Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[MaryJanet]

probably not easy to get if you don't have puffin watchers in your family.

It does seem like one of those "my uncle got me to do it" kind of jobs. Such a shame when the talents of a happy, diligent puffin clicker such as myself are wasted.

 

[ManueB]

will that harm your harvest, or will they already have been fertilized?
I have yet to find any proper analysis of the nutritional values of flowers here, but the chickens eat most of those in the lawn quickly here too.

Funny I didn't notice the years before but maybe because they fall mostly on the part we restrict for the ex-batts.
I don't think there will be much damage. We fear a late freeze more.
But we had a huge amount of cherry last year and I've noticed that usually it means not as much the following one.

 

[ManueB]

Today we had a family lunch, the 25 wedding anniversary of my sister in law. I hated every moment of it and we were the first to leave- I think I was pretty rude but I guess I care less getting older. Makes me wonder how I'm going to handle the three days weekend with my own family to meet all the new kids in three weeks .

Anyway we left at 10.30 and locked Gaston's team for the first time in the wood shed. They were also extremely unhappy about it. They tumbled all the feeders and waterers and some wood, but nothing dangerous.
However, Merle had not laid and when we came back at 3.30 she rushed to the coop making a very strange noise (a bit like the low alert growl for flying predators but pitched higher). I helped her into the nest and she delivered an egg in ten minutes which is exceptional for her. The poor hen had held back rather than lay in a nest she didn't like.

We looked at Piou-piou's wound this morning and sprayed again with chlorhexidine. It seems to be drying up a bit. Before laying she didn't look very well and was lying down on the straw with her wings slightly open for quite a while. I gave her metacam again. When we came back, we took the crate outside and she was very excited and even agitated, trying to get out forcing her way through the bars. She was really happy when Gaston came to see her but when he left she was so upset.

Both groups of chickens enjoyed a short but intense foraging time before roosting, which went fine. Théo is acting aggressive again with me. It started when I made the mistake of coming to see the chickens in my running clothes a few days ago - a bare calf drive him nuts .

Contemplating the drying rack.

Hello sweetheart.

Oh no don't go!

 

[ManueB]

I cancelled Piou-piou's appointment. There is a thunderstorm alert for this afternoon. My partner doesn't want to drive her as the 15 km from our house to the main road can be dangerous ( I don't drive.)
Her wound looks better but she's having trouble laying. Probably from all the stress.

 

[ManueB]

And of course we heard the thunder all afternoon around us, but the storm never reached us. We seem to have some kind of no rain curse!
I'm not too upset as Piou-piou isn't acting like she's getting an infection.
Today I didn't gave her pain med in case we went to the vet and then to see how she would do. She wasn't well laying which took a long time, but once the egg came out she was much better. We got a look inside the flappy skin and everything seems to be drying up. She's eating and drinking normally and thrashing to get out when she sees the other chickens so I think these are good signs. Tonight we took the crate in the coop and raised it on sawhorses so she could sleep under her teams roost.

The hens in both teams are wanting to go to the other side now. Léa didn't want to get out of the coop this morning and then she kept coming back to see Théo's team. It's probably because Merle is horrible to her, she chases her around and tries to mount her. Then, Cannelle discovered there was a hole in the netting and while I wasn't looking all the ex-batts and Chipie came out. Gaston seemed a bit overwhelmed and didn't rush to chase like he usually does. Then I saw Théo prostrated on the ground in a strange position - he caught himself tight in the netting again and just stood there not loving. He let me take him out very quietly, but attacked me a few minutes after I put him on the floor.
He's beginning to be afraid and it makes him agressive with the hens and with me.
Merle..is getting broody again.

All of Gaston's pullets laid, and so did Nougat.

Tomorrow we're planting the potatoes so no vet. But we'll probably have to go on wednesday or thursday for the cat if not for Piou-piou. He got bitten by a tick and although it's happened to him a hundred times, it seems like this time he caught something, he's acting even more sleepy than usual.

Before

After

Before

After

I wonder what this is ?

Ah.Him.

 

[Perris]

So glad Piou-piou appears to be healing nicely; sorry that Grotchatila's not so good. And that you're still waiting for rain; that soil looks really dry.

In your 2nd photo, is that a prostrate rosemary tumbling down the wall between the irises and the cherry? It's very pretty whatever it is. And I can smell those wallflowers from here

 

[ManueB]

So glad Piou-piou appears to be healing nicely; sorry that Grotchatila's not so good. And that you're still waiting for rain; that soil looks really dry.

In your 2nd photo, is that a prostrate rosemary tumbling down the wall between the irises and the cherry? It's very pretty whatever it is. And I can smell those wallflowers from here

Yes, it is! Funny I didn't know it was called that, we call it creeping (repens). We started five cuttings four years ago and this is the only one that survived when we transplanted them from the pots to the soil. We've done some again this year, I love rosemary, and it's good for the pollinators in winter.

 

[ManueB]

Still no rain this morning.
This was a song about Pompeii but it could be a song about Daluis in a near future

 

[Perris]

another called Pompeii, with similar allusions

 

[ManueB]

another called Pompeii, with similar allusions

I think I may have heard it before. I hadn't seen the clip though.

Not much news on the chicken side today. The three ex-batts laid and they kept escaping out of the chickens netting, then getting scared of Gaston. Piou-piou didn't lay and spent most of the day calling for her friends. I've ordered chicken saddles for her, but they won't be there before two weeks. They don't seem to exist in France.
We planted two thirds of the potatoes before it began drizzling all afternoon.

The cat's health has deteriorated drastically today, I'm afraid of mycoplasma. My partner is taking him to the clinic where we took Caramel tomorrow morning. He prefers going there even if it's not the closest for cats but they have a a huge technical plateau and correct boarding conditions if needed, which feels reassuring.