Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[MaryJanet]

I missed a lot while on my break from screens.

The fox attack! It's amazing neither chicken lost their life. I'm glad Piou-piou is resting so much and doing better.

You're almost at the end of the bumblefoot problems, almost there. I know there's still more foot nursing (chicken podiatry?) to do, but the end is in sight.

I loved reading about your aunty. What a gem of a human. It seems there's something to be said for a childhood that isn't too indulgent.

The new run looks great! I would have chosen concrete too. It seems to me there's not much difference between forgetting one door and forgetting two. If I were closing a door, I think I would instinctively check the other one.

Sorry your Christmas was stressful. I made a decision several years ago to laugh through Christmas no matter what and while it seems like a neurotic choice, it really does improve the festive season for me. I love Christmas now!

 

[ManueB]

I missed a lot while on my break from screens.

The fox attack! It's amazing neither chicken lost their life. I'm glad Piou-piou is resting so much and doing better.

You're almost at the end of the bumblefoot problems, almost there. I know there's still more foot nursing (chicken podiatry?) to do, but the end is in sight.

I loved reading about your aunty. What a gem of a human. It seems there's something to be said for a childhood that isn't too indulgent.

The new run looks great! I would have chosen concrete too. It seems to me there's not much difference between forgetting one door and forgetting two. If I were closing a door, I think I would instinctively check the other one.

Sorry your Christmas was stressful. I made a decision several years ago to laugh through Christmas no matter what and while it seems like a neurotic choice, it really does improve the festive season for me. I love Christmas now!

You caught up ! Thank you for the kind comments, and I will try to think of your perspective on Christmas next year !
I'm also very glad and still amazed that Théo and Piou-piou weren't more harmed ! Maybe I should think of it as a tiny christmas miracle !

Yesterday it was -5 in the morning and the sun didn't come out until 11. It felt cold, although that is the normal temperature for us at this time of year, but we have been having such a mild weather. I went for a short run and was surprised to find a lot more snow than I expected!

Then the weather turned nicer. Today it was very warm, but we had wind in the afternoon. The chickens still seem to be enjoying the weather ! Lots of dust bathing and hanging around. As expected, Léa laid again yesterday for the first time since November, in the woodshed, escorted by Théo ! But obviously she wasn't too happy with him because today she sneaked when he wasn't looking and laid as fast as she could.
Also for the first time in a long while, Gaston managed to catch Théo who hadn't seen him coming. I saw feathers flying everywhere, heard Théo screaming and running, and saw Gaston with a bunch of feathers in his beak. No harm done luckily!

My partner has been running around a lot so the run isn't done yet but we've made some progress and we hope to finish by tomorrow. We still need to pour the concrete over the mesh and fix the gutter. Still, the chickens were in the new enlarged unfinished run this evening before roosting, and they were overexcited digging at the new spot which was previously covered by the old mesh and pallets.

This morning my partner went to pick lumber for our first indoor project : we are planning to make new stairs to go upstair in the bedroom and change where the stairs will be, which should then allow us to open a bigger window and get some light in our very dark kitchen living room. While it's not a big project in terms of cost it will actually make a huge change to the house and we need to break bits of secondary walls, so it still feels a bit scary in a house that doesn't belong to us!


Good morning!

Cannelle and Piou-piou

Théo after Gaston's surprise attack

Spending some time with Blanche

Lulu is now called Lulu canard because she definitely honks like a duck, but much, much louder.

Léa and Piou-piou

Patch of bare skin plucked off, only a tiny scab left.

Mélisse

A Chipie serie. Teaching Laure who rules the world.

Supervising.

So fun.

 

[MaryJanet]

Your partner is a very handy guy! Stairs would be too tricky for everyone I know, except maybe the builder.

 

[BDutch]

we are planning to make new stairs to go upstair in the bedroom and change where the stairs will be, which should then allow us to open a bigger window and get some light in our very dark kitchen living room. While it's not a big project in terms of cost it will act…

Good luck with this project too! Do post some before, while and after pics (if it isn’t too private) . I love to see renovation projects.

Lulu is now called Lulu canard because she definitely honks like a duck,

must be weird to hear a duck, when you see a chicken.

Good to see Piou-piou’s wound healed nicely.

 

[ManueB]

Your partner is a very handy guy! Stairs would be too tricky for everyone I know, except maybe the builder.

Oh, but maybe you are thinking of stairs like these :

Or maybe these :

Or even these ?

But, we will simply be doing this.

In between a ladder and a stair, just adding a hand rail. The reason we have to do it ourselves is that the house is so small a standard stair, with normalised stair ratio, wont fit in.
If it turns out to exceed my partner 's skill, both his uncle and my cousin are retired carpenters and they will gladly help.

Speaking of which, I have a translation question, for those who will bear with me. In France we have three different names for different trades working with wood. A "charpentier" specialises in conceiving and making lumber frames to support house's rooves. A "menuisier" works mostly with massive wood making stairs and indoor arrangements like kitchens, shelves, and heavy furniture. An "ébéniste", which was my ex partner's job, makes finer furniture often working with veneer wood when precious, and is more on the creative side.
Are there different names in english also, or does the word carpenter include all these jobs ?

Good luck with this project too! Do post some before, while and after pics (if it isn’t too private) . I love to see renovation projects.

I probably won't feel up to posting inside photos on the web, it does feel a bit personal ! And we will only be doing it in a few months. The wood needs to cure and the weather to be nice enough so we can move everything outside.
**************

The run is finished (mostly, a lot of details still need to be done) in time for tomorrow 's heavy rain but it was longer than anticipated, as always. The sand and gravel are stored by the road, so a few hundred meters away, and we have to bring it in the wheel barrow. My partner didn't want to get the electric mixer out so he mixed everything by hand which makes it a lot more physical, if less noisy. Anyway, we finished by 4.30. The chickens seem to quite enjoy the whole process and the result, but not all of them have yet totally grasped that the entrance is no longer in the same place. I guess it will take a few days before it becomes instinctive... like it would probably for us if we changed the entrance to our home.

Blanche has been spending a lot of time in nests, and both roosters are mating her. I don't know what to make of it. Maybe her hormones indicate laying but the system doesn't work anymore? I hope she won't start laying again in the fragile state she is in. This morning she was so long in the nest next to the roost that Alba climbed over and sat on her litteraly, with her feet standing on Blanche's head ! When I saw this, I took Blanche out and she seemed very relieved.

Annette

Mélisse

Piou-piou dustbathing on her own

Laure has such a strange personality. She is both extremely stressed and frightened, and curious of everything.

Inspecteur Gaston.

Kara is being bullied by tiny Chipie these last days .

Last minutes before roosting - please don't dig the wet concrete !

 

[MaryJanet]

Are there different names in english also, or does the word carpenter include all these jobs ?

In Australia, carpenters are colloquially called Chippies and they build structural frames for buildings out of timber. People who are artisans making fine furnishings with precise joins and veneers from fancy wood are called cabinet makers (making less fancy stuff, maybe a menuisier) or furniture makers (making expensive heirloom pieces), but the terms cabinet maker and furniture maker are interchangeable I think?

 

[MaryJanet]

we will simply be doing this

Yep, that's what I had in mind! (But I appreciated your Escher joke!) I don't know anyone who can do that sort of carpentry. That said, most houses in Australia don't have stairs so there would be very few people with the skill.

 

[Perris]

In Australia, carpenters are colloquially called Chippies and they build structural frames for buildings out of timber. People who are artisans making fine furnishings with precise joins and veneers from fancy wood are called cabinet makers (making less fancy stuff, maybe a menuisier) or furniture makers (making expensive heirloom pieces), but the terms cabinet maker and furniture maker are interchangeable I think?

There's also joiner, a higher standard qualification in the trade for woodworkers who have mastered all the various joining techniques.

 

[Molpet]

Speaking of which, I have a translation question, for those who will bear with me. In France we have three different names for different trades working with wood. A "charpentier" specialises in conceiving and making lumber frames to support house's rooves. A "menuisier" works mostly with massive wood making stairs and indoor arrangements like kitchens, shelves, and heavy furniture. An "ébéniste", which was my ex partner's job, makes finer furniture often working with veneer wood when precious, and is more on the creative side.
Are there different names in english also, or does the word carpenter include all these jobs ?

Framing carpenter makes the frames.
Finishing carpenter put in the inside trim, baseboard.
Cabinet and furniture makers are rare nowadays.
Start as an apprentice and More training to become a master carpenter

 

[BDutch]

Yep, that's what I had in mind! (But I appreciated your Escher joke!)

Me too!

I don't know anyone who can do that sort of carpentry. That said, most houses in Australia don't have stairs so there would be very few people with the skill.

To replace a very steep stair/ladder to the attic, we bought a complete stair with a turn in 2 pieces. It was easy to assemble and not expensive at all.
Perhaps a search on the internet can save you a lot of time.