Ribh's D'Coopage

[Ribh]

LOVE the grouping pics of your gals!!

We have had a fairly easy transition thankfully & everybody is getting along together well. I am avoiding those breeds with a reputation for dominance though. I know they can be lovely hens but for me too much trouble in a mixed flock. Now I know which birds I am particularly fond of & which breeds get along best together I will be buying with that in mind in the future & sticking to just those 2~3 breeds: Campines, Wyandotte bantams & maybe the Aracaunas. The Aracaunas are still too new to me for me to be sure they will be a good fit ~ & another broody breed! Yes, Shad, I know. I heard you but good grief! The girl's only just started laying!

 

[Ribh]

So relieved! Molting seems to take a harder toll on my lighter/smaller girls too.

I've actually had more trouble with my bigger breeds. Namaste, a black Australorp, never really recovered from her 1st molt. The BRs are slow & steady & seem to lay right through their molt ~ or they did last year. Lavender & Suyin have had a really hard time but they are pretty robust girls & have managed. Lottie is so much smaller, lighter & calmer than any other bird in the flock she could be easily overlooked. I knew she was missing some feathering but she doesn't like being handled. Feeding is always on her terms but she has less chance of being trampled up on my knee so that's what she usually chooses until the hub~bub dies down ~ but if I attempt to stroke her or handle her in any way she scoots so I haven't had much chance to get a really close look @ what's going on. I pushed it once I thought she wasn't herself ~ & she let me. So unusual. Such a smart little lady!

 

[MaryJanet]

I

I did know that. Thanks!

I know it too, but the chickens don't let me handle them so they're not at risk. Ivy and Janet are not too wild, but Mary and Peggy might as well live in the jungle for all the trust they show.

 

[Ribh]

Good morning folks

Jeannie, Medh learned a valuable lesson that everyone else apparently already knew. I love reading about yours and other chicken adventures. Since I've started working full time, I just don't have the energy to hang out with the birds that I used to. When I'm feeding them, I still have a couple of turkey hens and one RIW hen that will let me pet them. But it's not the same as setting out there with treats enjoying their company. One day I'll get back to that place, but not for a few more years.

It's hard all round, just now, Bob. I haven't had as much time to spend with the girls as I normally would ~ especially with new girls in the flock. You will get back to it I'm sure enjoy it all the more for having been deprived.

 

[MaryJanet]

One of the great advantages of working at home, for me, is that I can take my work out to the chicken yard and just be there with them.

 

[BY Bob]

She was very funny last night ~ & last night was a good night! We passed another milestone with oldies & newbies sharing the feeding tubs without squabbling. Lottie wasn't particularly hungry but she hopped up on my knee as usual & was dozing away in between pecking @ her tucker. I had one handful of food for Ha'penny who is loath to give up her hand fed status though as one of the older girls she has enough status to eat @ whatever tub she likes unhindered, & the other hand of food was being nibbled on by Alpia, Wrold & Morrigu in turn. Medh & Aoife had been watching this but they are skittish still ~ Medh less so since our time together in the big coop. Eventually it got too much for Medh & she approached cautiously ~ but not my hand, which would have been safe. Nope, she had to peck out of the little tub I use for Lottie. Well! She got a very sharp rap on her skull for her pains! That tub is Lottie's & no~one else is allowed to eat from it except, occasionally, Ha'penny. Even her mate, Tuppence, wasn't allowed to share. The whole flock knows it too! All of my older girls will approach a hand for tid bitting but not one of them would dare stick their beak in Lottie's tub ~ especially with Lottie right there!

Lesson learned. Good for you Lottie!

 

[BY Bob]

Good morning folks

Jeannie, Medh learned a valuable lesson that everyone else apparently already knew. I love reading about yours and other chicken adventures. Since I've started working full time, I just don't have the energy to hang out with the birds that I used to. When I'm feeding them, I still have a couple of turkey hens and one RIW hen that will let me pet them. But it's not the same as setting out there with treats enjoying their company. One day I'll get back to that place, but not for a few more years.

Until then please enjoy our stories.

 

[BY Bob]

I did know that. Thanks!

The NOT did NOT get into that sentence.

I did NOT know that. Thanks for the info @Shadrach .

 

[BY Bob]

I

I know it too, but the chickens don't let me handle them so they're not at risk. Ivy and Janet are not too wild, but Mary and Peggy might as well live in the jungle for all the trust they show.

Actually. I did NOT know that. I lost my NOT somehow in that sentence.

 

[BY Bob]

One of the great advantages of working at home, for me, is that I can take my work out to the chicken yard and just be there with them.

That is why I have a patio. Chickens and work.