Théo and the chickens des Sauches

Perris · Dec 12, 2023

MaryJanet said:
Long ago we all agreed to respond to emails within a 24 hour window, so I'm in the habit of clearing email every day

If I'd have done that, I'd have got nothing else done at work! Email became the bane of my life during the last years. Most seemed to be sent just to inform, promote, or show that someone was working on something. The real work of academics, meanwhile, like research, was left undone, as seems finally to have been recognized at those Aussie Unis. Better late than never! I think I've just discovered why I resisted getting a smartphone when I'm not otherwise tech averse! :lol:

MaryJanet · Dec 12, 2023

Perris said:
If I'd have done that, I'd have got nothing else done at work! Email became the bane of my life during the last years. Most seemed to be sent just to inform, promote, or show that someone was working on something. The real work of academics, meanwhile, like research, was left undone, as seems finally to have been recognized at those Aussie Unis. Better late than never! I think I've just discovered why I resisted getting a smartphone when I'm not otherwise tech averse!

I have some colleagues who make themselves available for instant messaging with students! Madness. Imagine responding in moments without taking time for checking details and thinking it through.

It leads to demanding conduct on the students' part and excludes all the students who don't use the IM platform. Imagine being alerted to a message at god knows what hour and meeting resentment if you ignore it until morning. Sheesh.

I go the other way and require official email accounts be used and then I deal with email late afternoon/evening unless I have a class or meetings, in which case it gets left until the next day. I try to keep mornings free for research tasks.

Usually email is not too much of a burden in our department - it doesn't take long to delete the junk, then 2-3 hours to deal with genuine requests.

Perris · Dec 12, 2023

well done you; that looks like a good workable system.

RoyalChick · Dec 12, 2023

Perris said:
If I'd have done that, I'd have got nothing else done at work! Email became the bane of my life during the last years. Most seemed to be sent just to inform, promote, or show that someone was working on something. The real work of academics, meanwhile, like research, was left undone, as seems finally to have been recognized at those Aussie Unis. Better late than never! I think I've just discovered why I resisted getting a smartphone when I'm not otherwise tech averse!

I wasn’t an academic but likewise I felt email could absorb 100% of my time if I let it.
I became quite skilled at spotting what needed attention and quite sanguine about the consequences of missing something - there are few fields where anyone would die as a result of a missed email.
A smart phone is only an issue if you let it rule you. I found the smart phone a great asset that allowed me to do mundane tasks - like scan the emails for anything important - while enjoying sitting outside in nature.
My post retirement issue is that I have lost the routines that work imposes, so I forget to do the daily email scan and they pile up!

RoyalChick · Dec 12, 2023

MaryJanet said:
I have some colleagues who make themselves available for instant messaging with students! Madness. Imagine responding in moments without taking time for checking details and thinking it through.

It leads to demanding conduct on the students' part and excludes all the students who don't use the IM platform. Imagine being alerted to a message at god knows what hour and meeting resentment if you ignore it until morning. Sheesh.

I go the other way and require official email accounts be used and then I deal with email late afternoon/evening unless I have a class or meetings, in which case it gets left until the next day. I try to keep mornings free for research tasks.

Usually email is not too much of a burden in our department - it doesn't take long to delete the junk, then 2-3 hours to deal with genuine requests.

Yes. IM is a big pain. Insane to offer it.
It used to be quite useful for truly time sensitive things but now it seems to be replacing email.

ManueB · Dec 12, 2023

lightm said:
Here is a video of Light coming down stairs. The chickens are used to go up and down the decks outside but inside stairs are more slippery and each step is narrower.

Light has always been afraid of the indoor stairs, but she did a good job here!

Very impressive ! I’m not sure younger kids would manage it so well.
Careful that your husband don't turn her into a house chicken like my partner turned our barn cats into lounge chair cats !
**********
Today was warm but grey, and there was no wind at all which made me happy all of the day

. The chickens seem to be really enjoying this warmer weather break ; it was 7 this morning and up to 16 during the day, and they spent all the time outside.

There was a small hawk that came by hanging around twice and both times all the chickens saw him and his under the laurel tree. Even those who were at the other end of the garden, chose to come by as quickly as possible (which for Piou-piou isn't so fast and quite comical as she doesn't fly at all, so she runs as fast as she can on her twisted tiny legs).

Gaston was in a tolerant mood today and he let Théo stay inside the chicken yard most of the day. Poor Théo is pining for Merle ; but while she didn't sit on her nest today, she kept escaping him making broody screams. So he spent more time with Piou-piou today, but he didn't follow her in the garden.

I was very happy to see something I hadn't seen for days - a group of chickens dustbathing outside with Gaston and obviously enjoying themselves! I guess the wind and warmth must have dried the soil sufficiently to make it appropriate for such a venture.

Roost time was again a bit chaotic. Gaston went to his old place on the ex-batt's side and with him, Kara, Léa and Mélisse. So when the ex-batt's climbed up, Nougat wanted to reach her nest but there were four chickens on the roost in between barring the way. Then, Blanche found herself stuck between Kara and Gaston and both were pecking her. I left them like this to tend Nieva’s foot and when I came back Nougat had somehow succeeded to get in the nest and Kara had moved away.

I’ve blocked all the nests in the wall except this one and of course they all want to lay there rather than in the lower nest boxes. This morning there was a queue. Alba was last.

And someone didn't even have the decency to wait until Nieva was done.

The ex-batts have more or less resumed their pre-molting behaviour and they are joining the other chickens most of the day.

Mélisse and Annette

Annette up close. She still has those big dark eyes.

Nieva had a drink.

Then Nougat came, grabbed her wattle, pulled hard and did not let go

.

Bath time !

Shake it Alba

Shake it again !

Merle also eats the sprouted barley !
It makes me wonder if I should sprout some for the chickens who don't get out of the chicken yard as there is really not much green to forage for them now.

Cannelle is still running away from Gaston's renewed attention. Nougat and her have begun hanging out with him again but they don't want to mate.

Lilly is now our "best" layer, she lays the biggest and most perfect eggs. She could lay a bit less, hopefully it is because she has been laying for six months only.

MaryJanet · Dec 12, 2023

I love those photos of Alba shaking the dust out!

ManueB · Dec 13, 2023

Mostly grey and a bit windy today, but not too much and not too cold, so I think the chickens were happy with the weather. It drizzled a bit in the morning but it didn't last.

The three dark pullets, Lulu, Mélisse and Annette are beginning to wander further than I would like, especially now that there is almost no cover since the weeds are dead and all the trees have lost their leaves.

The vet mailed me back for Lilly 's bumblefoot, turns out she was on holiday and she was just back to work today. She says to try another antibiotic first rather than taking Lilly to the clinic for surgery. I am not enthusiastic about it, but I’m not either for having her undergo global anesthesia which is how they do surgery. But I have the feeling the abscess is growing bigger and harder every day, it's clearly bigger than on the photos we took three days ago for the vet, so we i’m not sure we can just wait and hope it will start to get better with time, as it did for Nieva. And from the way she struggles when I touch it, she is still feeling some pain.

About 15 mn after opening the coop (at 7.25 now, the days are short!) and already at work.