Ribh's D'Coopage

[Shadrach]

Mhari is in jail.
I am over broody chooks!
View attachment 2052711
The girls have been out in the run but were all waiting patiently @ the gate when I went to check on them. The coop water has apple cider vinegar added. Only Lottie is still in the run. She tends to do her own thing & no doubt I will find her on the wrong side of the fence patiently waiting near the coop for me to come find her!The rest of the Big Girls have gone to lay.
View attachment 2052714
It was cold & blustery with spurts of rain last night. Lavender made a mammoth effort to roost & was on the top bar cozzied up with Lottie & Patricia. Suyin also made it up. She too is having a hard molt & looks absolutely dreadful. It is also making her very bad tempered & as she's never had the nicest disposition everyone is giving her a wide berth! I suspect several of the others have also started their molt but hopefully no~one else will do it so hard.

Meanwhile the Littlies are eyeing off the gate every time it opens now. They want access to the greater freedom the Bigs enjoy but as Mhari is still the only one I can handle without drama ensuing they are still confined ~ & Mhari has an awful habit of making a sudden lunge for freedom & roosting on the back of my shoulders where I have great difficulty extracting her!

Meanwhile the lad has made a mammoth effort & we begin painting today. We have 2 bedrooms ready to go & my OD is on her way over to help. Hopefully things will now go both quickly & smoothly.​

Are you expecting things to kick off if you let the new arrivals mix with the existing hens?
I bet you'll be glad when the house is back to whatever you call normal.

 

[Shadrach]

Tribe 1 minus Mel who is in the house nest box.

 

[Ribh]

Are you expecting things to kick off if you let the new arrivals mix with the existing hens?
I bet you'll be glad when the house is back to whatever you call normal.

No. They are in the big coop all together & because I have been on the mainland most of last week they have all been in there together all day for @ least 3 days with no issues ~ & space is tight with 15 chooks in there! It's more the new lot are still very flighty & they are all lightweights so fliers ~ even the wyandottes~ so it's more worry about them going over the fence & me not being able to get them back if needed. The man is planning to sort out the run extension as soon as the house is under control. For me the house could wait but we have the lads family [& her parents] about to land on us so the house must come first.

I haven't been able to spend as much time with everybody as I have wanted, & need to do, so this part is being incredibly slow. I would like to let them out. The run is far more interesting than the coop but I would need to be there & just @ present that can't happen so we are waiting. I dumped 2 huge piles of leaves in the coop yesterday for everyone to forage through & raked the sandpit to free it of leaves & feathers & added some treats but everyone is tired of the same old view, however beautiful it may be. I get that. I would have waited but then probably wouldn't have got the birds I wanted so we are dealing with what we have. *sigh*

 

[Ribh]

Tribe 1 minus Mel who is in the house nest box.
View attachment 2052769

That is a beautiful tree. The chickens are pretty snazzy too.

 

[rjohns39]

I've been getting a few small plots ready for planting edibles in. We don't have a lot of what one would call soil here; it's pulverized mountain rock and ruble basically. It only takes a few days sun, which we've had, to harden the first few inches of ground off. You have to use a small pickaxe type tool to break the soil. You then redistribute the sandy ruble stuff elsewhere and fill the hole with compost. The hole needs to be quite deep. This fortunately was done in the plot in the picture four years ago and has had many turnovers and compost additions since.
Well, the chickens know there's a bit of a crisis on with supplies and stuff due to the virus and being thoughtful and cooperative creatures, helped to dig in the compost I added today.
View attachment 2052621

Aren't you so glad they want to help? Can you explain to me what's wrong with onions??? I plant them and the girls unplant them. It seems to be the only thing "not allowed" in the garden.

Jeannie, the girls are doing great. Your caution is wise beyond belief. Before I had to lock mine down, I always had a few who thought it safer to sleep in the wild, which is largely why everyone is in lockdown now.

 

[BY Bob]

Mhari is in jail.
I am over broody chooks!
View attachment 2052711
The girls have been out in the run but were all waiting patiently @ the gate when I went to check on them. The coop water has apple cider vinegar added. Only Lottie is still in the run. She tends to do her own thing & no doubt I will find her on the wrong side of the fence patiently waiting near the coop for me to come find her!The rest of the Big Girls have gone to lay.
View attachment 2052714
It was cold & blustery with spurts of rain last night. Lavender made a mammoth effort to roost & was on the top bar cozzied up with Lottie & Patricia. Suyin also made it up. She too is having a hard molt & looks absolutely dreadful. It is also making her very bad tempered & as she's never had the nicest disposition everyone is giving her a wide berth! I suspect several of the others have also started their molt but hopefully no~one else will do it so hard.

Meanwhile the Littlies are eyeing off the gate every time it opens now. They want access to the greater freedom the Bigs enjoy but as Mhari is still the only one I can handle without drama ensuing they are still confined ~ & Mhari has an awful habit of making a sudden lunge for freedom & roosting on the back of my shoulders where I have great difficulty extracting her!

Meanwhile the lad has made a mammoth effort & we begin painting today. We have 2 bedrooms ready to go & my OD is on her way over to help. Hopefully things will now go both quickly & smoothly.​

Fingers crossed on the painting.

Poor girls, just following their biological urges to make more wonderful chickens for you. I just can’t figure why you would not want to support their efforts. They are doing this for you.

 

[BY Bob]

No. They are in the big coop all together & because I have been on the mainland most of last week they have all been in there together all day for @ least 3 days with no issues ~ & space is tight with 15 chooks in there! It's more the new lot are still very flighty & they are all lightweights so fliers ~ even the wyandottes~ so it's more worry about them going over the fence & me not being able to get them back if needed. The man is planning to sort out the run extension as soon as the house is under control. For me the house could wait but we have the lads family [& her parents] about to land on us so the house must come first.

I haven't been able to spend as much time with everybody as I have wanted, & need to do, so this part is being incredibly slow. I would like to let them out. The run is far more interesting than the coop but I would need to be there & just @ present that can't happen so we are waiting. I dumped 2 huge piles of leaves in the coop yesterday for everyone to forage through & raked the sandpit to free it of leaves & feathers & added some treats but everyone is tired of the same old view, however beautiful it may be. I get that. I would have waited but then probably wouldn't have got the birds I wanted so we are dealing with what we have. *sigh*

I feel your timing situation. I got extremely lucky that it did not snow this February and I was able to integrate without major issues. If they were all stuck in the complex together, I hesitate to try and imagine how difficult that would have been.

Sometimes you take the chickens when they are available and deal with things from there. You will get it sorted soon enough.

 

[BY Bob]

Aren't you so glad they want to help? Can you explain to me what's wrong with onions??? I plant them and the girls unplant them. It seems to be the only thing "not allowed" in the garden.

Jeannie, the girls are doing great. Your caution is wise beyond belief. Before I had to lock mine down, I always had a few who thought it safer to sleep in the wild, which is largely why everyone is in lockdown now.

I have not tried planting onions. I have no idea why yours don’t Iike them. I am interested if someone else has an idea.

 

[drumstick diva]

Personally I don't like onions either.

 

[Ribh]

Fingers crossed on the painting.

Poor girls, just following their biological urges to make more wonderful chickens for you. I just can’t figure why you would not want to support their efforts. They are doing this for you.

I would let them sit except for cockerels, except for cockerels, except for... And the fact I would have to find fertile eggs from somewhere.