Ribh's D'Coopage

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Treacle had hens all over the place today. Treacle took the tribe around the front of the house to dust bath, much like Cillin had in the past. However, Punch is not impressed with Treacle and chased Treacle away. Punch didn't bother the hens but he won't have Treacle strutting around his territory giving it the large portion. Cillin was always very respectful of Punch's authority in his territory and I never saw any problems between the two, or even with Mag who tends to do the Tribe 2 enforcing.
Fat Bird gave up trying to keep up with the chaos and came to the house late afternoon and stayed until Cillin arrived who escorted her to roost. Treacle had just left her here.
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Treacle certainly has a lot to learn. He's not a patch on Cillin.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

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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Beautiful photos Ribh.

That second one looks like a stick insect to me. From my (very quick) research it might be a Crowned Stick Insect.

Tiny frogs! Soon you'll have lots of "dok, dok" sounds to go with your "bok, bok" sounds.

 

[RoyalChick]

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!!!​

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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.​

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The way your littles snuggle in/under your bigs just never gets old for me. It is so adorableand I imagine keeps the littles nice and cozy.
And roosting om you arm? Awwww!

 

[RoyalChick]

She's sooo adorable Bob. I can almost understand what she's saying. Any chance of a translation?

Apparently only Phyllis understands what she is saying.

 

[Grammy60]

Good evening everyone

It's been a while. All summer we get these washed out sunrises but this morning's was interesting...
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This is both beautiful and a little angry looking for me. It's a pretty color though.

That bug is creepy

 

[BY Bob]

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.
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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.
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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.​

Is it possible to learn more about the latest Australian killers? I would love to be educated. I don't feel like I have heard these birds mentioned before. Arial predators scare me the most.

 

[BY Bob]

Apparently only Phyllis understands what she is saying.

Maybe Phyllis will post a translation on beakbook.

 

[Ribh]

Beautiful photos Ribh.

That second one looks like a stick insect to me. From my (very quick) research it might be a Crowned Stick Insect.

Tiny frogs! Soon you'll have lots of "dok, dok" sounds to go with your "bok, bok" sounds.

Thank you, ACM. I was wondering if it was some kind of stick insect. I've never seen one with wings before.

 

[Shadrach]

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's complicated.
Cillin started off with just Ruffles and Fat Bird. Fat Bird was still laying eggs but Ruffles was the hen that Cillin really liked.
Fat Bird isn't really interested in any males. She just wants to eat lots, bath in the sun and favorite dust bath spots and have an easy life.
Mel is Treacles mum and she's not overly struck on Treacle, she much prefers Cillin who is the father of all her chicks.
Treacle could do without Fat Bird being around. She has much more authority with the hens than he does. They'll go with Fat Bird as first choice if Cillin isn't around. While Treacle may have ousted his father, Cillin, the other males are not impressed so he will avoid them if possible. This means there are places he won't go that Cillin would. Two of the favorite dust bath spots are in Tribe 2's territory. Fat Bird has a free pass there. She just doesn't get bothered so the other hens will go to these spots with her and so far, they've been left alone by Tribe 2. But, this means Treacle often isn't with them, or splits the tribe up taking a couple of the younger hens with him. If he would let Cillin take over those that stay with Fat Bird, Treacles life would be a lot easier. It has been a bit better recently but Treacle still drives Cillin away as soon as he thinks he's safe from the other roosters.
The tribe needs Fat Bird, Mel, not so much. So, Cillin and Mel would be the best option to form another tribe. Whether Treacle would let Mel go is an interesting question.
So, in short, I can't see Treacle improving until he stops going for Cillin his father. Then it's a two rooster Tribe and Treacle would have to accept this.

 

[Shadrach]

It's

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.

You're right. Cillin should have been nicer. However, Cillin is prepared to try to look after all the hens while Treacle is only really interested in the younger ones.