Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[BDutch]

I made a big mash for the ex-batt's fourth birthday,

Congratulations Manue!

 

[BDutch]

I’ve seen some suggestions to regularly give senior chicken ground flax seed, I could give it a try when the flax from the garden has bolted which should be soon.

I give my hens a little flax seed /bird seed every autumn and winter because I gave been reading it encourages the chickens to lay more through the colder days.
Bought a bag last week and mixed in through the scratch.

 

[ManueB]

Chirk turned a blind eye to Killay mating hens for about 6 months before he got ill and we had a regime change, but he wouldn't tolerate it by Fforest. I think it is the exercise of discretion when the rival is not challenging for the top spot and is not obviously going to run away if threatened (or in the mating case, interrupted) either.

I hope this is the explanation and not that Gaston is feeling weak from the molt. He has been making a bad wheezing sound in his throat for quite a while now. But that does not stop him from chasing Théo so your explanation is probably on spot.
Tonight Pied Beau roosted right in the middle of the main roost and Gaston just went on his usual side, not saying anything.

I give my hens a little flax seed /bird seed every autumn and winter because I gave been reading it encourages the chickens to lay more through the colder days.
Bought a bag last week and mixed in through the scratch.

Flax seed are used to give an omega boost for layers in commercial operations, it's well documented. It raises the content of Omega 3 in the eggs. The Omega 3 are supposed to help with aging as well.

Spoiler: I used to eat flax seeds for breakfast

When I ran a lot I was careful about what I ate and tried various food fads to make sure I was getting the right nutrients. One of these was Budwig mix/cream for breakfast, which includes a spoon of ground flax seed. I learned then that flax seed have a big issue, they get rancid very quick, if you ground them you have to eat it right away, and even the whole seed spoil much quicker than any other because of their high oleic content. I switched to hemp seeds then which are more stable. Now I don't train anymore I don't eat all those specific stuff . Budwig cream was pretty good actually but requires too many ingredients and prep.

I went to visit Petit Blanc today ! Or I should call him Blanchon because that is the name they have kept for him. He is doing great. He hasn't grown in size but he has put on some bulk and grown all his feathers back. Now he has just a touch of black in his white feathers on his tail, gold and just a hint of black around the neck. He is gorgeous and I am pretty sure he is not from Edouard's rooster (the neighbour who gave us the eggs) but from his sister's rooster across the path who also visits his hens sometimes, as that rooster looks a lot like Shadrach's Henry.
When I saw him he was in their tiny vegetable garden digging up worms with a tiny hen, Amelia says she's his favourite. She is very happy with him, says he is good with the hens, doesn't overmate them, watches over them and takes them.to bed before it gets dark. She has seven hens of three different generations, and I think having his own hens really helped to calm him down. He got pretty well used to all their dogs, but is still nervous around her small five years old boy who makes a lot of noise and jumps and runs all over the place. The boy is used to being around livestock though so he knows to stays clear off the rooster. The only down side is that the chickens free ranges only part of the day, but Blanchon seems very well, and it turned out for the best. I didn't dare take any pictures because it felt a bit intrusive.

And anyway I don't have sufficient cell phone signal to upload today's photos this evening. I will try again tomorrow morning .
Here is Blanche and Alba.

 

[MaryJanet]

Thanks for the update on Blanchon! I was wondering how he's getting on and I'm so pleased to know he's thriving. How is Grenouille? Have I remembered the old horse's name correctly?

 

[ManueB]

Thanks for the update on Blanchon! I was wondering how he's getting on and I'm so pleased to know he's thriving. How is Grenouille? Have I remembered the old horse's name correctly?

Almost, it's Gribouille! (Grenouille is a frog, Gribouille is a sweet name for a simpleton).
I don't have recent news. Last week he was still with the cows, but they are moving down tomorrow with the cold coming in, so they will probably make the switch then. I didn't ask Amelia because she is very upset and angry about the whole thing.

Pictures from yesterday. It's very grey but no rain up to now ; we really need it , everything is so dry it's turning to dust and rocks.

Gaston giving Théo the terror look.

Cannelle is looking tired since yesterday . Last year's molt was terrible for her, I thought she was dying for two months, so I hope she doesn't go through the same this year.

Mélisse and Annette

Léa dustbathing when I threw her out of the nest.

Melisse again.

First quinces. These are from the young trees we planted six years ago ; they are much bigger, less tasty, and ripen quicker than the one from the old trees.

Annette and Lulu

Mélisse

Kara laid an almost normal egg yesterday except it had no pigment. I’m beginning to wonder if her problem is not simply due to nutrition because it seems each day I have given her a special food with more protein she has laid a bit better the next, and not when I keep her on their usual feed. But maybe it's a coincidence. I could try supplementing her for a week with eggs and sardines and see if it helps ? I don't suppose it could hurt.

 

[Perris]

First quinces. These are from the young trees we planted six years ago ; they are much bigger, less tasty, and ripen quicker than the one from the old trees.

Are the young trees the same variety or a different one?

I’m beginning to wonder if her problem is not simply due to nutrition because it seems each day I have given her a special food with more protein she has laid a bit better the next, and not when I keep her on their usual feed. But maybe it's a coincidence. I could try supplementing her for a week with eggs and sardines and see if it helps ? I don't suppose it could hurt.

You're right - it won't hurt!

 

[ManueB]

Are the young trees the same variety or a different one?

A different one. I have no clue what variety the four old ones are, they were planted a long time ago, my partner doesn't remember when so he must have been very young. We made a cutting from one of them and it has quinces for the first time this year.

You're right - it won't hurt!

Well, I didn't have the time today, but she laid the same egg as yesterday : smaller than usual and with no brown pigment, but with a normal shell.
Her poop has also gone back to what they used to be, which is not great, but no watery diarrhea anymore. I’m beginning to be cautiously optimistic!

Today was very grey and it drizzled all the afternoon. I couldn't watch the chickens because we are finally doing the last bit of fencing, the piece of steep land just above the gateway. It's where the goats break in .

I did see that Pied Beau had regally installed himself in the run with Lilly, scaring away all the other hens and Gaston who were outside getting wet . I didn't leave the coop open because of Léa. I am really beginning to think for some reason Gaston is scared of Pied Beau or really wants to avoid conflict, because when I brought their food at four he came to see and left when Pied Beau arrived and began eating.
On the other hand, in the morning when I took the pictures they were all hanging out together in their dustbathing area.

The woman we had contact with confirmed she still wants him, her grandfather hasn't got the hens yet but he expects to get them next week.
I’m not in a hurry to see him leave, but I don't like seeing my older ex-batts, Piou-piou and Chipie afraid, and thinking that maybe Gaston is not feeling safe.
He isn't such a bad guy, but he is really too big for our smaller hens.
I think Lilly will probably miss him because she was bottom of the adult hens, always being pecked on by the others and going alone outside, whereas now he follows her around everywhere , tidbits endlessly, and treats her like a princess.

Théo attacks both of them, and he seems to have decided the younger pullets belong to Gaston because he has totally stopped flirting with them and now chases them away, scaring them.

Piou-piou wasn't doing great today. It's been a long time since I saw her taking an unwell attitude, I checked to see if any of her wounds had reopened but it wasn't the case, so it's probably something else.

Lulu

 

[BDutch]

I think Lilly will probably miss him because she was bottom of the adult hens, always being pecked on by the others and going alone outside, whereas now he follows her around everywhere , tidbits endlessly, and treats her like a princess.

Why not try to keep them together? Ask the woman if she wants to buy Lilly too?

 

[ManueB]

Why not try to keep them together? Ask the woman if she wants to buy Lilly too?

We won't sell her for two reasons. First, we paid more for her than people here are willing to pay for a hen, because she is cross marans. Kara and her were twice the price of the leghorns or the hybrid layers. Money wouldn't be an issue for me if I was sure she was going to a good home, but I don't know these people. And second she is our favourite of the four young hens we bought, Kara and her, Alba and Nieva the leghorns. She is bottom of the pecking order because she is very sweet. She is like a spineless plushie, very soft and pliable, she still makes baby sounds, but she loves her freedom and keeps flying over the netting finding a new way out every time we move things around. We want to keep her, and I wouldn't want her to move to a place where she would be more confined. I think the reason she favours Pied Beau, is that we let her stay in the garden with him and free range around, whereas we always used to put her back in the chicken yard when she ventured on her own. I don't think it's because she has a crush on him like Piou-piou had for Gaston. But I think when he goes we will have to let her free range still, as she does now, otherwise it would be hard on her.

It was drizzling intermittently today and the chickens enjoyed some time foraging outside. Things went better than yesterday. I was able to leave the coop open as Léa is beginning to come off broodiness, so the chickens had the choice to shelter in the run or in the coop and the hens that are frightened of Pied Beau didn't have to stay next to him. I noticed the chickens love foraging once the rain stops on the damp soil. Not only do they find more bugs and insects digging, but they also seem to prefer eating the grass and the plants when it's wet. I see them nibbling at patches they were not interested in before the rain.
Rain may not be good for parasites, but draught really doesn't help the chickens to find food for themselves.

Kara laid her third identical small, beige egg. I guess I won't know just now if she has just a glitch, an other health issue that affected her laying, or a reproductive problem - time will tell.

Nieva

Perfecting her bumblefeet

Annette

Laure

Annette and Lulu

Ireland

 

[Perris]

what do you do with your quinces? Make paste, or jelly, or something else?