Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[BDutch]

Who knows, maybe Allegri had chickens? Hope you had one of those lovely tea pot and cups to keep up with the spiritual level of your breakfast !
*******
I caught some kind of bug at my partner's mother's (hopefully for her not COVID, I'll do an autotest tonight) so I spent the day between my bed and dragging myself around the chickens while my partner took off all the old steel sheets from the wood shed and put new or less used ones instead .
From what I saw the chickens had a good day, except that Théo and Gaston had a fight while I was in bed, and they all had a big scare when they heard the angle grinder for the first time. Only Cannelle and Piou-piou laid, and there was much dust and sunbathing, and digging around.

Three pictures of crazy molting Blanche. I don't think I could ever decide to euthanize a chicken with such a strong living spirit. Today I was thinking I was too tired to make her daily scrambled egg but she screamed such drama that I didn't have a choice .
View attachment 3407027View attachment 3407032View attachment 3407033
View attachment 3407023View attachment 3407029View attachment 3407031View attachment 3407034View attachment 3407035View attachment 3407036View attachment 3407037View attachment 3407038View attachment 3407039View attachment 3407040View attachment 3407041View attachment 3407042View attachment 3407043View attachment 3407044View attachment 3407046

Hope you get better very quick.
Or in the meantime. I still need to catch up.

 

[ManueB]

Your Chipie seems to be like my Maria: the smallest hen, with the biggest attitude

I feel sad for her because Cannelle is the only Ex-batt who tolerated her. But any chickens that doesn't terrorize her, she will try to dominate.
Chipie is a mystery to us. We don't know how old she is, if she hatched before, how things were for her in her first flock. She hasn't started laying again and when I told Gaston the farmer who gave her to us about it, he said something like who knows how old she is ?

The quince blossom is gorgeous! Are all quince flowers bright pink?

I probably translated this wrong. It's what we call japanese quince, chaenomeles. It's different from the classical quince tree, sydonia, that blooms much later and has lighter flowers.
The Japanese quince is one of the first bloomers and people here associate them with yellow bells, forsythia, that get beautiful yellow flowers just a bit later, they bring some welcome bright colors in winter.

Hope you get better very quick.
Or in the meantime. I still need to catch up.

Thanks! I felt very sick only for two days, then it took a week to heal completely.
******
Snow ! Well, not in the morning. The chickens spent some time outside, but I didn't see them much as I went running. Blanche, Merle and Léa were the only one to lay.
After lunch, the temperature dropped, the snow started falling a little and a heavy wind began to blow. Théo's team went inside the coop. Gaston's team stayed under the bigger wood shelter for a while but then they also wanted to go in the coop.There was a bit of chaos as neither group wanted to roost, just shelter, so Théo and Gaston started to fight. Then when the chickens went to roost Chipie was bullied by Blanche and Théo, and Nougat fell from her roost and seemed to have been hurt as she didn't move for twenty minutes .
The snow storm lasted for a few hours but it has calmed down now with only a little snow so I'm hopeful my partner can drive the cat to the clinic tomorrow!
Almost no pictures today !
On my run : wolf print and likely a boar head ?

When the rain began Gaston's pullets insisted staying inside and getting soaked. He wanted to shelter but they didn't listen!

Had to take this one off the nest today!

 

[Perris]

wolf print

wow - fresh! are wolves a threat to your flock?

 

[ManueB]

wow - fresh! are wolves a threat to your flock?

I think this pack stay in the mountains most of the time, and they are more a threat to sheeps and calves ! I've never seen them around our house.
Though recently it was in the newspaper that they threatened a man in the village next to ours. The national office of biodiversity came to investigate, and they said it was because they were on a narrow path near a cliff and the man was cutting off the pack from their only possible way.

 

[ManueB]

Grey, windy, horrible weather, and sad to say there was very little snow in the end, it had all melted throughout the night.

Theo's team was very unhappy about it and they refused to leave the coop all morning. They barely came out in the afternoon, maybe twice for ten minutes . And Nougat laid a strange egg again.

Gaston's pullet on the other hand stayed scratching all around the place under the slight snow. Gaston wanted to shelter under the woodshed, but the pullets wouldn't listen to him .
The mystery of the day : the two eggs I leave permanently in their nests in the old barn, have vanished during the night . I discovered this because when Léa found out her nest was empty she made such a racket I had to go check what was going on !
Merle is switching slowly into broody mode, she dustbathed ten times today, went to the nest at four in the afternoon and made broody screams when I checked if she had laid. However she came off the nest on her own, right in time to go roost in the coop before I let Theo's team in... and she did lay an egg at the last minute.
Roosting was very peaceful compared to yesterday. I have added more strings on the ladder's side and the roosts for better grip where Nougat fell off last night.

I don't know if this is classic broody behaviour but Merle dustbathes every half hour when she turns broody

Before going on the nest

**********
Long cat ramble : the vet said Grochatila got bitten by another cat in a fight, he says it's typical they fight head to tail. He has antibiotics and the dreaded collar for five days. My partner asked if there was any other solution and the vet replied that if we had to amputate his tail because he had not worn the collar, he would then have to wear it anyway. It's difficult, he switches from total prostration to knocking everything about around him, trying to run backwards and getting stuck under furniture. He can't manage to eat or drink with it. So we have to keep him inside at least for now, because he's totally unable to keep himself safe with it, adding jail to restraint . If he's not asleep tomorrow we will take him outside watching him during the day. He's had one of the worst day of his life I think.

 

[Perris]

Grey, windy, horrible weather,

it seems our weather has swapped places; these last few days we've had some lovely blue skies and sunshine for a change!

He has antibiotics and the dreaded collar for five days.

Poor Tila; he (especially his tail) will benefit from the collar, even if he hates it. Keep telling him it's only temporary.

Do your chickens think the fluff on your boots is edible? It looks like they're very interested in it!

 

[RoyalChick]

Grey, windy, horrible weather, and sad to say there was very little snow in the end, it had all melted throughout the night.

Theo's team was very unhappy about it and they refused to leave the coop all morning. They barely came out in the afternoon, maybe twice for ten minutes . And Nougat laid a strange egg again.

Gaston's pullet on the other hand stayed scratching all around the place under the slight snow. Gaston wanted to shelter under the woodshed, but the pullets wouldn't listen to him .
The mystery of the day : the two eggs I leave permanently in their nests in the old barn, have vanished during the night . I discovered this because when Léa found out her nest was empty she made such a racket I had to go check what was going on !
Merle is switching slowly into broody mode, she dustbathed ten times today, went to the nest at four in the afternoon and made broody screams when I checked if she had laid. However she came off the nest on her own, right in time to go roost in the coop before I let Theo's team in... and she did lay an egg at the last minute.
Roosting was very peaceful compared to yesterday. I have added more strings on the ladder's side and the roosts for better grip where Nougat fell off last night.
View attachment 3417225View attachment 3417224View attachment 3417226View attachment 3417227View attachment 3417228View attachment 3417229View attachment 3417230View attachment 3417233View attachment 3417235View attachment 3417237
I don't know if this is classic broody behaviour but Merle dustbathes every half hour when she turns broody
View attachment 3417231
View attachment 3417236
Before going on the nest
View attachment 3417234
**********
Long cat ramble : the vet said Grochatila got bitten by another cat in a fight, he says it's typical they fight head to tail. He has antibiotics and the dreaded collar for five days. My partner asked if there was any other solution and the vet replied that if we had to amputate his tail because he had not worn the collar, he would then have to wear it anyway. It's difficult, he switches from total prostration to knocking everything about around him, trying to run backwards and getting stuck under furniture. He can't manage to eat or drink with it. So we have to keep him inside at least for now, because he's totally unable to keep himself safe with it, adding jail to restraint . If he's not asleep tomorrow we will take him outside watching him during the day. He's had one of the worst day of his life I think.
View attachment 3417223

Poor Grochatila - he does look the picture of dejection. Cats are a bit dramatic, so it may not be as bad as he makes it seem.
I am guessing if you were to give him some nice smelly sardines on a spoon he would be quite contented!
Did the vet say how long he needed to wear it? In my experience cats heal very fast when the conditions are right.
I too have cat dramas. My little girl with the bloody foot will not let me examine it properly. I tried to get a vet appointment but one isn't available with our usual vet for a month!! I did manage to raid the chicken first aid kit and soaked her foot in Vetericyn spray. she is now not talking to me.
My big black boy has a cold. Also cannot get him to a vet but he is coughing and snuffling and is very down in the dumps. I do hope it is self limiting - he is secretly my favorite and I couldn't bear it if he was seriously ill.

On a brighter note, that is a truly wonderful picture of Merle dustbathing!

 

[ManueB]

it seems our weather has swapped places; these last few days we've had some lovely blue skies and sunshine for a change!

Good for you. Just one day of sunshine does wonder for the mood. .

Do your chickens think the fluff on your boots is edible? It looks like they're very interested in it!

The ex-batts always peck people's pants, and they can do this for a very long time. When the scarecrow still had pants, every evening they spent half an hour pecking them before roosting.

Poor Grochatila - he does look the picture of dejection. Cats are a bit dramatic, so it may not be as bad as he makes it seem.
I am guessing if you were to give him some nice smelly sardines on a spoon he would be quite contented!
Did the vet say how long he needed to wear it? In my experience cats heal very fast when the conditions are right.
I too have cat dramas. My little girl with the bloody foot will not let me examine it properly. I tried to get a vet appointment but one isn't available with our usual vet for a month!! I did manage to raid the chicken first aid kit and soaked her foot in Vetericyn spray. she is now not talking to me.
My big black boy has a cold. Also cannot get him to a vet but he is coughing and snuffling and is very down in the dumps. I do hope it is self limiting - he is secretly my favorite and I couldn't bear it if he was seriously ill.

Could you get a quicker appointment at an other vet, for a first assessment ?
Otherwise maybe try to have a look when she's in deep sleep ?
How old is your favorite black cat ?

The nearest vet to us has a terrible reputation and I was really unimpressed when I saw her vaccinate my neighbors cow, so we avoid her even if it means a 1h45 drive to the clinic.

Grochatila is very unhappy about the situation and still completely unable to move normally with the collar. We only understood this morning that he couldn't use the litter with it either. He spent a terrible night and so did we. Since we have time we took him the collar off for half an hour several times during the day inside, watching him so he doesn't lick his tail, to let him do cat stuff and brighten his mood a bit. The vet said to keep it five days but we will see how it looks after three nights- I'm not sure we can last more with no sleep .
**************
The chickens must have found me very grumpy this morning. Piou-piou and Léa were making a racket both looking for new nests; I suddenly realized I had taken the eggs out of their nests yesterday evening and completely forgotten to put them back in this morning! They won't lay in an empty nest. I took two eggs and called Gaston and he called them immediately and in they went !
I went running and they stayed with my partner who poured concrete on the supporting pillars in the wood shed and cut some logs. Gaston's team had a lot of fun helping him.
Cannelle had already laid when I opened the coop and Blanche laid a bit later. Although the weather wasn't better than yesterday the ex-batts spent most of the day outside which always makes me feel better.

I cooked a mixture of rice, wheat bulgur, pink lentils, eggs, and mackerel for everyone. It was a big hit, but I didn't take pictures as we were both so tired that we took turns napping in the afternoon. When I came out again Gaston and his team followed me everywhere begging for more.
Merle spent her day dustbathing and making broody screams every now and then. She didn't lay ; we'll see what she does tomorrow.

I did not get very good weather on my run

Gaston and Théo have such different temper.

Grochatila is miserable

 

[RoyalChick]

Good for you. Just one day of sunshine does wonder for the mood. .

The ex-batts always peck people's pants, and they can do this for a very long time. When the scarecrow still had pants, every evening they spent half an hour pecking them before roosting.

Could you get a quicker appointment at an other vet, for a first assessment ?
Otherwise maybe try to have a look when she's in deep sleep ?
How old is your favorite black cat ?

The nearest vet to us has a terrible reputation and I was really unimpressed when I saw her vaccinate my neighbors cow, so we avoid her even if it means a 1h45 drive to the clinic.

Grochatila is very unhappy about the situation and still completely unable to move normally with the collar. We only understood this morning that he couldn't use the litter with it either. He spent a terrible night and so did we. Since we have time we took him the collar off for half an hour several times during the day inside, watching him so he doesn't lick his tail, to let him do cat stuff and brighten his mood a bit. The vet said to keep it five days but we will see how it looks after three nights- I'm not sure we can last more with no sleep .
**************
The chickens must have found me very grumpy this morning. Piou-piou and Léa were making a racket both looking for new nests; I suddenly realized I had taken the eggs out of their nests yesterday evening and completely forgotten to put them back in this morning! They won't lay in an empty nest. I took two eggs and called Gaston and he called them immediately and in they went !
I went running and they stayed with my partner who poured concrete on the supporting pillars in the wood shed and cut some logs. Gaston's team had a lot of fun helping him.
Cannelle had already laid when I opened the coop and Blanche laid a bit later. Although the weather wasn't better than yesterday the ex-batts spent most of the day outside which always makes me feel better.

I cooked a mixture of rice, wheat bulgur, pink lentils, eggs, and mackerel for everyone. It was a big hit, but I didn't take pictures as we were both so tired that we took turns napping in the afternoon. When I came out again Gaston and his team followed me everywhere begging for more.
Merle spent her day dustbathing and making broody screams every now and then. She didn't lay ; we'll see what she does tomorrow.

I did not get very good weather on my run
View attachment 3418031
View attachment 3418053
Gaston and Théo have such different temper.
View attachment 3418032View attachment 3418028
View attachment 3417993View attachment 3418025View attachment 3418039View attachment 3418048View attachment 3418050View attachment 3418060


Grochatila is miserable
View attachment 3418049

Poor chap.
My big black cat is not so old. Maybe 7 or 8. I seem to have the same cold as he has so we are lying on the sofa sneezing together.

 

[ManueB]

Poor chap.
My big black cat is not so old. Maybe 7 or 8. I seem to have the same cold as he has so we are lying on the sofa sneezing together.

I hope you both get better then, him especially as I get the feeling "colds" seem to be more serious for animals than for humans.
************
Merle ran out of the coop when I opened it directly on her nest, I hadn't forgotten to put eggs back in this time, and she came out on her own half an hour later, so not broody yet. Blanche, Léa and Piou-piou also laid in the morning.
Though the weather was grey there was a bit of sunshine that allowed Théo's team to dustbathe and stretch in the few sun rays.
Before noon Gaston's pullets, as usual, kept going inside the netting. When Gaston jumped in to get them we decided to wait and see what would happen between the two roosters. They began to fight, then for several minutes they had those challenging attitudes. Then they began fighting again and Théo managed to get a foot caught in the netting and completely stuck himself, so we couldn't let them go on on, my partner unstuck him and Gaston left.
We're still wondering if they would really hurt themselves or if it's partly a show.
Challenging one another :

The chickens had a nice afternoon but roosting was hell for Chipie. Once again the four ex-batts leagued to beat her up and instead of coming down the roost she kept flying from roosts next to one of ex-batts. In the end I had to put them in the dark, and she hid in one of the nests in the wall.

Gaston distributing kale evenly