Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[ManueB]

The day began with a rooster fight in the coop. I actually separated them which I try not to do anymore but it was going on and on and the hens didn't dare come off the roost!

The three ex-batts laid in the morning, but one of them cracked and ate the egg I had left them in the nest box from yesterday. It was neatly done with nothing left but the shell- I suspect Cannelle, who has done that kind of thing before, but always with fragile eggs, whereas this one was a beautiful huge egg from Nougat.

Blanche laid facing Piou-piou, who had again succeeded in entering the coop to lay. She was very unhappy about it and tried to get her off the nest, but it's one of the uneasy to access nest in the wall so she didn't succeed.

It was a lovely sunny day and apart from an eagle flying high above in the morning, no raptor today. The chickens enjoyed the day and went to roost later than usual, at 5.30 for Gaston's team and 6 for Théo. Théo tried again to pick a fight before roosting .

Léa is more broody than ever, though sitting on air, and she has begun pecking me when I pick her up. My partner feels upset for her- we're new at the broody thing. She seems to be very committed. I did take her out twice during the day and she ate, drunk and dustbathed for ten minutes, but each time she got pecked by Merle and Piou-piou quite viciously. I would wait it out, but my partner seems to hesitate trying to lock the barn. I didn't see any worm in her poop today but I'm still hesitant on treating the chickens, or maybe just her as she isn't eating normally and Blanche who is unwell, or waiting it out.

When I picked up Léa and took her outside to eat and drink it took her several minutes to wake up.

The opening to the terrace behind, right where I've done the elderberry cuttings. I thought I had killed them but they are all beginning to grow tiny buds.

Blanche on the blind eye side.

 

[ManueB]

Léa came out of the nest on her own today toward noon and after some hesitation, she stayed with Gaston and the gang ! So that's a relief . Still making broody noises, but hopefully she'll come out of it in a few days.

Merle, however, was unwell early in the morning, then better, and again at the beginning of the afternoon. She didn't lay today, so maybe it has something to do with it.
Chipie laid in the morning with a huge amount of drama- impressive how such a tiny chicken can cause such chaos!
Nougat and Piou-piou also laid.

We had a beautiful day, really warm, and the chickens enjoyed it, but in the afternoon there was strong whirling wind. Théo was a pain with his hens. They are getting really afraid of him in the morning and evening now, when he's insistent on mating, especially with Blanche and Cannelle. They come running to me to peck my legs as they know he doesn't jump on them when they are so near me.

My partner has almost finished the doors to the wood shed, we still need to put the mesh on the door and against the sides, fill the floor with concrete under one side, fill with earth and wood chips in the chicken's corner and it will be done. I'm not even sure we need to make a coop, they could probably roost in it as it is, but I guess a coop would feel safer.

Blanche doing the chicken thing.

Blanche feeling not good in the afternoon. She has ups and downs, she went with the other ex-batts to the field under their yard for almost half an hour digging and exploring, and when she came back she laid down like this for almost as long. (It doesn't show in the picture but she was a bit sheltered behind a pallet).

Léa's back in the outside world

Cannelle went exploring on her own. She was quite far from the others and in totally open space, not very clever.

-So, Gaston, do you like the door ?
- It needs some coating but once closed it's pretty cozy inside.

 

[ManueB]

Very grey day today but warm nonetheless. We have some rain, wind and cold forecasted next week . The three ex-batts all laid in the morning. Blanche was in Chipie's nest and I thought she had eaten Chipie's egg that I leave in it. When I looked better, I discovered she had thrown it out and it had broken landing on the barrel where we keep the feed.

I saw again the couple of hawks flying and screaming above us. I think they are Gallicus (short-toed snake eagles) but not completely sure, they have a very different attitude than what we used to see. They make a lot of noise.

Léa showed no sign of broodiness and stayed with Gaston's team all day, but she got viciously attacked by Merle several times. Piou-piou wasn't in great shape this morning, which has never happened before. She spent some time resting and she stayed on her own. She seemed better after a while. I wonder if she's not getting hurt by Gaston's mating as he is so heavy compared to her, or if she has worms that bother her like Léa, or maybe just a bad day.

The ex-batts stayed hidden much of the day, but after three they came out to forage until roost time and seemed to enjoy themselves.

The wind yesterday has blown away some of the flowers in the tree. I hope we won't have too much wind next week as the cherry and plum tree flowers are blooming .

 

[Perris]

It looks like spring has arrived there the blossom is so pretty.

I was thinking of your comment (on my nutrition thread) about pigeon peas today, and thought given your trials and tribulations on Monday, it might help if I explain what peas I've found convenient to acquire and use; of course the situation is bound to be different for you, but I was phoning people all over the country when I started this because there was so little info about it, and most of them were very helpful - the pulse company in East Anglia even sent some half-sacks to try post paid (the postage would have cost as much as the peas!). You may find a few phone calls will pay dividends.

While I was experimenting with a lot of legumes and trying to find suppliers of them, I discovered pigeon peas (which I'd not heard of before; actually they're rather good!) in 1kg bags in the dry goods isles of the supermarkets. I also discovered that there are lots of varieties of peas, that 1st quality go to human food and 2nd quality to animal feed, and their names are many and various, and that the same plant can go under a lot of different names - feedipedia is a good place to look for all the synonyms. Pigeon peas are more nutritious than many other peas, and have more calcium. But I haven't been able to find them in 20kg sacks, alone or mixed with others. The pea mix I've settled with, which my chickens like and thrive on, and I can buy in a local pet food place that caters for pigeon fanciers (this mix is aimed at them), consists of a mix of blue peas, white peas, maple peas, tares (vetches), and there's some French maize in there too, which they also love of course. A 20kg sack costs about £12 here, and I add a scoop of the peas to the wheat grains to soak/ferment at a ratio of about 10-15% (just eyeballed). Hope this helps.

 

[ManueB]

It looks like spring has arrived there the blossom is so pretty.

I was thinking of your comment (on my nutrition thread) about pigeon peas today, and thought given your trials and tribulations on Monday, it might help if I explain what peas I've found convenient to acquire and use; of course the situation is bound to be different for you, but I was phoning people all over the country when I started this because there was so little info about it, and most of them were very helpful - the pulse company in East Anglia even sent some half-sacks to try post paid (the postage would have cost as much as the peas!). You may find a few phone calls will pay dividends.

While I was experimenting with a lot of legumes and trying to find suppliers of them, I discovered pigeon peas (which I'd not heard of before; actually they're rather good!) in 1kg bags in the dry goods isles of the supermarkets. I also discovered that there are lots of varieties of peas, that 1st quality go to human food and 2nd quality to animal feed, and their names are many and various, and that the same plant can go under a lot of different names - feedipedia is a good place to look for all the synonyms. Pigeon peas are more nutritious than many other peas, and have more calcium. But I haven't been able to find them in 20kg sacks, alone or mixed with others. The pea mix I've settled with, which my chickens like and thrive on, and I can buy in a local pet food place that caters for pigeon fanciers (this mix is aimed at them), consists of a mix of blue peas, white peas, maple peas, tares (vetches), and there's some French maize in there too, which they also love of course. A 20kg sack costs about £12 here, and I add a scoop of the peas to the wheat grains to soak/ferment at a ratio of about 10-15% (just eyeballed). Hope this helps.

I've seen online both mixes and straight pigeon peas that seem to fit what you describe, such as this.
However this brand is (at least for poultry) mostly sold online and way more expensive than the equivalent in stores, so I was hoping to find the same type of product cheaper in a real store.

My problem is mostly a practical one, I don't drive, the various farm supply stores we have are all at least one hour drive and of course all in various places, and my partner who can access a pretty good store on his work days near Nice is simply unable to read a label.

Eventually I can buy it online. I do that for the cats pellets that come cheaper and they usually end up making their way up here even in bulk, though it takes time .

 

[Perris]

I've seen online both mixes and straight pigeon peas that seem to fit what you describe, such as this.
However this brand is (at least for poultry) mostly sold online and way more expensive than the equivalent in stores, so I was hoping to find the same type of product cheaper in a real store.

My problem is mostly a practical one, I don't drive, the various farm supply stores we have are all at least one hour drive and of course all in various places, and my partner who can access a pretty good store on his work days near Nice is simply unable to read a label.

Eventually I can buy it online. I do that for the cats pellets that come cheaper and they usually end up making their way up here even in bulk, though it takes time .

the plain peas at the same site are the same sort of price I pay; the additional dari (aka milo, sorghum), saffflower, sunflower etc is what's pushing up the price of that mix.

Maybe your partner can cope with picking up a single ingredient sack too?

edited to add that: what I know as and have been calling pigeon peas is cajanus cajan, which is a different species of plant from the pisum (ordinary 'pea') family. Some producers or sellers (like that website) put 'pigeon' in the name of their products for pigeons, whether or not they actually contain any cajanus seeds. It's really confusing!

 

[ManueB]

Maybe your partner can cope with picking up a single ingredient sack too?

Thanks so much for all the information. That should be easier, but if I'm being honest, the labels are truly confusing. Last time I asked him to get what is called "poultry mix" , our equivalent of "all flock". He came back with a bag of organic wheat - there was a big mention "organic poultry mix " on the bag and written in small underneath "wheat". It turns out all type of grains were sold in that same packaging branded "organic poultry mix".
********
A sunny but windy day, the chickens seemed less bothered by the wind than I was. It does really feels like spring, all the trees are blossoming, and I noticed just today the chive and mint is beginning to grow.

I went running for an hour early in the morning and locked the ex-batts and Théo in the run and coop. When I came back Merle was patiently waiting in front of the door, to get inside the coop to lay. Chipie however was decided not to let her in, and she called to Théo for help. Merle was thrown out, she then went all around the place for an hour, from the barn to the wood shed to the manure pile , and even under the roof of the wood shed... but she found no suitable place to nest. In the end I went with her in the coop, and she laid in Chipie's nest while Chipie and Blanche were waiting under the nest, screaming dramatically. They all ended up laying in the same nest (Cannelle had also laid before I opened the coop).
I've tried putting nests in the wood shed with eggs but of course, Gaston's pullets just ignore them .

The rest of the day was rather calm. Both teams spent the afternoon foraging and sheltering regularly from the wind. Gaston came very early to go in the coop, at 4.30. I wonder if he's afraid when the weather is uncertain that he will have to roost outside ? And Théo's team roosted before 6 with no drama. Blanche and Chipie were again sharing Théo's roost, each on one side.

We're changing time tonight- I sort of like it this way round, though it doesn't change anything for me. But I feel less like an old bat when I say that I get up at 6.30 instead of 5.30 and roost at 10 instead of 9 .

Thou shall not pass!

 

[BDutch]

Last time I asked him to get what is called "poultry mix" , our equivalent of "all flock". He came back with a bag of organic wheat - there was a big mention "organic poultry mix " on the bag and written in small underneath "wheat". It turns out all type of grains were sold in that same packaging branded "organic poultry mix".

In the Netherlands they sell what your partner bought as , so called ‘mixed grains’ . These are labeled as extra or not complete feed for hens/chickens. It contains all kind of grains, pieces of corn, some brands put sunflower seeds in as wel. Only if chickens truly free range in the field and are not laying an egg almost every it’s okay to use it instead of layer feed.

The all flock as described in the US is not sold in NL. My local /online shop sells a ‘chicken mix’ with only 12% proteins and 2,5% calcium. I think they simply mixed the ‘mixed grains’ with layer pellets and sell it for a higher price. The chickens prefer to eat the grains and leave the pellets in the bowl.
The link: https://www.welkoop.nl/welkoop-kippenmix-bio-kippenvoer-12-5kg_1216004
Under samenstelling you find the ingredients and nutritional values.
The local organic mill doesn’t sell something like this. Only two types of layer and the mixed grains.

Another brand ‘bio organica’ has a poltry mix too but with better values for hens. 14% proteins and 3% calcium. The french name is ‘mix pour poules pondeuses’. The ingredients list is provided by a reseller under product specifications. https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/f/bio-sch...m=Affiliates&utm_campaign=CPS&utm_content=txl

 

[Perris]

I thought this article in this morning's paper might amuse you @ManueB - 'We French were born to confront authority... Imagine one matador named Macron swinging his red cape in front of a country of 66m bulls.' At least, I hope you find it amusing and not aggravating!

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-authority-can-macron-withstand-the-onslaught

​

 

[ManueB]

I thought this article in this morning's paper might amuse you @ManueB - 'We French were born to confront authority... Imagine one matador named Macron swinging his red cape in front of a country of 66m bulls.' At least, I hope you find it amusing and not aggravating!

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...-authority-can-macron-withstand-the-onslaught

​

Both amusing on french people's love for demonstrations and strike, and aggravating on the substance of it !

If Macron had submitted his reform to a vote in parliament it was likely to pass even if two thirds of french people disagree with it. Instead he used article 49.3 like he has been doing for all important laws since he began his new mandate which allows him to skip a vote by engaging his government's responsibility. I don't call this brave, I call it stupid, and I think it will greatly help the extreme right in the next presidential election by dividing again the traditional conservative right.