camping is best with temps between 20 en 30C. And without much rain or storm. The upcoming days they expect much rain and we probably go home to our chickens tomorrow instead of Wednesday. Not solemnly for the weather, but also because they are building a huge camp behind our tent with loud music. They told us 400 youngsters will arrive on Tuesday.

 

[ManueB]

Yes you are right. Camping is best with temps between 20 en 30C. And without much rain or storm. The upcoming days they expect much rain and we probably go home to our chickens tomorrow instead of Wednesday. Not solemnly for the weather, but also because they are building a huge camp behind our tent with loud music. They told us 400 youngsters will arrive on Tuesday.

Have a safe trip home !

It's not easy to find places to camp where it's cool in summer but without rain .

We used to camp a lot in the south Alps but at higher altitudes, in Ubaye, Queyras or Val maïra in Italy, at 1500 m or more. These are very sunny places but the height means temps go really cool at night. It used to get down below 10° but now it's more like 15 which feels nice when you've been in the heat all day.

 

[BDutch]

Have a safe trip home !

It's not easy to find places to camp where it's cool in summer but without rain .

We used to camp a lot in the south Alps but at higher altitudes, in Ubaye, Queyras or Val maïra in Italy, at 1500 m or more. These are very sunny places but the height means temps go really cool at night. It used to get down below 10° but now it's more like 15 which feels nice when you've been in the heat all day.

We did this last year for several days at the border of Italy/Austria near Switzerland. During the day the weather was great. But the evenings were too cold imho. It was really beautiful for hiking !

This was the view from our tent.

 

[fluffycrow]

We did this last year for several days at the border of Italy/Austria near Switzerland. During the day the weather was great. But the evenings were too cold imho. It was really beautiful for hiking !

This was the view from our tent.
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Gorgeous view!

 

[MaryJanet]

We did this last year for several days at the border of Italy/Austria near Switzerland. During the day the weather was great. But the evenings were too cold imho. It was really beautiful for hiking !

This was the view from our tent.
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What a sublime view!

Would it be ok if I used your photo as my computer desktop image fia while? I promise to not share it.

 

[BDutch]

Back to the chickens.
When we got back from our vacation this evening we found 5 broodies in the nestbox. 5 of 6 hens decided to hatch 2 unfertilised eggs , hoping for even more chicks in a crowded run with 9 chicks (11 week old) and 6 hens!


I closed the entrance to the small coop and put the broodies on the ground, one by one. Janice and Pearl were very annoyed and tried to open the ‘gate’ with looking intensely at the pop door.
Katrientje was furious and tried to ram the door and when that didn't work she ventilated her anger by going after Silver (silver partridge cockerel) and all the other chicks who got in her way.

4 or 5 chicks decided to roost in the run with a little shelter of a Portuguese laurel. The little ones roost with the hens. The weather forecast says no rain this night, therefore I let them. The run is not perfectly safe but reasonably safe with hwc and strong netting for birds of pray/cats

(Forgot to take a photo)

 

[BDutch]

Gorgeous view!

What a sublime view!

Would it be ok if I used your photo as my computer desktop image fia while? I promise to not share it.

Yes, the view was indeed gorgeous. And sure you can use it MaryJanet.

Even though it is gorgeous in the Alps, I’m glad we didn’t make a trip to the mountains in Switzerland and the north of Italy this year. They had a lot of nasty weather this summer with unbelievable thunderstorms, huge and sharp pointed hail. No way we would be safe in our tent when such clouds bursts above our head .

 

[BDutch]

This morning it was clear I didn’t have 5 but 4 broodies. The broodies were locked out of the coop/run all day. And very annoyed.

This evening the chicks and the 2 non broodies had 2 hours outside.

In the evening around sunset it was party time with some scratch and mealworms. No problem at all to lure the chicks/chickens inside.

I closed the pop door to the little coop again to break the broodies. The chicks seem to prefer to sleep in the run again over quarreling for a place in the larger coop extension. No rain expected this night.

The roost bar in the run with my Yellow partridge Dutch boy.
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Pile or White partridge Dutch girl.
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The chicks are 12 weeks old now.

 

[BDutch]

Yesterday evening I made an effort to herd the chicks into the coop to roost because we probably get a lot of rain this night. There was some fussing but eventually most of them settled down in the extended coop. Only 1 Sussex chick and Janice preferred to roost in the small coop. And Pearl was in the nest box until after darker. Picked her up and put her next to Janice.

Good thing I got them into the coop because it started to rain around 3 am.
This morning there were NO broodies left.

And checking on mite in the monitoring rolls: No red mites.


It made my day even if I have to work again after my vacation, I got no eggs for thd second day and it kept raining on and off whole day. ️

Now all chickens are out free ranging.
Black is still accompanying the chicks when they free range. She is really a superb mother caring for her baby’s after 12 weeks.

The group splits into two : one bunch of chick with Black on one side of the garden and 5 adult hens on the other side.

Silver Dutch male.

Inspiration from the Africa museum for a loam coop:

 

[BDutch]

I have noticed some strange behaviour with the hens versus the chicks. The hens and especially the ex-broodies Janice and Pearl , don’t allow /don’t like the chicks in the coops to roost. It seems the chicks are expelled from the coop. The chicks don’t eat much in the coop with the small covered run , during the day. While the food in the second run, where the chicks hang out a lot , gets all eaten. I know for sure because the food in the coop barely gets eaten when the hens free range*.

I want the chicks to sleep in the coop, because this is the only place were the chicks are real safe during the night. And if the chicks roost in the run (hwc and netting) they get wet.

If I want the chicks to roost inside the coop I need to go in the run at 21.30 , get them of the roost in the run and wait until the chicks are going through the pop door, into the coop one by one.
If I try this earlier, the older chickens come out to interfere. If I am too late, the auto pop door closes before the chicks go inside.

* The chicks are free ranging from late afternoon til about 9pm. The hens are allowed to free range earlier when we are at home.
I wonder if the acceptance would get better if we let the chicks free range more too. Only problem is that the chicks don’t listen very well to go inside again, in case we need to go somewhere. Its getting better to herd them inside, but we aren’t there yet.

The chicks.
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