Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[Perris]

You can't eat tomatoes from the supermarket anymore once you've eaten tomatoes from your garden .

 

[RoyalChick]

Never heard that before. Wonderful!

 

[Perris]

From what she said it seemed to me that @ManueB might concur with the line 'there's only two things that money can't buy, and that's true love and home grown tomatoes'

 

[Perris]

I wonder if Fez will ever take to sleeping in a coop if it never happens while mum is still in control. Will the desire to live with other chickens be sufficient to entice such a change of habit ?

Last night he slept in a coop, without her, unintentionally: I have moved the coops twice since he hatched, and last night Polka decided to relocate her overnight roost to be in a border closer to where the coops are now. But it was not a good spot, so I decided to intervene. I took Fez and popped him in a nesting box in the (already closed up) large coop with Killay, Maria and the other senior members of the flock, and hoped Polka would go in, but she didn't play ball, and ended up going back to her original (inaccessible) nest for the night. As it was now almost dark and Fez had stopped chirping I left them to it. This morning he was on the roost next to Maria, and reunited with mum at the breakfast kerfuffle. He was 6 weeks old yesterday as it happens. And she is still in control. I wonder what they'll do tonight...this was them reunited and en route from the feeding station to the chicken tree in the SW corner of the garden to rest and digest with the others

 

[ManueB]

Last night he slept in a coop, without her, unintentionally: I have moved the coops twice since he hatched, and last night Polka decided to relocate her overnight roost to be in a border closer to where the coops are now. But it was not a good spot, so I decided to intervene. I took Fez and popped him in a nesting box in the (already closed up) large coop with Killay, Maria and the other senior members of the flock, and hoped Polka would go in, but she didn't play ball, and ended up going back to her original (inaccessible) nest for the night. As it was now almost dark and Fez had stopped chirping I left them to it. This morning he was on the roost next to Maria, and reunited with mum at the breakfast kerfuffle. He was 6 weeks old yesterday as it happens. And she is still in control. I wonder what they'll do tonight...this was them reunited and en route from the feeding station to the chicken tree in the SW corner of the garden to rest and digest with the others
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My first naive guess would be that if she let him roost with the other chickens without making too much of a fuss, she may be close to weaning him ?
What a cliffhanger...I can't wait for tonight and the next episode of "roosting in the wild" !

 

[Perris]

I left the fuss she made out of my story but she didn't draw blood on my hands or ankles, so it was just a lot of feathers and noise. But the rest of the flock didn't over-react, no-one sounded the general alarm, and I suspect Maria looked after him - she has twice before been found with other hens' older-kids-in-need-of-reassurance in a nest box with her when she had a younger brood, so I imagine she took him under her wing on the roost. The youngsters seem to learn quickly that she's the matriarch and she will protect them when (for whatever reason) their mum's not doing so.

 

[ManueB]

From what she said it seemed to me that @ManueB might concur with the line 'there's only two things that money can't buy, and that's true love and home grown tomatoes'

Love the song! Though I think most of the things I really want, can't be bought, unfortunately. Actually, it's hard to think of something I'd really want to buy if I suddenly had plenty of money. I have everything I want that money can buy.

I have a sort of light hangover, which hasn't happened to me in a very long time . Those people drink a lot, and I've drastically reduced my alcohol consumption. Anyway it's not like we were going to do much work in that heat.

Cannelle is slowly fading away. She is mostly unconscious. She woke up once this morning, ate a big piece of bread, pooped a bit, and dragged herself to the second coop in the nest ox where they lay. But of course she didn't lay and I brought her back to her resting spot, where she is every now and then bothered by Piou-piou, Merle, and the chicks.

I didn't update on Théo, because there hasn't been much change. As long as he stays out of Gaston's sight, he can hang out with the hens that chose to come see him ( mostly Nougat, Blanche Chipie and Lilly) , eventually mate them, bring them to the nest box. However if Gaston sees him Théo's hair go straight up, he starts screaming and Gaston chases him. If I call Gaston telling him to stop, he listens most of the time. At roost time Théo gets thrown out of the coop two or three times- basically Gaston accepts him after all or almost all the hens are on their roosts.

I keep wondering how they do this. Piou-piou normally lays in the woodshed but Léa was already there and she is terrified of her. She actually found Merle's nest to lay, which is completely hidden under Irises and Vine leaves. How did she know ?

 

[Perris]

I have everything I want that money can buy.

what a wonderful position to be in

Cannelle is slowly fading away.

with her friends and family around, in peace and quiet. Best way imo.

She actually found Merle's nest to lay, which is completely hidden under Irises and Vine leaves. How did she know ?

They watch each other. They may not spot it immediately, but I've noticed that if a hen keeps disappearing somewhere, sooner or later someone follows and investigates. Killay has been trying to get various girls to lay in Polka's principal roost (i.e. not the flower pot, not the new one last light, but the one she's been occupying these past 6 weeks), but they're not buying it (thankfully! it's impossible to get to without doing some lopping).

 

[MaryJanet]

Actually, it's hard to think of something I'd really want to buy if I suddenly had plenty of money. I have everything I want that money can buy.

I wouldn't say no to paying off my mortgage and buying a house for my brother and finishing off the house's renovations. But that's all.

 

[MaryJanet]

Congrats on the featured article @Perris !