Ribh's D'Coopage

[RoyalChick]

As we're snooping, the mirror frame caught my eye!

Yes! Very striking.

 

[RoyalChick]

So quarantine is over and the integration has started. We moved the new quarantine coop today closer to the run so they can have a bigger space when unsupervised and can the girls can all see each other through the wire. As we moved it, we decided to let them completely free-range with the Faverolles so the pecking order could be established.

It was one of the most chilled-out integrations I have witnessed! Both groups started out ignoring each other; the Frizzles hopped into a garden bed and started digging like mad, and the Faverolles hoovered up spilled food on the grass (River included, I was pleased to see). Then I saw some odd behaviour, so I'll outline my observations.

Tegan, who is alpha, pretty much completely ignored them the whole time, but seemed to lurk behind the raised garden beds, almost as if she was avoiding them. She's moulting at the moment so I wondered if she just wasn't up to it. She also put a fair bit of distance between herself and the Frizzles.

River jumped on top of Lottie, as did Nyssa later on when Lottie was isolated, but what was really surprising was that Penguin challenged River, ripped a feather out and chased her off! River may have lost her spot as 2IC.

Lottie and Snowy stuck very closely to Penguin, who is pretty feisty. They've all socialised together at the breeder's so they've been fine with each other since we got them.

An update on River; the last two days she has been out of bed earlier (7am as opposed to 10am) and has decided she really likes the pullet pellets, which are 18% protein. She was having a scratch around in the garden today which was great to see, but she looked like she was navigating where she was going with her right eye and her head slightly at an angle. Her feathers seem brittle, her bum looks like an echidna's; still quills sticking out of her but the feather bit seems to have broken off, rather than the whole thing having fallen out. Her ears were gummed up and I had to soften the gunk with a bit of warm water, then pick out the lumps so they weren't blocking her ears. I'm going to have another chat with Dr Nikki on Friday about her.

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Oh dear, poor River. Wonderful otherwise!

 

[BY Bob]

So quarantine is over and the integration has started. We moved the new quarantine coop today closer to the run so they can have a bigger space when unsupervised and can the girls can all see each other through the wire. As we moved it, we decided to let them completely free-range with the Faverolles so the pecking order could be established.

It was one of the most chilled-out integrations I have witnessed! Both groups started out ignoring each other; the Frizzles hopped into a garden bed and started digging like mad, and the Faverolles hoovered up spilled food on the grass (River included, I was pleased to see). Then I saw some odd behaviour, so I'll outline my observations.

Tegan, who is alpha, pretty much completely ignored them the whole time, but seemed to lurk behind the raised garden beds, almost as if she was avoiding them. She's moulting at the moment so I wondered if she just wasn't up to it. She also put a fair bit of distance between herself and the Frizzles.

River jumped on top of Lottie, as did Nyssa later on when Lottie was isolated, but what was really surprising was that Penguin challenged River, ripped a feather out and chased her off! River may have lost her spot as 2IC.

Lottie and Snowy stuck very closely to Penguin, who is pretty feisty. They've all socialised together at the breeder's so they've been fine with each other since we got them.

An update on River; the last two days she has been out of bed earlier (7am as opposed to 10am) and has decided she really likes the pullet pellets, which are 18% protein. She was having a scratch around in the garden today which was great to see, but she looked like she was navigating where she was going with her right eye and her head slightly at an angle. Her feathers seem brittle, her bum looks like an echidna's; still quills sticking out of her but the feather bit seems to have broken off, rather than the whole thing having fallen out. Her ears were gummed up and I had to soften the gunk with a bit of warm water, then pick out the lumps so they weren't blocking her ears. I'm going to have another chat with Dr Nikki on Friday about her.

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It will be very interesting to see where Penguin ends up in your pecking order. Do I see new feathers growing in on her back?

All of them are just delightful to look at.

 

[rjohns39]

Good evening folks

 

[Grammy60]

Good morning/evening everyone

Kitties do warm up a bed rather nicely, but don't leave much room for sharing

 

[BY Bob]

Good morning/evening everyone

Kitties do warm up a bed rather nicely, but don't leave much room for sharing

The warm outweighs the loss of space. Just wiggle in there.

 

[bruceha2000]

I'm lucky if I can get into my bed when I want to!

Right, because it is illegal to disturb cats!

 

[RoyalChick]

Right, because it is illegal to disturb cats!

Not illegal, just very unwise given the claws and teeth and then the days of sulking that would ensue!

 

[LozzyR]

The warm outweighs the loss of space. Just wiggle in there.

DH has a story about the time he house-shared with a little white cat called Missy. Actually, he has a few stories about Missy, but this one was about how he had a queen-size bed and tiny Missy would leave him about a foot of space to sleep in!

 

[Ribh]

WEDNESDAY WHEREVER.
The black broodies are now forming a really tight unit & do everything together.​

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