Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[Perris]

We've lost a few chicks to predators in years past, though not last year when 12 distributed between three clutches all survived unscathed.

A dog fox is the male of the species.

 

[ManueB]

Great update !

It surprises me that you are so concerned if any of your chickens get sick, but you let Lea walk around with her chicks. Same for Perris letting Polka and Fez free range.

It makes we wonder if I could do the same here. I was always convinced it would be too dangerous to let the mamas free range with their chicks in my backyard. With four/five neighbour cats hanging around. And high grass behind the garden where life gets dangerous as far as I know. I probably lost one of my adult RIR’s out there last year.

I see that the mama’s are very eager to leave the run to take the little ones outside. Sometimes it breaks my heart to keep them locked in.

Did you ever loose chicks in the past while they where out and about with their mama’s?

PS. What is a dog fox @Perris ?

I'm at home most of the day. I pay constant attention to the rooster warnings and the sky, from where most of the danger comes here, and check on the chicks when there is cause for alarm.
Like last year, I will only leave them on their own completely for one to two hours, when I go running.
Of course, they could be taken by a cat or a fox. But I also see it as an investment on the future : they are learning free ranging, and will be cautious chickens as adults.
I think it was either Shadrach or Perris that said last year that the most dangerous time for them is the weeks when the broody has just left them to their own devices.

 

[BDutch]

I'm at home most of the day. I pay constant attention to the rooster warnings and the sky, from where most of the danger comes here, and check on the chicks when there is cause for alarm.
Like last year, I will only leave them on their own completely for one to two hours, when I go running.
Of course, they could be taken by a cat or a fox. But I also see it as an investment on the future : they are learning free ranging, and will be cautious chickens as adults.
I think it was either Shadrach or Perris that said last year that the most dangerous time for them is the weeks when the broody has just left them to their own devices.

Then it could a good idea to let the bunch out for one or 2 hours every day , if we are outside supervising a little too. But we are still hesitating because we have small bantams.

The chicks are 4 weeks old now. So the mama’s probably keep an eye on them for several more weeks to go.

We can do this most evenings. Around diner time, one or both of us is usually outside anyway if the weather is fine. And getting them inside again should be easy peasy because the bunch still goes to roost quite early.

But we are still afraid the cats, the jays and other bigger birds are a real treat for my tiny chicks.

 

[ManueB]

Then it could a good idea to let the bunch out for one or 2 hours every day , if we are outside supervising a little too. But we are still hesitating because we have small bantams.

The chicks are 4 weeks old now. So the mama’s probably keep an eye on them for several more weeks to go.

We can do this most evenings. Around diner time, one or both of us is usually outside anyway if the weather is fine. And getting them inside again should be easy peasy because the bunch still goes to roost quite early.

But we are still afraid the cats, the jays and other bigger birds are a real treat for my tiny chicks.

Yes, last year my cats also eyed Merle, the bantam chick, much longer than the others as she still looked like a baby bird!
I think if you can supervise a bit it's a great idea. Even if it's just an hour and not every day. Because otherwise, it means the first time they will be out without the broody, they will have to learn by themselves what they should be careful about.

 

[ManueB]

Leave it to chickens to turn all your plans completely upside down . Creatures of chaos is what they are !
For two months now since Piou-piou has been wounded, she sleeps just underneath Gaston in a raised crate inside the coop. We did that so she could feel she was close to him but he couldn't try to get down and mate her, and up to now they have loved this arrangement.
Yesterday Alba and Nieva decided they wanted to roost next to Gaston. Merle wasn't happy about it but she ended up letting go. Then Alba picked a fight on Nieva and tried to throw her out of the roost. This had the unhappy result that Nieva roosted on Piou-piou's cage. When I last checked yesterday evening before closing the coop, Nieva had gone back on the roost as far as she could from Alba, and Kara and Lily were looking for a place to roost closer to the other chickens than the free roost they have been sleeping on to now.

This morning it turns out the three of them must have slept above/ on Piou-piou's crate ! It was completely covered in poop . Piou-piou escaped somehow from being covered in poop, but obviously she didn't sleep well because now she has gone back inside the coop to perch and sleep on a roost.

Not sure how to manage this- I have to find an idea for tonight because obviously we can't leave them to sleep like this a second night. The three pullets will harm their feet on the crate's wire and Piou-piou can't sleep with three chickens just above her .

A few pics from yesterday.

 

[Perris]

poor Piou-piou!
I'm sure you'll think of something to solve the problem

 

[ManueB]

poor Piou-piou!
I'm sure you'll think of something to solve the problem

And where did Polka and Fez sleep tonight ?
(I loved Fez when I visited in 2005. I don't know how much it has changed by now. Still had live animals butchered in the city market then.)

@Perris I'm still toying with the idea of getting a Nestera coop to put on the terrace that's just beyond the chicken yard. I believe I have asked you before, but I couldn't remember the answer, and didn't manage to find it with the search engine. Do you think it's possible to raise them on the front, maybe on cinder blocks, to handle the slope we have ? And, is there any possibility to anchor them for strong winds ? And do you think a big rooster like Gaston would fit in the M size ? I don't think just my partner and I would be able to carry the L down there.

I'm still not sure it would work out because our problem is that all the chickens want to be in the same place, and so the roosters end up fighting. It seems like they won't give up on their territory.

Oh, and the chicks had also managed to spill their water plate inside their coop. So this morning cleaning the main coop, washing the crate, and taking all the wet bedding out of the chick's coop took me an hour- not very efficient! Good thing I've retired early from having a "real" job !

Just kidding .

 

[BDutch]

poor Piou-piou!
I'm sure you'll think of something to solve the problem

@ ManueB Can you make an angled kind of roof on top of the crate? Chickens don't like to roost on a slope.

 

[ManueB]

@ ManueB Can you make an angled kind of roof on top of the crate? Chickens don't like to roost on a slope.

Maybe but I'll have to make sure the "roof" doesn't risk falling off !
I think maybe just putting a tarp or a towel on top could be dissuasive. I'm not sure Piou-piou will like having the crate covered. I may try that tonight.

Or maybe it's time to find a way to let her roost with the other chickens. But she tends to be a very early sleeper, as is Gaston, so it's a problem to force either to wait until the other is fully asleep.

Although her wound was very fast to heal this time, it's taking ages for her feathers to grow back. She still has a huge patch of mostly bare skin. I feel like it would take only two or three matings from either rooster to wound her again .

 

[Perris]

And where did Polka and Fez sleep tonight ?
(I loved Fez when I visited in 2005. I don't know how much it has changed by now. Still had live animals butchered in the city market then.)

@Perris I'm still toying with the idea of getting a Nestera coop to put on the terrace that's just beyond the chicken yard. I believe I have asked you before, but I couldn't remember the answer, and didn't manage to find it with the search engine. Do you think it's possible to raise them on the front, maybe on cinder blocks, to handle the slope we have ? And, is there any possibility to anchor them for strong winds ? And do you think a big rooster like Gaston would fit in the M size ? I don't think just my partner and I would be able to carry the L down there.

I'm still not sure it would work out because our problem is that all the chickens want to be in the same place, and so the roosters end up fighting. It seems like they won't give up on their territory.

Oh, and the chicks had also managed to spill their water plate inside their coop. So this morning cleaning the main coop, washing the crate, and taking all the wet bedding out of the chick's coop took me an hour- not very efficient! Good thing I've retired early from having a "real" job !

Just kidding .

Polka and Fez were in the border again, and when I went to open up discovered that Dyffryn slept out for 2nd night running too I hope she's not getting ideas...on the other hand, she has been a fantastic pullet - 1 year old tomorrow! - and I'd be happy to let her breed if she becomes so inclined.

I've no idea what Fez was like in 2005 but I loved it in May and yes, live chickens are still being butchered in the market. And for sale on the street: these are Beldi (local landrace) - nice looking birds I thought. Saw some Fayoumi too.

On the coops, I don't think it would stand on blocks just under the corners; the sheet that forms the front (inc the front of the legs) is connected to the sheets that form the sides (inc the side of the legs and a bar front to back) so they'd need to be supported the whole length front to back. But it might work side on to the slope, with cinder blocks laid flat to bring the downward side up level...? That might also work better with the ramp. I really don't think you need to worry about anchors; we lose a tree or three every winter because of the wind here, and none of the coops have budged an inch. This style of plastic prefab is not at all flimsy and they are heavier than they look (remember Shad's travails getting his from the delivery drop point to the allotments). But a block on each side bottom bar, or a chunky log from your recently felled trees through the space there would anchor it anyway I'm sure.

Re: Gaston, presumably he's not bigger than a Barbezieux, and Obelix did manage to fit, though it was a bit of a squeeze for him getting in and out; the other 4 roos here, all large fowl, fit fine, and there's always at least 2 roos in one or another coop without fights (4 roos, 3 coops). In any case, all Nestera coops are the same height and depth; the only difference between M and L is width (and weight; yes the L is hard to carry far even on the level). And while the official space requirements say the M is for 6 LF and the L for 8, the other night 14 piled into the L hmm ? party night? ) leaving just 2 in each of the Ms (and Polka in the border ). (On that, the EMI assures me that when the birds have free choice and have multiple options, as here, it does not matter how many pile in and how cosy they want to get; the regs are designed to ensure minimum standards where birds have no choices.) That apart, the point is that 14 large fowl can actually squeeze themselves into the large coop without it looking like