Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[BDutch]

Those mountains are so f….ing beautifull
You don’t need chickens lighten it up.

 

[ManueB]

It's amazing what a difference 1 bird can make to flock dynamics. It's hard to say goodbye to a bird you've got to know, but it can improve greatly the lives of many, even including that 1 sometimes.

In this case, it has certainly made a big difference for my three ex-batts and that has made me feel a lot better. Otherwise, I would have had a bitter feeling that we were giving him up for our own confort. It's one of those things that make me say I’m too weepy to have chickens because we knew from the start we wouldn't keep the males.

Gorgeous photos, as usual. Laure really looks ready to start laying

Well today she didn't even look at the nest .

Those mountains are so f….ing beautifull
You don’t need chickens lighten it up. View attachment 3679309

When the sun shines, it's a beautiful landscape. It can be rather stark when it's grey, even more in winter when the trees have no leaves. Today it was grey and then raining, this is taken from the road about 500m above, the roof is that of the house just above us that is not inhabited.

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It only began to rain at ten so I had time to go visit Pied-Beau . I got there at 7.45 and I could hear Pied-Beau crowing like crazy. Gaston (the farmer) came with me to feed the chickens. I was immediately relieved to see that Pied-Beau was already acting like the king of the flock among a bunch of flirty hens. All the other roosters are half his size : I didn't even see the bantam, the white one stayed cautiously one or two meters away while Pied-Beau tidbitted the hens for the food, and the araucana didn't even come close. He has a few scabs on his crest and feathers pulled that shows there was probably some squabble, but he has clearly taken over. He was so busy with the hens he didn't even touch the treats I brought him . I’m actually more concerned for the araucana rooster that seemed to afraid to try to eat or even access the feeders away from Pied-Beau! So that's one worry less. Now he has to survive Gaston’s treatment of his flock, that is not really protected from predators, and not always taken care off if they fall sick. But at least he is off to a good start.

The ex-batts have upped a level on molting. They leave stacks of feathers everywhere and they are beginning to look very undressed. While none of the three are doing good, they are definitely much better since Pied-Beau 's absence, and especially eating more, as this was an issue. I was a bit late at roost time to put Blanche in her crate and she had already climbed up the roost, so I left her there. We will check on her before going to sleep ourselves.

It began to rain at ten and it didn't stop, though it wasn't too strong. All the chickens came out a bit ; Annette and Mélisse spent all afternoon out. Piou-piou was digging around like crazy and at one point Théo went to shelter under our lunch table, looking at her like he was tired of her whims . I had the impression she wasn't limping as much but I didn't spend much time under the rain so I will look better tomorrow.

Laure and Annette

Annette and Lilly. It's always hard to say how Lilly is doing. At times she looks asleep, and at other moments she goes around scratching like crazy. She doesn't seem to have too much difficulty reintegrating the flock ; she was the last in the pecking order , only above the pullets hatched from Léa, and she seems fine with that.

Cannelle and Nougat

Nieva still doing all she can to slow her Bumblefoot healing. It's making good progress, though not over.

 

[Perris]

Good to read that Pied-Beau has settled into his new flock so well, and that it's had the desired outcome at Chez Manue ; win-win

 

[BDutch]

Today it was grey and then raining, this is taken from the road about 500m above, the roof is that of the house just above us that is not inhabited.

Even gorgeous up there without sun.
Is the house for sale? Or just empty for quite some time and the owners don’t care.

Great to hear Pied beau is having the time of his live and the ladies in your flock are more at ease now.

Just an idea: could it help if you wrap a thin rubber mat or ribbed paper around the roost for the bumble foot? I have no idea if that helps, it just seems more comfy in my mind.

I never had chickens with bumble foot. Maybe because there is so little weight on them it doesn’t occur easily with smaller bantams.

 

[ManueB]

Even gorgeous up there without sun.
Is the house for sale? Or just empty for quite some time and the owners don’t care.

The house is under what we call indivision. I talked about this I think on another thread, it's a plague here, it means no shares have been defined and the house belongs equally to all the descendants. In this house’s case, it goes back to the great grand parents, so there are more than a hundred live owners. One of them comes regularly every two weeks, has a garden and rabbits. He has become a sort of friend. But he won't invest huge money in repairing the house because it belongs to any of the other owners as much as to him. To sell it, you would need to have the agreement of all the owners. This is why no houses are for sale here and many fall into ruin.

Just an idea: could it help if you wrap a thin rubber mat or ribbed paper around the roost for the bumble foot? I have no idea if that helps, it just seems more comfy in my mind.

Yes it might. I had something like this in the previous setting. I did not do it again because of mites, but I could have something in winter and take it off when it gets warm.

I never had chickens with bumble foot. Maybe because there is so little weight on them it doesn’t occur easily with smaller bantams.

I never had either, until so many got it. It's likely due to when we changed the roosts and access, but apart from adding material to make the roosts softer, we have since modified everything that we thought could be a problem.
The leghorns are very light hens for standards and they had it the worse, so weight isn't the only issue.
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The morning had all kinds of weather at once - rain, sun and wind. In the afternoon it cleared up but there was a lot of wind. The chickens wanted to be outside after having a whole day of rain, but they don't like the wind, and they stayed close by. There was also an uncanny number of raptors flying by - eagles, vultures, sparrow and goshawks.

Gaston went in the garden with the younger pullets and at one point he started chasing Théo off. Théo tried to run back inside the chicken yard through the netting and stuck his head. Poor little thing was completely frozen with all his pikes feathers on his neck showing. I managed to unstuck him and carried him in the woodshed where he loudly expressed his vexation.

It was a long time since Piou-piou did something really spunky and it made me laugh a bit. At roost time she didn't wait for Théo to sneak by as they usually do ; she went right in the middle of the group of hens and began eating. Just a minute after she was on full fighting mode with Nieva ! Gaston was wonderful, he put himself physically between the two and hovered gently over Piou-piou to stop her. It looked like he was trying to calm her down, it was really sweet. But the little fury then proceeded to jump on Kara . Kara is the biggest and heaviest hen, and Piou-piou is the second smallest next to Chipie ! Too bad I didn't have the phone with me to take pictures. I picked her up and put her on the roost to stop it,because she is still unfeathered and I don't want her getting harmed. She stayed on the roost but she kept bullying any chickens that tried to fly on it, until Théo finally managed to join her. If she plans on reintegrating the big flock, it's going to be interesting for sure !

Tonight I gave Lilly the praziquantel dewormer. I was on my own to tend to her feet and for once she was very opposed to it. She has a lot of strength in her wings, which is probably why she manages to fly well in spite of her size and weight. She took me by surprise and flew off the bath on top of a chair's back. There was water all over the place .

And last new of the day is that Laure finally laid an egg ! It's a small beige egg the size of Piou-piou. Now Gaston is very sweet with her !


There was a touch of white on the higher mountains this morning.

A lot going on in the coop at 7.am !

That kind of day.

Blanche not doing too good. She was better during the day.

Didn't catch them but about twenty vultures flew by. It's probably what the hunters killed that draws them.

Nougat and Blanche napping inside.

Piou-piou and Théo doing the same in the woodshed.

Kara

Alba.

Lulu ! She has seemed a bit under this last week. Not seriously but she isn't as active as the other pullets.

Cannelle will soon have no tail left.

Blanche got some of her mojo back. She is molting as well.

Two x two.

Piou-piou.

Nougat has entered a hard molt phase. Looking it up she is just a few days late from last year, and it seems it will be just as bad.

Gaston likes the younger hens better. Maybe it's hormonal as they are starting to lay.

Lilly.

Gaston escorting Lulu, but still doesn't mate her.

Laure.

 

[BDutch]

Great explanations and stories once again. And pictures of course. A pitty the sublime moment of the day was not included.

In the Netherlands there are a few rules on what to do with a heritage. Normally someone or just a few people are the executor of the heritage.

Older people who are alone and have no offspring often ask someone to take on this 'job' after their death. A notary draws up a document for this, often accompanied by a will.

But if there is no executor or a will, there is a family member or a notary who takes on the role of executor on him/her. If the people are reasonable they sort it out and give the executor (family or friend) a reasonable payment for his work.

If the family has a dispute on the executive, a notary must be called in to be the executive and a large sum from the inheritance goes to the notary for all the work he has to do.

If those who inherit do not agree it goes to court, a judge normally rules in favor of the majority of the heirs if that is a realistic outcome.
I never heard a house/property doesn’t get sold to a family member or to an outsider one way or another within a several years. Sometimes its gets auctioned because the inheritance is rejected.

 

[Perris]

The house is under what we call indivision. I talked about this I think on another thread, it's a plague here, it means no shares have been defined and the house belongs equally to all the descendants.

Be careful what you wish for.

Our historic alternative to your 'plague' is primogeniture, which creates a different set of problems: eldest male gets everything, everyone else gets nothing. I'm not sure where we are in terms of dragging this antique law into the present century. The constitutionally important aspect of it here (William and Kate's succession issue) was changed to be gender-neutral after the birth of their first, a son, conveniently, but I think it'll still be everything goes to the eldest.

And the ancient Spartans had another way of doing it (of course) which resulted in landed property divisions - to daughters as well as sons, btw - on every marriage as well as every death, resulting in increasingly fragmented holdings, and ultimately many people falling below the threshold for citizenship status. As a result their famous army was actually very small, and the suicide squad sent to Thermopylae consisted entirely of men who had already sired an heir.

 

[BDutch]

Our historic alternative to your 'plague' is primogeniture, which creates a different set of problems: eldest male gets everything, everyone else gets nothing.

This is so very unfair. And replacing eldest male with eldest is certainly better imho, but it doesn't make it a whole lot better.

I just don’t understand that the British government never changed this primogeniture law to something less harsh and more fair. It must have divided many families and it makes it difficult for all siblings to love each other. I suppose that crime rates must be higher than average in wealthy families.

But you are right that dividing makes it often impossible to keep estates. In the Netherlands the estates have been divided or are in somekind of trust now.

I don’t know what is best system of inheritances. But the laws on this subject both in France and England are not ideal.

I think in NL it’s slightly better, more honest, but not good to preserve estates at all.
Only for the royal family they made exceptions to preserve estates. Our royals don’t pay taxes and get a lot money for free, which is unfair too.

Today my Bantams event went to the naturally kept green strip behind our garden. After an hour I did see the horrible cat again. I was relieved the chickens where all inside again by that time.

 

[ManueB]

Indivision for houses isn't common nowadays and it is definitely not recommended. In these rural places it was due to the fact that people didn't want to divide the land and wanted to make sure to keep it in the family, as you point out. It was only formalised by the Napoleon code, so relatively recently. But it coexisted in various manners since the romans with primogeniture and formalised division throughout the centuries, depending on periods and regions, and local issues, before primogeniture was abolished during the revolution. Indivision in the south of France was actually very rare before the Napoleon code.
I am twice co-owner under that regimen, of a family mountain cabin with my eight cousins, as well as a flat with my ex-husband that I bought as we were separated but not legally divorced. It has never been an issue. It could be for my cousin's descendants, then they will have to do the share. Laws are not as important when people get along.
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It was a beautiful day today and no wind, so the chickens really enjoyed the sun. Gaston frolicked in the garden with his gang of pullets and Piou-piou with poor molting Théo looking miserable from afar, while the ex-batts were loosing feathers all over the chicken yard. It's interesting to see that now Laure has started to lay and Gaston is smitten with her her confidence has changed. She now pecks Lulu and Mélisse and follows Gaston everywhere which makes Léa very jealous!

We had a busy day so I wasn't able to track Lilly’s poop to see if the dewormer worked. She had her last dose of antibiotics, and I think she looks a bit tired. Now I hope she can have a break from all these medicines and chemicals and that she gets some relief from the tapeworms. I am also slightly worried for Lulu, who also has them and has seemed tired for about ten days now. Neither hens seem sick, but they look to be resting often and to be less active than the other young chickens.

Angelin, Gaston's son, came to visit us and pick our last quinces. He is smitten with Pied Beau ! He took a bunch of pics, and he says Pied Beau is now chasing the two other roosters in wild races. I told him I was a bit worried for the Auracana, he said he is actually getting better, he was terrified when he arrived three months ago and he had to feed him separately because the bantam roosters would beat him off the food.
He also said that Pied-Beau 's possible dad, the bigger rooster that lived across the road and flirted with the hens I was given the egg's to hatch, was culled by the owner . Apparently he was human aggressive ; I have trouble to believe it because I crossed that rooster once on a very narrow path when he was escorting two of his hens, and he had let me pass.
People like roosters here and most have at least one, but they are also very quick to cull.

Morning scenes

Merle was a bit better today. It's always difficult for her when she stops being broody.

Lulu and Mélisse

Lilly.

Léa

Gaston had a bath but the hens thought it was too damp.

Karz.

Lilly.

Mélisse

Annette checking out the nest in the woodshed

Mélisse trying out piou-piou's dustbath.from when she was created. I think about all the pullets have bathed in it but Piou-piou hated it.

 

[ManueB]

Today was very windy. I lacked sleep so bad I felt grumpy and tired and stayed inside most of the morning. My partner kept all the chickens in the netted yard because of the wind most of the day, which they were not happy about. It will be like this all week unfortunately. The three ex-batt's are now doing terrible due to molting. Nougat looks so awful with her naked butt... I hope she starts growing feathers quick. I added scrambled eggs to the starter mash and I think I will do that every day while she is in that state.

I’m really surprised that my partner has decided out of the blue to modify the run again. I keep grumbling that it gets wet in front of the coop because the polycarbonate just covers the entrance and as soon as there is a bit of wind that makes the rain go sideways it gets totally damp and muddy. He has decided to add four more sheets and enlarge the run a bit- it will add two meters square. And we will also do a proper door because the one we did in mesh is falling apart. I’m flabbergasted, because he hated doing the run's roof last autumn .

Laure laid her second egg today and it was even tinier than the first. Such a big hen with a bright red comb that I always expected to be the first to lay . Only Lulu isn't laying now, and I was very surprised to see Gaston chasing her away from the food. It is the first time ever I see him doing that, pecking a hen off with no apparent reason. It has me wondering if she isn't actually sick, or has an issue, since I've been finding her a bit under active ? Could it be due to the fact that she is the only one of the pullets not laying ?

Almost no pictures today for once !

Lilly and Gaston.
I finally saw Lilly’s poops today with no tapeworm segments . I tried to give her a bit of yogurt (suggestion made to help her gut bacteria) and she totally hated it! She is such a glutton it was very unexpected.

The entrance of the woodshed is covered and stays very dry so they like to dustbathe there.

I took Blanche in the coop and closed the lower door to give her a mix of mackerel and bread but Mélisse was decided to have her share .