Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[RoyalChick]

This morning at 6.30 I heard chaos coming from the coop, an hour before the time they get up. There was so much noise I went down to check what was going on. Piou-piou and Cannelle were both on the floor in front of the entrance screaming,quarrelling and trying to get out. Merle was on the floor under the roost not moving. Blanche was also on the floor. Gaston was trying to get down using the ladder on which the ex-batts roost to get to Piou-piou, causing everyone to panic. And all this in total darkness. I let Piou-piou and Cannelle out of the coop, Cannelle ran in the run to lay in the pet carrier and Piou-piou ran in the dark up to the barn to lay. So I ran behind her with my flashlight . She was very afraid but she settled down to lay. As soon as it stopped being completely dark I let the other chickens out and Gastounet's team directly joined Piou-piou in the barn.
I can't believe two days ago we spent an hour and a half trying to get them up there to no avail .

Other than that craziness at dawn the day was rather calm. It was colder this morning, -2 / 28, and this clearly makes a difference in the chickens attitude, they stayed huddled up in the coop for Theo's team and under the laurel tree for Gaston's girls. When I saw that the ex-batts had no intention of coming out I locked the run to let Gastounet stay inside the netting with his girls without getting chased by Théo. It got warmer at noon and they came out and had a nice afternoon picking what little grass is left.
Merle didn't go at all in her nest and acted very normally except for screaming and puffing up every now and then. I think she will be over it.

Blanche isn't healing as well as I hoped. Her superficial pecks are completely closed up nicely, but she still seems in pain and I noticed she makes a noise when she breathes. Also she is molting and I think it's induced from the stress she had.

Dawn
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Blanche
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Gastounet was very interested by the lizard Hibou was playing with but he did not dare take it from her.
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His team woke up Grochatila.
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Wait, what about Merle. Under the roost not moving? Is she OK?
Sorry to hear about Blanche - have you felt for any abscesses under the skin? No reason that would impact breathing - but it would be painful and should be treatable.

 

[ManueB]

Wait, what about Merle. Under the roost not moving? Is she OK?

Yes, she's quite well! I think Gastounet must have stepped on her to access the ladder and make her fall off the roost, and once she was on the floor she couldn't get back up in the dark. Having those roosts so high is really a problem when they move during the night.

Sorry to hear about Blanche - have you felt for any abscesses under the skin? No reason that would impact breathing - but it would be painful and should be treatable.

We looked again today. The wound she had on the ear is still quite swollen though it has made a nice scab. She's molting and full of broken feathers and new pin feathers, so it's hard to get a good feel, but I couldn't see or feel anything strange, apart from that white pimple on the ear which has stayed the size it was. It's actually only when she speaks that it makes a strange noise, not when she breathes. I think we should look inside her beak but I will wait until she is a bit less stressed out.
*******
Today's morning was perfectly calm. No chicken screaming at dawn apart from Théo crowing every now and then. It was a grey day with a light drizzle and warmer temperatures in the morning that didn't rise during the day : 5 to 7 (41 to 46). Apparently that suits the chickens rather well because they were all outside for most of the day. At noon the ex-batts went inside the coop to nap, and I did like yesterday, locked the run + coop and let Gaston inside the chicken netting for two hours. I think this works well for both groups.

Merle is completely back to normal, she has gone back to speaking with us making sweet little chirps instead of crazy broody screams! She didn't lay today but I expect she will in a day or two. And Nougat laid today after almost two months molting! Poor girl laid an enormous oval egg- she has always laid bigg eggs but this one is out of size, I hope she comes back to her usual. She's acting better but still a bit shy and scared.
Blanche and Cannelle also laid, and Léa and Piou-piou.

 

[RoyalChick]

Yes, she's quite well! I think Gastounet must have stepped on her to access the ladder and make her fall off the roost, and once she was on the floor she couldn't get back up in the dark. Having those roosts so high is really a problem when they move during the night.

We looked again today. The wound she had on the ear is still quite swollen though it has made a nice scab. She's molting and full of broken feathers and new pin feathers, so it's hard to get a good feel, but I couldn't see or feel anything strange, apart from that white pimple on the ear which has stayed the size it was. It's actually only when she speaks that it makes a strange noise, not when she breathes. I think we should look inside her beak but I will wait until she is a bit less stressed out.
*******
Today's morning was perfectly calm. No chicken screaming at dawn apart from Théo crowing every now and then. It was a grey day with a light drizzle and warmer temperatures in the morning that didn't rise during the day : 5 to 7 (41 to 46). Apparently that suits the chickens rather well because they were all outside for most of the day. At noon the ex-batts went inside the coop to nap, and I did like yesterday, locked the run + coop and let Gaston inside the chicken netting for two hours. I think this works well for both groups.

Merle is completely back to normal, she has gone back to speaking with us making sweet little chirps instead of crazy broody screams! She didn't lay today but I expect she will in a day or two. And Nougat laid today after almost two months molting! Poor girl laid an enormous oval egg- she has always laid bigg eggs but this one is out of size, I hope she comes back to her usual. She's acting better but still a bit shy and scared.
Blanche and Cannelle also laid, and Léa and Piou-piou.

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Just look at that green and purple on Merle

 

[ManueB]

Today was still rather misty and damp, though temperatures are still above normal (3 to 12/ 37 to 54). It looks like we won't have a winter this year again but at least we're getting in a little rain.

In the morning the chickens were all happy to come out digging and scratching. None of the ex-batts laid! Brune, our hen with a hunting secret power, found a baby mouse, which ended up being stolen from her beak by Cannelle. I texted my partner that I was happy the chickens at least were doing the cats jobs. I shouldn't have. An hour later I went in my room to fold the yoga mat I left on the floor, and found Hibou tearing apart tiny bloody pieces of what must have at some point probably been a mouse .... on the mat .

At noon however some raptor caused them to panic and Théo's team decided to stay inside the coop. They did come out again in the afternoon a bit. Théo challenged Gaston through the netting and also acted like he wanted to attack me , coming running at my ankles but stopping short of actually attacking.

Léa and Piou-piou both laid, but not Merle. But she's definitely changed back to her usual self, and she had some fun with Gaston.

Blanche is not better but not worse. Apart from the moments when she closes one eye and looks to be in pain, she's acting almost normally. I guess I can only wait to see how it goes.

Dawn

Outside our bedroom's south and north windows

Mouse sequence

Piou-piou is always scared when she goes to lay in the barn

A challenge

 

[ManueB]

Dawn was beautiful again, then it got slightly cloudy. This 31 is a new heat record ever for the last day of the year in France, but then there has been so many new heat records in 2022 it's not even a surprise anymore. The chickens enjoyed the day, but Théo kept challenging Gaston. He's getting obsessed with that, he doesn't even watch his hens anymore .
The three ex-batts laid again very early so it was noisy at 6.30 but since I didn't hear alarm calls I decided to let them handle it on their own. Nougat's second egg is even bigger than the first, I hope it doesn't last.
Merle still didn't lay and she had several arguments with Gaston. She leaves on her own or goes inside the chicken nettings and Gaston gets angry.
And..I hope I'm wrong..but I think I may have heard Léa making broody noises .
Happy new year's eve to all.

Pretty light at dawn.

Piou-piou

Not a chicken but she made me laugh.

During the day I thought Blanche looked better, but at the end of the afternoon she looked really unwell and I think I saw her eye was watery.

 

[Perris]

I imagine that black plastic pot gets nice and toasty in the sun - smart as well as cute cat

 

[MaryJanet]

Dawn was beautiful again, then it got slightly cloudy. This 31 is a new heat record ever for the last day of the year in France, but then there has been so many new heat records in 2022 it's not even a surprise anymore. The chickens enjoyed the day, but Théo kept challenging Gaston. He's getting obsessed with that, he doesn't even watch his hens anymore .
The three ex-batts laid again very early so it was noisy at 6.30 but since I didn't hear alarm calls I decided to let them handle it on their own. Nougat's second egg is even bigger than the first, I hope it doesn't last.
Merle still didn't lay and she had several arguments with Gaston. She leaves on her own or goes inside the chicken nettings and Gaston gets angry.
And..I hope I'm wrong..but I think I may have heard Léa making broody noises .
Happy new year's eve to all.

Pretty light at dawn.
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Piou-piou
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Not a chicken but she made me laugh.
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During the day I thought Blanche looked better, but at the end of the afternoon she looked really unwell and I think I saw her eye was watery.
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Happy new year to you too MB!

 

[ManueB]

Another warm and rather cloudy day. My partner chased off a raptor in the morning, but other than that the chickens stayed outside all day and seemed to enjoy themselves.
I noticed Léa getting picked on by Merle several times throughout the day and at one point Gaston intervened to separate them. It may have been because of this, that Merle changed roosting side tonight. She didn't want to be either next to Piou-piou (who's awful at roost time) or Léa. She tried going on the other side of their higher roost but got chased by Nougat so she jumped down between Cannelle and Chipie, right above Théo !
I'm really curious to know if that's just for one night or if it means Gaston's team will split!
Blanche, Cannelle and Léa laid today, still no egg or any sign of wanting to go in a nest from Merle.

Théo enjoying a ray of sunshine

This fir tree is too close to the house. It's dangerous when we have violent winds. We need to take it down before building the woodshed and the new coop. The tree next to it is a linden tree, my partner wants to keep it for the wonderful shade in summer but to lower it to two thirds.

Yesterday and today Léa did not go to roost with Gastounet but stopped to dustbathe for 15 mn.

My partner took out some old nails from the logs we made out of the lumber of the old houses, exactly where we break the corn and the walnuts for the chickens. They were convinced the nails were some new delicacy .

 

[ManueB]

A very grey day today, between 3 and 10 (37 and 50). It made me feel a bit sorry for all the people living in those places where that kind of days can be had for months.

Anyway, Gaston's band had a lot of fun today, venturing quite far on their own which they hadn't done in a long time (since we've been having the hawks flying over more frequently). Merle stayed with them but she's now bullying Léa badly, attacking her all the time.
Everytime his hens went inside the chicken nettings, Gastounet made a huge show to get them back out -screaming, tidbitting, charging the netting, and everytime this got Théo to come provoke him through the netting and getting out once or twice to chase him.
Léa is definitely copying Merle in her pre -broody stage : she dustbathes all the time and screams hysterically at anyone approaching her. This morning she stayed for an hour on the nest whereas she's usually done in ten minutes. Well... At least this time I know what's up and her nest makes her a lot easier to catch than where Merle was.

The ex-batts didn't enjoy their day so much. They spent a lot of time in the run, or hiding behind pallets. We took those out of the run when we covered it and left them there against the house wall before we were going to clean up ; it turns out the chickens are always behind them. It looks very cluttered but I think we are going to leave them there until the hawks are less frequently flying above in spring.

Blanche has taken a turn for the worse. She spent most of the day lying down. I was thinking of isolating her but an hour before roost time she got up and started doing the usual eating and scratching.
She's really molting (she has a rather comical one and only feather left on one of her wing's) so it could be that. Or, she has some health issue that has been activated by the stress of the attack. I can't explain her wheezing and labored breathing at times by the hawk's wounds.
Nougat and Cannelle laid and so did Piou-piou and Léa - but not Merle (unless she's hiding a stack of eggs in a secret place ).

An unusual trio- Théo with Léa and Piou-piou. Théo still chases Merle and Piou-piou away but now I've seen him several times try tidbitting for Léa who makes disgusted growls or broody screams at him and runs off.

Merle looking for a new potential nest submitted by Gaston- not approved.

Blanche spent a few hours like this

But at some points she looked better

Nougat often looks angry

 

[Perris]

A very grey day today, between 3 and 10 (37 and 50). It made me feel a bit sorry for all the people living in those places where that kind of days can be had for months.

Thank you for your sympathy

Today for a change we had sun all day , the flock really enjoyed it, and the first of Venka's lookalike daughters started laying. Caught Amadeo making some vit D; he really has grown into a very handsome fella