Ribh's D'Coopage

[BY Bob]

I just knew you'd have some insight into this! It takes a certain personality in the hen to lead well & not all of them are cut out for the job.

 

[Ribh]

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This terrifies me! The thought of Aoife taking over gives me conniptions!

 

[Ribh]

Yes. You really need a good Alpha hen. Besides soda is a great lady in and of herself!

She really is. She doesn't really stand out in any way [except for size] but she is a rock in the flock!

 

[BY Bob]

It's

The sooner Cillin is well again the better. Treacle is beautiful but he's really not up to the job. Will he improve do you think?

It is too many hens for 1 rooster. Cillin was better but he had Treacle working for him doing escort duty etc. Cillin should have been nicer to Treacle. They need each other.

 

[BY Bob]

It's been a while. All summer we get these washed out sunrises but this morning's was interesting...
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That is very pretty.

 

[Ribh]

Some random photos:
Regan finds the fencing no impediment to either perching or exploring..

I have no idea what this is. I found it drowning in one of the ponds & thought it interesting. Sorta like a cross between a moth & a dragonfly...

And our tadpoles are morphing into actual frogs.
I spotted this tiny fellow taking a breather on a lily pad yesterday.

 

[BY Bob]

Some random photos:
Regan finds the fencing no impediment to either perching or exploring..
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I have no idea what this is. I found it drowning in one of the ponds & thought it interesting. Sorta like a cross between a moth & a dragonfly...
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And our tadpoles are morphing into actual frogs.
I spotted this tiny fellow taking a breather on a lily pad yesterday.
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Lovely photos. Just lovely.

 

[Ribh]

There is a first time for everything & some things are totally unexpected.
My girls have been extreme alarming for the past week but I have never spotted what it is that is upsetting them. We don't have many predators & those we do have generally give our yard a wide berth.

Today the alarm began again. There was a huge amount of screeching as I shot outside to find all my fence hoppers hurtling towards the gate & all the Littlies inside the coop. The rest of the Biggies were gathered under the ficus staring up into the trees. Morrigu was last but coming @ the speed of light! She is seriously missing some feathers & as she was not one Lavender picked clean I assume she took the brunt of the attack.

All her down is now exposed & she was pretty freaked out but as she is both feisty & smart I almost pity whatever decided to take her on.

And here's the scary part.
It wasn't a monitor lizard.
It wasn't a hawk.
It was either a Butcher bird or a Currawong. I coundn't get a good enough look to be sure which but I have just learned Magpies, Currawongs, kookaburras & Butcher birds will all hunt chickens! And they all live here!
Thankfully everyone is safe but they are now all in the coop & there they will stay for the time being until Mr Big Bad Birdie moves on.​

 

[Ribh]

Roosting gets madder & madder.
Ceres is often 1st. She knows what she wants & being 1st simply takes it. Portia, being bigger, can bully her along the roost. It starts getting iffy from that point on. I'm pretty sure Desdemona is right @ the bottom of this lots pecking order & being both a Japanese & a bantam often has trouble with the roosts, never mind getting a position she wants so I often lift her up onto a roost & let her sort it out from there ~ only tonight she decided she was perfectly happy roosting on my hand & was not prepared to budge @ any price. Titania decided Desdemona was onto a good thing & perched on my outstretched arm. Regan joined her. I had 3 mad chooks perched along my arm preparing to roost there for the night & no~one wanted to move!!!​

One by one I encouraged them onto the 2nd roost. Titania got right under Regan then popped up through her feathers. Eventually she took her Big Girl position between Regan & Gloriana, but they were bunched up tight & cuddly while the Big Girls were comfortably spread along the top roost & some were already out for the night.​

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Eve's Adventures

Eve has left us tho return home to her Dad. We had a wonderful visit. The Wombat books were a big hit as always. I read and read them. Thanks so much @LozzyR

Since it's Caturday let's see how the cats did with her.

Davis tends to hide when any strangers come to the house, especially small children. Isabel is pretty good with people overall. I figured we would not see Davis at all. I was very wrong.

He was extremely tolerant of Eve and for her part, Eve was very good with both of them. No grabbing, no fur pulling. In fact she was so good it would give me confidence to try something else before she left. Here is Eve with the kitties.

Her and Isabel spent time crawling around together.
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Davis was so comfortable with her he would even lay belly up!
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Here she is telling Davis Hi!

And feeding Davis cat snacks.

For all my Aussie friends, this is her new favorite TV show!
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She's sooo adorable Bob. I can almost understand what she's saying. Any chance of a translation?