Théo and the chickens des Sauches

ManueB · Oct 31, 2023

No, I think this is a very local event. The north of France is impacted by storm Ciaran but this is something coming from Corsica.
The ash tree was growing right next to an older one and it hadn't developed any roots. Still it took us completely by surprise. My partner however decided that the huge linden tree needs to be lowered even if his father doesn't agree, it's too close to the house.
Hope you will stay safe and not have too much damage !

BDutch · Oct 31, 2023

Perris said:
shame about your partner's lost holiday;

Yes, but better safe than sorry!

Perris said:
extreme winds are forecast here too, we're under wind and rain warnings for Weds and Thurs. Are we facing the same cyclone or 2 different ones? Shame too about the young Ash - of all trees, that's the one that's supposed to bend with the wind rather than be broken by it. Maybe the soil's not too deep or the slope too steep there though.
The chickens look gorgeous, as always!

Our weather forecast says its the same cyclone in France and England. Here its probably less extreme and no more than a good storm.
I hope you all will be fine.

PS ManueB is right. Ciaran is expected to cause trouble in the NW of France, the South of England and the North Sea.

ManueB · Nov 1, 2023

When I opened the coop I saw Blanche had fallen off the roost, she was lying on the floor. She got up and stumbled in a panic. It seems she is paralysed on the left side. It's not her leg, she can stand on it, but when she walks she falls on her left side. We put her in a crate in the run, took her out several minutes a few times, and she ate and pretended to be active. But then she slept most of the day.

BDutch · Nov 1, 2023

ManueB said:
saw Blanche had fallen off the roost, she was lying on the floor. She got up and stumbled in a panic. It seems she is paralysed on the left side. It's not her leg, she can stand on it, but when she walks she falls on her left side.

Is Blanche moving worse than the day before? So sorry. :hugs

4 chickens didn’t dare to come out of the run today. Lot of noises from the renovation and they started to clean the stream behind out garden.

Poor moulting Janice.

ManueB · Nov 3, 2023

It's been a bit hectic the last two days and we had again a windstorm this morning. Friday my partner took Lilly to the vet as her bumblefoot had badly deteriorated. She debrided the foot and did a huge dressing. She says because she is a bigger and heavier hen jumping around a lot she needs a pad under her foot to act like a cushion.
The good news is that she agreed to do online visits for simple things in the future (normally they only do that for cats and dogs they have already seen). This will allow us and the chicken to skip a four hour drive when all we need is an antibiotic for a wound and not a specific diagnosis or intervention.

Blanche has spent three days crated now. Friday it was pretty sad because it was raining all day so she staid in the crate inside the coop, and barely moved. But at least this allowed me to make sure she ate regularly. Today in the afternoon the weather was nice so I took her out a bit, ten minutes at a time. I think she is doing better. She is more active and more mobile. She still stumbles, but not as often. I noticed she stumbles on both sides, and not only on the left like I thought. I am not sure if she is paralysed, hurting, or wounded, and from where exactly. Handling her legs, feet and thighs, I didn't feel any swelling or heat or strain.

Obviously she doesn't think she is going to die in this crate like I did when I saw her like this on thursday. Tonight she wanted to go out of the crate and on the roost, but I am too worried she will fall. I will put back the small roost we took off in the crate tomorrow to see if she can perch.

MaryJanet · Nov 3, 2023

ManueB said:
The good news is that she agreed to do online visits for simple things in the future

That's very helpful. It'll be so much easier for you to consult when you're not confident about a case.

ManueB · Nov 4, 2023

It was raining all day again today. I had my parents and my brother over for lunch, which hasn't happened in five or six years. So I didn't spend as much time with the chickens as I wanted. I saw Blanche wasn't doing as well as yesterday but possibly it's because she couldn't go outside so much because of the rain. Yesterday afternoon when the weather was fine, it was very convenient to let her out in the coop and close it to protect her from the roosters. But today the chickens wanted to shelter and the run is too small for 14 chickens. So I did take her out of the cage but not as long and I don't think she was as active and she didn't eat as much.
Here is a video I took yesterday but didn't manage to upload. She wasn't walking as well today.

Merle insisted on sitting even though the barn was locked. I don't want to block her nest as it's accessible and i’m afraid the next one she would find could be some place I couldn't reach her.

Nougat has stopped laying for three days now. This means either she is going on a pause which would be great or she is not well. Cannelle looks terrible too. I tell myself that it was the same last year when she molted.

Gaston's incredible patience with Pied Beau has come to an end. Pied Beau gets chased now although not as aggressively as Théo. If the weather allows it we will bring him at Gaston's farm Tuesday (we are going there to split wood and his log splitter can't stay under the rain).

Tonight I took off the dressing the vet made for Lilly. Her foot is awfully swollen. It doesn't look so bad under, but it's huge. Her limping has improved so she probably feels less pain.

My partner told the vet the dewormer didn't work and she gave us Panacur (fenbendazole) for Lilly. She says it should work on the type of tapeworm she has, which apparently she saw first hand, as Lilly pooped as soon as she was out of the carrier box

. I have my doubts but I will try. Lilly needs help with the worms, she has so many it's scary.

A few pictures from yesterday.

Merle

Gaston

Blanche

Merle again

Blanche and Nougat catching the first ray of sun that goes in the coop.

Dustbathing in the run

ManueB · Nov 5, 2023

From Ciaran to Domingos we’re having a couple days of terrible weather. This morning it was horribly windy and then during all day it went from rain to sun with drizzle, then wind, then start again. Also, I forgot to mention we got our first frost yesterday, 0/32 in the morning.
But today it wasn't so cold and it was a rainbow kind of day.

The chickens were sick of staying inside, especially as we locked them up until ten this morning because of the wind, so they wanted to come out. Because the rain was on and off they did manage to forage a bit.
We took every opportunity when the roosters were outside to take Blanche out of the crate. Both my partner and I got the feeling that she was worse early morning and got gradually more active and stumbled less during the day. I notice she sees even less than before, because a few times I tried to give her water in a cup and she wouldn't have any. Then I tried taking her out to have a drink, ans she seemed not to see the water bowl but when I put it right in front of her eyes she started drinking like she was dying of thirst. So i’m thinking she has very impaired vision and needs to recognise things. That would also explain that she isn't really keen on going outside, she wants to be out of the cage, but to stay in the coop or run.

It's interesting also that since she is created I’ve been offering a plate with a little bit of various food : and I was very surprised that she didn't eat the same things every day. Two days ago she wouldn't touch the egg, and ate all the fish and chopped almonds ; but today she ate the egg and didn't touch the fish, she ate walnuts but left out the almonds

. She is very keen on anything green, and apples, and not so much on food that are more energetic. And on a positive note she dustbathed yesterday and today.

Gaston has really decided he wants to stay with the pullets now. It's getting more and more difficult to keep him inside the chicken yard. I don't like it much because it means the hens inside don't have a rooster watching for them. The pullets used to come back in the chicken yard when they felt unsafe but now that Gaston stays with them they don't come back until roost time, so they almost eat only what they forage in the afternoon. At roost time, he still keeps a place for Nougat though. Nougat is still so scared, she waits for me to come back from tending the chicken's bumblefoot to go with me in the coop to roost, well after all the others.

Lulu in the laurel tree

Léa started laying again yesterday, even though she's not completely over her molt.

Laure, still not laying

Nougat

Worm buffet supervisor

Kara the bully is afraid of tiny Chipie

Nougat likes the sun inside.

Lilly isn't limping anymore. I feel better that she isn't in pain.

Waiting while my partner crushes walnuts.

Piou-piou has a few feathers growing one by one and they are shredded

.

Two roosters !

Shadrach · Nov 5, 2023

ManueB said:
It didn't go as planned !
We drove Pied Beau to his new house , but he came back with us. When my partner saw the place where he was going to stay, he asked me "you're sure you want to leave him there?". I certainly would have left him if he hadn't spoken up, but once he asked, it was obvious the answer was no. The couple were nice old people and very happy to see our rooster. They had bought one of those premade run of about 8m2 and had not modified anything for security ; and the shelter to sleep was just four planks put together, about 80cm2 and 50 cm high, with a tiny hole to get in. No roost and no possibility to clean inside, no nest box, and the pullets were sleeping directly on the floor, right next to the river, so extremely damp.
They were very disappointed and we apologized, though of course when we tried to explain why it just made it worse.
We both would have felt bad leaving him there. A lot of people in France keep their chickens in very small coops, but this didn't seem either safe or healthy. It was probably one of the worse places I’ve seen.
So we are back were we started. I am glad for once for my partner's dubious nature. Though we don't know what to do with him now, whether to give him to Gaston, or try again to give him on the French Craigslist.

It rained all day today, so I only have a few photos, some from yesterday evening.

What do you think it is, Annette ?
View attachment 3667250
Probably dead and doesn't look good to eat anyway.
View attachment 3667251
Blanche had a cuddle while my partner protected her from Pied-Beau.
View attachment 3667253
We stayed in the run almost all day.
View attachment 3667255 View attachment 3667256 View attachment 3667258 View attachment 3667261 View attachment 3667263
Yes, I have mud shoes, and please leave me I have business up there.
View attachment 3667265
Poor Théo trying to follow.
View attachment 3667267

I wouldn't leave a chicken with someone if I wasn't happy about the keeping conditions.

ManueB · Nov 6, 2023

Shadrach said:
I wouldn't leave a chicken with someone if I wasn't happy about the keeping conditions.

No, I am certain you wouldn't

. And probably others following this thread wouldn't either. But I don't feel sure enough of myself to judge others, though it was rather obvious. And our own keeping conditions for the chickens are in some ways not great at all for their health, even if in other ways they are nice.
By the way, I learned since through that awful thing, village gossip, that these people are both very sick. This explains things though it doesn't make it right and it conforts me that we did well not to leave him there.
------------------
There was some wind this morning but enough sun that the chickens came out. For the second time I had that very strange experience when a bald eagle came down on the chickens and wasn't the least scared as I ran and screamed and made gestures at him. Luckily all the chickens had the good sense to shelter themselves. I think for several minutes he was circling around, with me yelling at the top of my lungs telling him to go home and leave my chickens alone. And just half a minute after he finally left, my father's partner and his best friend showed up. We were expecting them for lunch and it was ten o'clock. Right then my partner came out of the shower stark naked to hang his towel outside

. They must really think we are crazy.

Blanche’s mobility was greatly improved today. She is not doing great, as she wasn't before whatever it was happened, but she is walking almost normally, although very cautiously. Since both Gaston and Pied Beau spent thz greatest part of the day out of the chicken yard, we let her stay out most of the time. She stayed mostly in the coop and run, but she did spend a bit of time out and napped in the sun. I think we will leave her in the crate for a few more nights, as she is still tired long before the others and that protects her from all the roosting madness. But hopefully she can go back to a more normal way of life.

Tomorrow we are taking Pied Beau to Gaston's place. I think the three ex-batts will be very relieved ; though last year during their molt Nougat and Cannelle were also hiding most of the time. I still feel sad that he is leaving, but I think my partner would throw me out with all the chickens if I suggested we should keep him.
It's really curious to see how the pairing evolves. Gaston is now trying to get Piou-piou back, but he has more or less given up Alba and Nieva to Pied-Beau. I wonder if he will stay more in the chicken yard with the older hens once Pied-Beau is gone.

Lilly’s foot was maybe a tiny tad better today. Some gunk came out when I took the dressing off so I didn't debride the foot again. I have finished the Panacur deworming and while I was eagerly waiting to see her poop today, it happened only once. There was no tapeworm in that one poop, but one poop is surely not sufficient to know

.

Pied-Beau and Lilly

Lulu’s looking a bit off the last three mornings and I think she is one of the pullets responsible for the poop with red. During the day she seems fine, and I think she is now dominating the three other pullets from the hatch even though she will likely be the last to lay.

Cannelle nibbling at some grass this morning. She doesn't eat any commercial feed anymore, layer, starter mash or grains. I’ve been giving Nougat and her something to share with Blanche, either scrambled egg or sardines, and she eats that heartily.

Blanche and Nougat

Pied beau spent a good ten minutes trying to show Nieva how to use the nipple waterer. She kept hitting it, and didn't understand that she had to keep applying pressure for the water to continue dripping. The three roosters favour these type of waterers to bowls or elevated, probably because they don't get their wattles wet.