Théo and the chickens des Sauches

Pics
Date sort Score sort
ManueB said:
Thanks for pointing it out. I downloaded the file and I'll transfer it on my pc tonight to see what it looks like !

People here have roosters in their flock. The few who don't can't have them for various reasons.
I think our best chance is changing our set up a bit so that Théo can come in and out of the coop and run without being seen by Gaston.
But anyway even without the roosters it's not easy to find a trustworthy friend willing to stay here for several days without leaving the house, to handle automatic and manual watering of the garden, and to watch over the chickens.
***************

It was cold and beautiful today, -4/24 this morning and it got to 7/44 during the day but still felt cool after the warm days we had.
There is something wrong with Chipie. Twice today she had something like convulsions for lack of a better word. Toward noon she was running jerking her head completely backwards. Tonight, running again it looked like her legs were paralysed and she was frantically trying to move them which meant she was sort of rolling on the ground. Both times she hid under the laurel tree after and both times I wondered if she was going to die. But she got up each time after a while looking exhausted. Then, she was aggressive with Laure.
It looks like she had some kind of fit.
I suppose one possibility is that it could be nutritional deficiency. She would be very hard to supplement as she is impossible to catch. I'll be putting vitamin in the flock's water for a few days.
But, since I have learned that she is older than we thought, and since she is so stressed by humans, I don't feel like enforcing treatment on her especially without really knowing what is going on.

Some better news is that I weighed Merle today and I think she hasn't lost any weight. It's a bit uncertain because the last time I weighed her was a year ago, but she weighs more or less the same, 1100 grams (2.4 Ibs ? I think ?). I really don't get it because she is now molting from the head, where she has already molted in autumn.

Don't ask me how they managed it but they laid together and didn't break an egg.
View attachment 3729836View attachment 3729837View attachment 3729838View attachment 3729848View attachment 3729849View attachment 3729850View attachment 3729851View attachment 3729852View attachment 3729853View attachment 3729856View attachment 3729857View attachment 3729871View attachment 3729872View attachment 3729873
Chipie was looking ok in the afternoon. She is such a pretty crazy little hen.
View attachment 3729874

Click to expand...
Hoping for the best for little Chipie.
:love

The issue of caring for animals so you can go away is very tricky.
Because I got my animals (cats and chickens) before I retired, I had to have a system because my job had me on the road a lot (don't miss that!).
But even though I have a good set-up with a range of people willing to come and feed the cats, check on chickens etc., and I have cameras, I still get very worried when I am away.
There are things I cannot ask someone to do who isn't familiar with chickens, and of course someone not familiar with them won't notice subtle changes.
It is on my mind as for various reasons I will have to be away from home for 6 weeks this summer. Honestly I am a bit in denial about the whole thing!
 
MaryJanet said:
Is there a way to leverage the difference in the roosters' sizes? What if Gaston had a small doorway to a safe space? Would that work?
Click to expand...
The tiny one is Théo🙂. It's a good idea, but I don't think it would work, because his logic when he is in a panic because of Gaston is to flee. In fact I'm more scared he will hurt himself trying to get out of the run or getting stuck in the netting, than of Gaston really hurting him.
One thing I could try would be making him a higher tiny roost that Gaston couldn't reach, because he does tend to go up if he can. But Gaston is a very good jumper though he doesn't fly, and I'm not sure he wouldn't be able to reach Théo if he really tried.
RoyalChick said:
Hoping for the best for little Chipie.
:love

The issue of caring for animals so you can go away is very tricky.
Because I got my animals (cats and chickens) before I retired, I had to have a system because my job had me on the road a lot (don't miss that!).
But even though I have a good set-up with a range of people willing to come and feed the cats, check on chickens etc., and I have cameras, I still get very worried when I am away.
There are things I cannot ask someone to do who isn't familiar with chickens, and of course someone not familiar with them won't notice subtle changes.
It is on my mind as for various reasons I will have to be away from home for 6 weeks this summer. Honestly I am a bit in denial about the whole thing!
Click to expand...
Six weeks 😱 ! If you have to, then I suppose the only thing to do is try not to worry too much about it, and think ahead about what to do if some issues come up. Do you already know how you will organise things during your absence ?
It's a bit different than going on a few days holiday, both because of the length, but also because you can often cancel or postpone or shorten a holiday if something comes up.
Our first experience was rather horrible ; we had asked a friend and her mum to stay as housekeepers for five days. They didn't give us any news and when we came back said everything went great but in fact one of the hen, Vanille, fell terribly ill while we were away, and they hadn't even noticed.
It went better the next times, with several different people, so I suppose it was just bad luck.
***********
-7 /19 this morning but it didn't feel so bad as the air is very dry and there was no wind. I was surprised that the chickens all came out of the coop almost as soon as I opened it at 7.30, even Chipie and the three ex-batts. I think the three ex-batt's molt actually help them cope with the cold as they now have a thick fluffy warm down.

I was rather anxious to see how Chipie would be doing, but she seemed fine. However, I didn't see the chickens for a good part of the day because I went running this morning and after lunch I felt tired and thought I would take a short nap and slept for two hours 😮. I stayed with the chickens after that, and Chipie was acting quite normally. Toward four she scared me : I saw her lying on the floor with her head backwards covered in blood. It turned out she must have finally got an answer trying to pick fights with everyone, it was just a peck on her comb that was bleeding an awful lot. I brought her inside the house to clean her and she went into shock. She was lying on my knees with her wings flapped out not reacting at all and trembling; but I was pretty sure it was just fear, and indeed when I took her back to the run, she picked herself up, told me in no uncertain terms that never should I treat her majesty in such a manner again, ate and drank a bit and went to roost moving quite normally. My best guess is that Kara got sick of being bullied by such a tiny thing and turned back on her.
So, while I'm not sure she didn't have any issue while I wasn't there, she seems well on the whole and I 'm very relieved!

I also took Merle inside to look at her again. She instantly fell asleep on my lap which isn't like her at all. She has a lot of pin feathers and dander on her head, I can't quite nail it but it looks a bit strange, like they don't have blood as pin feathers usually do, and also her comb is flaky. I gave her a scrambled egg and she gobbled it down.

Both Annette and Nougat laid soft shell eggs today, Annette like last time during the night. It's the third time it happens to Annette so I'm beginning to worry a bit. My guess is she doesn't eat enough since she spends the whole day in the garden, and since the chickens feed is inside their yard she doesn't eat it because she stays outside. Usually I just also leave a bowl of dry grains for Théo in the woodshed, but the pullets know it's there and they often go to eat it rather than go back in the chicken yard to eat ; I am going to also put layer feed in the woodshed so Annette can have some. Unfortunately this means Théo will likely also eat the layer feed which he seems to like 😐 . He sure doesn't make the best choices for himself !

Cold Cannelle.
IMG_20240121_075302.jpg

Cold Merle.
IMG_20240121_075311.jpg

Cold run.
IMG_20240121_103044.jpg
IMG_20240121_104240.jpg

It got up to 7/44 during the day.
IMG_20240121_152309.jpg

Looking rather good ! My partner calls her the queen because she aims to rule.
IMG_20240121_152512.jpg
IMG_20240121_154358.jpg
IMG_20240121_154704.jpg
IMG_20240121_154746.jpg
IMG_20240121_154812.jpg
IMG_20240121_155224.jpg
IMG_20240121_155311.jpg

Merle looks so tired and sad.
IMG_20240121_160747.jpg

I didn't manage to take a good shot to show how strange her head looks.
IMG_20240121_160753.jpg
IMG_20240121_160951.jpg
 
ManueB said:
and think ahead about what to do if some issues come up. Do you already know how you will organise things during your absence ?
Click to expand...
I am not sure really. Still thinking about it.
If someone stays at the house, the cats will freak out as they are very wary of people. Someone coming daily to feed the cats and visit the chickens is my normal approach. They will have to fill up food and water - which they don't normally need to do when I just go for a week. But the lady who normally visits often worries about the food and water and tops it up anyway.
I will obviously deploy my cameras to keep an eye on them.
I am not sure what else to do really.
I don't think there are kennels for chickens - and I am not sure I would do that anyway because of disease risk.
If anyone has any bright ideas I am 'all ears'!
 
RoyalChick said:
I am not sure really. Still thinking about it.
If someone stays at the house, the cats will freak out as they are very wary of people. Someone coming daily to feed the cats and visit the chickens is my normal approach. They will have to fill up food and water - which they don't normally need to do when I just go for a week. But the lady who normally visits often worries about the food and water and tops it up anyway.
I will obviously deploy my cameras to keep an eye on them.
I am not sure what else to do really.
I don't think there are kennels for chickens - and I am not sure I would do that anyway because of disease risk.
If anyone has any bright ideas I am 'all ears'!
Click to expand...
There's someone in Adelaide who specialises in house sitting with pets. Chickens and cranky cats are all in a day's work for her. Is there someone like that nearby?
 
ManueB said:
The tiny one is Théo🙂
Click to expand...
Whoops! Sorry.

I know it but somehow my brain flipped their names in the moment.
ManueB said:
One thing I could try would be making him a higher tiny roost that Gaston couldn't reach, because he does tend to go up if he can. But Gaston is a very good jumper though he doesn't fly, and I'm not sure he wouldn't be able to reach Théo if he really tried.
Click to expand...
Hmmm might be worth a try though.
 

Similar threads

Airyaman
    • Like
Mini Schnauzer's first encounter with free ranging chickens!
Replies
2
Views
288
Airyaman
Airyaman
DILUTEDDECAF
    • Love
Trying to fly
Replies
5
Views
495
KWestVA
K
RoseHawke
    • Love
    • Like
I'm going on an adventure!
3 4 5
Replies
40
Views
2K
RoseHawke
RoseHawke
Callender Girl
    • Haha
    • Like
Roos, gone, hen is "crowing"
Replies
5
Views
619
D1N0
D1N0
W
    • Love
    • Like
Where did this chicken come from
2
Replies
17
Views
923
LozzyR
LozzyR

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom