Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[ManueB]

I've been wondering how the last case of bumblefoot went. All good now?

No, Lilly still needs care. After looking good for a while, the scar from the vet's operation was beginning to get swollen and hard inside again. Since it's an abscess between two fingers but doesn't really present itself like bumblefoot where you can open a scab, we were not sure what to do, so we just kept on giving her warm bath with either epson or betadine. This week the swelling seems to be getting softer so we are hoping it is finally improving.

We had another warm day, though it's gone back to just freezing in the morning. It looks like we won't be having any winter this year ! This morning Merle drove everybody crazy especially the two roosters, looking around everywhere for unlikely places to lay and calling incessantly to express how inadequate they all were. If it goes as usual, she will be doing this for another day or two before finally choosing a place which we must hope won't be too crazy as she will most certainly turn broody in another ten days . It's nice to hear her voice back and see her doing her stuff- things were much less interesting while she was secluded. She is pretty mean with all the younger chickens though, even worse than Piou-piou.

Théo was caught by Gaston again. I didnt see or hear anything but I found a huge bunch of his feathers under the laurel tree. Théo is getting more confident now and he tries to mate the ex-batts, the leghorns and Lilly and Kara.

This evening Blanche went on the roost before I put her in the crate. I didn't have the heart to take her off, she seemed so proud to be up there and she managed to drive both Léa and Alba off. I'm just worried she could fall during the night, but she seems to have regained some mobility.

Supervisors.

Merle.

Lilly.

Merle

Merle and Lulu before Merle threw Lulu off the table .

The three sisters Lulu, Mélisse and Annette putting on some digging action.

 

[MaryJanet]

It is likely that they detest you back.
And in my experience at least some cats, knowing that you detest them, will go out of their way to get close to you.
Though I think that behavior is more common towards people who are afraid of cats rather than merely dislike them. At least one of mine will only approach strangers visiting my home if that stranger is frightened of cats.

This morning Blossom surprised me when she went out to supervise the scaffolding guys. One of them said, "oh no, I don't like cats" so she brushed herself on his ankles for good measure

 

[MaryJanet]

This week the swelling seems to be getting softer so we are hoping it is finally improving.

Really hoping you can get this one across the finish line. It's been quite a saga. One positive is that you must be an expert at treating bumblefoot by now.

 

[RoyalChick]

This morning Blossom surprised me when she went out to supervise the scaffolding guys. One of them said, "oh no, I don't like cats" so she brushed herself on his ankles for good measure

 

[ManueB]

Really hoping you can get this one across the finish line. It's been quite a saga. One positive is that you must be an expert at treating bumblefoot by now.

Well. I keep wondering if we're doing something wrong, since the chickens seem to take ages to recover from what wasn't such severe bumblefoot in the beginning, compared to some of the posts I've seen on BYC. My partner says the vet warned him bumblefoot could be very complicated to heal. We've got a good method working together now which is not invasive at all for the chicken, but if either of us has to do it alone, we're still struggling .

Today was grey, not cold but quite bleak, 2 in the morning, 9 at noon.
Blanche is doing better ! She ate some layer feed and grains, dustbathed for real and not just pretending, and spent a good amount of time eating grass ! She's far from recovered , but it looks like "her hole" will still have to wait. She certainly is a tough cookie ! Now she's feeling more herself she is acting horrible to the other chickens again. "A good mean peck is never lost" says my partner!

On the other hand Cannelle is now much worse. She barely ate anything today, she said alone under the laurel tree for almost all the afternoon, and her comb a turned a greyish purple. Toward four after she refused to eat all the stuff I tried to coax her with, I put her out in the garden, where she never goes. First she was rather frightened but then she found Gaston and his team and she started doing like the others, digging around for bugs, and nibbling a bit at some grass.

My phone cell signal is really low tonight. It's taking me almost a minute to load one picture. I'll try again tomorrow morning to post today's pictures.

Through our bedroom's window toward 8.30.

Piou-piou wandered on her own early morning. It's a mystery that she acts as if she was completely unaware of all the possible dangers.

Théo spent all morning trying to find a laying nest for Merle. Needless to say, none of his propositions were accepted.

 

[ManueB]

Yesterday's pictures. Uploading is still awfully slow, so I'm not sure I'll be able to post pictures tonight. It seems to be an issue with my phone as it works fine on my partner's phone.

Cannelle when she is fine.

Blanche dustbathed.

Gaston sometimes seems to tolerate Théo watching over the ex-batts.

Two unwell chickens.

Kara has some Capone vibes on this picture.

Tomorrow I'm making a baby !

 

[BDutch]

Glad to here there are no problems today.
Here people say : “No news is good news.” for that reason.

 

[Molpet]

Glad to here there are no problems today.
Here people say : “No news is good news.” for that reason.

We say that too

 

[ManueB]

I think every country does- we say it to.
I've been trying to post but my phone isn't letting me .

A chicken day of mixed emotions. Good thing there was such a beautiful sunshine and weather- it has a huge impact on my mood.

First, Merle laid an egg. And after checking for the past days the most inconvenient places, she actually laid it in the coop. She's one of the chickens I'm worried about where they lay as I know she'll go broody sooner than later, so I want to be able to catch her. Not like the first time when she was sitting under a wood stack and I had to catch her with a stick.

Then Chipie had two other "seizures" for lack of a better word. One in the morning, and one just before roosting. I had a better chance to see exactly what she does. Her head tilt backwards like she was looking at something very high in the sky, except it goes too far to be natural. Then she seems to loose control of her legs and she spreads her wing to catch herself from falling back. The first time I caught her on spot ; the second time she escaped and her head went backward again several times, she tried to move away, but her legs kept giving way under her. Then, it's like she looses consciousness for a moment. She just lays on my knees (which is totally impossible in her normal state) trembling with her eyes closed, for about a minute. And then she sort of wakes up, but it takes her another minute to make a sound, and then get moving. When she does, it almost looks like she is normal again. Even if I had seen it before, it was so impressive that both times I wasn't sure she wasn't dying. I'm really not sure what to do apart from adding vitamins to the water daily. When my partner comes home tonight I'll use his phone to search on the internet if I can identify any likely cause.

Blanche and Cannelle were both not great today. In the afternoon I thought it could do them some good to go in the garden with Gaston's team, but it wasn't a totally great idea. They really perked up and seemed to enjoy themselves ; but when I took them back in their yard after 45 mn they seemed utterly exhausted and I think maybe they overdid it. Also, Théo was very unhappy to see that not only Piou-piou and Merle were out with Gaston but also Blanche and Cannelle so he actually jumped the netting to go hang around them in the garden and of course he got wildly chased by Gaston.

And finally tonight because I was a bit afraid for Chipie, who had just recovered from her weird issue, I stayed to watch them roost, which I don't usually, and it was total chaos. Blanche kept attacking any hen that tried to sleep on her side, even if she was two meters away. Théo didn't want to stay next to Piou-piou but he wanted to join Merle in the very back of the coop. So he flew on the main roost just when Gaston was climbing up,and then he panicked and flew to Merle's roost but landed on her and they both fell down in a huge cloud of dust. Then, because Théo wasn't in between Piou-piou and Chipie, Piou-piou attacked Chipie. Chipie then also flew to the main roost, but she wanted to go back to her roost as she always sleep in the exact same place. In the meantime, Merle and Théo had flown back on their roost but Théo was coming very close to Merle and she was really unhappy about it, and he started pecking her and she was stuck against the wall and couldn't get away. In the end Théo ended up going back next to Piou-piou and things calmed down.
I suppose it's like that every evening, which is why I don't watch the last 20 minutes when they roost anymore. I would be too tempted to intervene which I don't think is a good thing.

Théo couldn't stand to let all the hens he hopes to keep as his, hang out with Gaston outside the chicken yard.

 

[Perris]

I hope Chippie's issue is only temporary. Must be quite difficult to watch though