MJ's little flock

[MaryJanet]

Ivy has new tail feathers coming through!

They're only tufts, but nonetheless I'll try for a photo later.

When I spotted some colour I thought Peggy had reverted to her feather plucking, but no! New tufts! Some black, some russet.

 

[MaryJanet]

Good evening folks

MJ, so glad integration is going well

Shad, Love your insights

@Butterscotchbitesfinger so nice to see you out and about

Hello and thanks! It seems ok so far. No real harm done.

I'm lucky to have the space for them to run away, I'm lucky that if Sandy manages to peck a pullet, she really can't do much damage with her trimmed beak, and I'm lucky the pullets are so zippy!

 

[MaryJanet]

Good evening everyone

Hi @Grammy60

 

[rjohns39]

Good morning folks

I'm looking forward to your book coming out!

X2

 

[MaryJanet]

As you suggested she would, she attends to pecking order more frequently than Mary or Janet.

Janet's pecking style is nonchalantly saunter close, zoom and... , damn, wasn't close enough they got away.

Thinking back to when Sandy arrived, introducing two new chooks is much better than one. I may even switch my plan from two pullets every two years to three pullets every three years. Sharing the pecking means there's less of it for each pullet and it relieves a lot of stress.

Just adding a thought here.

The other stressor is me. This time around, I'm watching but not intervening. If I see blood drawn, I'll get involved, but until then I'm only watching.

When Sandy arrived I intervened more frequently. I suspect this was a factor in causing the pecking order negotiations to be drawn out, along with the smaller yard, the 2:1 ratio of old to new hens, and Sandy's maturity.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

I've seen similar in Peggy but not Ivy. She approaches to say hi or to assert herself a little, and Janet makes a menacing gesture with a couple of quick steps. Peggy scoots away!

I know introductions are very serious chicken business, there's so much information to convey to the new ones, but sometimes I can't help myself and the laughter comes bursting out

If you think introducing chickens is funny, you should try horses! My mustang was such a jerk, he'd rear up to every new horse, until one day he went to high and fell over backwards. He jumped up, shook off, and never tested another horse again.

 

[MaryJanet]

If you think introducing chickens is funny, you should try horses! My mustang was such a jerk, he'd rear up to every new horse, until one day he went to high and fell over backwards. He jumped up, shook off, and never tested another horse again.

Sounds like a youngster? I had the privilege of caring for a lively 18 year old, he loved going out for a ride, it was the shining pinnacle of his day and he stepped out with a lot of joy and pride.

One winter it rained for a week and we were not able to take our daily ride. When at last we saddled up, he was keen but soooo well-behaved, I was very proud of him. Until...

Unseen to both of us there was a rabbit in our path under a clump of grass and he almost trod on it. As the rabbit shot off fast as it could, up went the old horse, standing tall on back legs! Down and boom: a huge twisty buck and a we were galloping off without rhyme or reason. I knew the land, so I just stayed with him and tried to keep us on a safe track. We eventually eased down to a walk then to a snorty standstill, but we had gone a long way by then! It took about 45 minutes to walk home. How I stayed on through it all I do not know and although I was riding fit, I had torn muscles the next day, as had he, the usually very gentle giant.

Actually, the whole adventure was rather invigorating

I reckon 90% of that run was sheer freshness from not having enough exercise. Normally he'd have coped quite well with a rabbit underfoot

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

Sounds like a youngster? I had the privilege of caring for a lively 18 year old, he loved going out for a ride, it was the shining pinnacle of his day and he stepped out with a lot of joy and pride.

One winter it rained for a week and we were not able to take our daily ride. When at last we saddled up, he was keen but soooo well-behaved, I was very proud of him. Until...

Unseen to both of us there was a rabbit in our path under a clump of grass and he almost trod on it. As the rabbit shot off fast as it could, up went the old horse, standing tall on back legs! Down and boom: a huge twisty buck and a we were galloping off without rhyme or reason. I knew the land, so I just stayed with him and tried to keep us on a safe track. We eventually eased down to a walk then to a snorty standstill, but we had gone a long way by then! It took about 45 minutes to walk home. How I stayed on through it all I do not know and although I was riding fit, I had torn muscles the next day, as had he, the usually very gentle giant.

Actually, the whole adventure was rather invigorating

Digger was not young, he was 12. He was a Mustang from Nevada and was originally adopted by people who treated him as a big dog and never trained him.

He was my very first horse and I broke him from the ground up. I 2 very knowledgeable horse people to guide me step by step. He would often buck and tear and bolt with me on him. I was 18 and I felt like I was invincible!

He ultimately became a wonderful horse who was the ring bearer in my wedding. Sadly he died after only being with me for 5 years, but I learned more in those five years then I have ever in my life.

 

[MaryJanet]

Awww sounds like he was a wonderful friend

 

[MaryJanet]

The pullets are out in the yard with the hens again

I let them out of the henhouse while Janet was on the nest, thinking they'd only have to face two hens at first.

They've escaped every peck attack so far, but there have only been four. Janet's first attack after her egg was a close call, Peggy wasn't watching and had to leap in the air to escape but, true to form, she got away unscathed.

At present the hens are in their afternoon shady and dusty spot and the pullets are relaxing in the little coop with the door open.

I'm going to leave them all to work out the roosting tonight. Previously I've been shutting the pullets in the little coop about an hour early. I was thinking it gave them a chance to fill up on food without having to worry about peck attacks. But I'd rather offer the option of roosting together.