Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[Perris]

Congrats on the featured article @Perris !

thank you!

 

[RoyalChick]

Congrats on the featured article @Perris !

Yes @Perris it was good to see that when I logged on this morning. None of the diehard commercial feed folk have commented yet.
I read it again - it really is very good.

 

[Perris]

Yes @Perris it was good to see that when I logged on this morning. None of the diehard commercial feed folk have commented yet.
I read it again - it really is very good.

thank you RC; glad it didn't disappoint 2nd time round!

 

[ManueB]

what a wonderful position to be in

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.

I was pondering this and thinking for many people, if they are not really short on money, as you age you want money to realize your life projects, but not really to buy things anymore.

Spoiler: Very long personal random rambling about money in my family and how lucky I came to be in this position.

Very long personal random rambling about money in my family and how lucky I came to be in this position.
I am fully aware that I am the lucky product of the social injustice that makes it a lot more easy in France to make and save money when your family already has some. All my grand parents were upper middle class. My father's father was a well-off wine merchant, but he was very ill and died of leucemia when my dad was twenty and had just met my mum. So my parents started adult life with a large inheritance (I'm sure they would have preferred not to in this case). Out of the blue, my dad turned out to be a mathematical genius in his very narrow field of non-euclidean geometrical algebra that about 200 people in the world understand, and he made a very good academic career. Many academics in France are desperate about low salaries and fundings, compared to the US and other European countries. But all he needs for his abstract research is a pen and paper so he never had the need to dive into the hell of spending huge amounts of time looking for funds, and he was pretty well paid, especially taking into account the various extras getting invited and paid all over the world. Before it became a right wing meme here, I use to kid him about the inverse ratio of how much he was paid compared to the social usefulness of his work . My mum made up for it as she never stopped working as a unionist first then in various social organisations.
Starting life having a good amount of money, their two salaries, the fact that they were both extremely thrifty, and a lot of luck the three times they bought and later sold homes, meant they had far, far more money than they needed, and money makes money. My brother and I both started working in our early 20s. About eight years after, my parents decided to donate to us all the spare money they had, rather than wait to die. Since we had both been earning money and not spending much for years, and with no children, and no loans, we both had already set aside quite a nice sum and this allowed us to buy without any credit, him a house and me a flat. I was even able to buy a smaller flat a few years later. And having no rent to pay meant I could save about half of my salary every month.
And that is how twelve years after I was able to quit my job, which was the one thing that money could buy that I really wanted, and come live here, as my partner's father lets us live in this place for free as long as we take care of house and land.

Before we elected Macron president, my parents used to pay what was called "impôt special sur la fortune" , a special fortune tax (they were just above the low limit) and that used to concern more or less 1% fiscal homes. Macron suppressed it and created a new tax that concern about half of those, the middle and upper part. So much for trying to make people believe he still had social aspects at heart !
Stopping to pay this tax since 2018 has meant saving enough money for my mum to buy a small one room flat in Nice she lends to a social association to help people with housing. They would have preferred to keep on paying that tax.

And although I feel very lucky that things were so easy for me, I don't think it's right, as it indirectly means they are so hard for a very large number of people.

Back to chicken but first I need to know- @Perris where did Fez roost last night ?

Cannelle was still able to eat yesterday, she had tiny pieces of rice, chicken ham, scrambled eggs, and bread. But today her system is shutting down, she is still attracted to food but she doesn't really manages to eat. Same for moving. We are trying to do as she pleases and not bother her too much. She did come around when we handed a plate of rice with eggs to the chicks and Piou-piou, and participated weakly in the ensuing chaos, reminding them that they were only allowed to eat because she agreed to let them.

I said I didn't expect my ex-batts to make it through summer. I will miss Cannelle- I would say she is one of my favorite, if I was to admit I have some preferences between the chickens.

It also dawned on me that if, or rather when, Blanche and Nougat will come to pass, we won't have any ex-batts anymore. So I'm not saying it loud to my partner yet, but it makes me feel a bit sad. Life isn't always long and easy for the chickens here, and we certainly make a lot of mistakes, and we keep making them, but it's heaven compared to living in a battery. If and if and if...the chicks all turn out to be cockerels...if we keep only one pullet from that batch...if we don't have illness in the flock...and if all stars align... Maybe we could give it another try.

Also, I was talking with my partner about this integration thing and we agreed that while getting the four adult pullets was a disaster health wise, socially, it's actually working out quite well. Since Gaston is king, the groups of hens mingle. That doesn't mean it goes smoothly, there is a lot of bickering and pecking and reminding who's the boss, but it's safe to say that the three groups (two ex-batts, three of Chipie's hatch, and four new pullets) now spend most of their time together. They still hang out with their initial group every now and then, but most of the times it's not possible to see to which group they belong.

Kara comes out of the chicken yard flying over this wall and she comes back in flying down.

Only 16 days after weaning the chicks, Léa is making broody sounds again !

Cannelle enjoying a bit of sun this morning.

Merle, Kara, Alba, and out of the picture Nougat and Léa dustbathing together.

We've given up on locking up Piou-piou and witholding her from dustbathing. We just keep her separated from the roosters as much as possible. She mostly doesn't try to go to Gaston, but sometimes he jumps over the netting and if we're not quick enough he runs on her to mate as soon as he sees her.

 

[Perris]

the inverse ratio of how much he was paid compared to the social usefulness of his work

mathematical theory might seem useless but non-Euclidean geometry is everywhere in real life!

first I need to know- @Perris where did Fez roost last night ?

I'm pleased to report that Polka and he spent the night in their usual inaccessible nest Less happily, while wandering about looking for them to make sure Fez got some mealworms for breakfast before I let the rest out, I discovered Frida roosted on the backrest of the bench on the terrace

 

[Perris]

update: I don't know how chickens can forecast the weather, if they can, but we've been told there's a storm coming in tonight, and it's coming from the SE, which is the only direction to which her established nest is exposed. So is it just coincidence that tonight Polka and Fez were camped on the log pile under the walkway?

Anyway, with a little encouragement, Polka decided to go in one of the coops, and tried to call Fez in, but to no avail, so she left that one and went into the large one (where he slept without her the other night) and coo-ed for a full 20 minutes to encourage him in. After lots of round, under, and over the coop, plus two complete circuits of the garden with me in pursuit with a long stick (to get him out of any borders he might duck into), he finally went up the ramp and in

 

[MaryJanet]

I was pondering this and thinking for many people, if they are not really short on money, as you age you want money to realize your life projects, but not really to buy things anymore.

Spoiler: Very long personal random rambling about money in my family and how lucky I came to be in this position.

Very long personal random rambling about money in my family and how lucky I came to be in this position.
I am fully aware that I am the lucky product of the social injustice that makes it a lot more easy in France to make and save money when your family already has some. All my grand parents were upper middle class. My father's father was a well-off wine merchant, but he was very ill and died of leucemia when my dad was twenty and had just met my mum. So my parents started adult life with a large inheritance (I'm sure they would have preferred not to in this case). Out of the blue, my dad turned out to be a mathematical genius in his very narrow field of non-euclidean geometrical algebra that about 200 people in the world understand, and he made a very good academic career. Many academics in France are desperate about low salaries and fundings, compared to the US and other European countries. But all he needs for his abstract research is a pen and paper so he never had the need to dive into the hell of spending huge amounts of time looking for funds, and he was pretty well paid, especially taking into account the various extras getting invited and paid all over the world. Before it became a right wing meme here, I use to kid him about the inverse ratio of how much he was paid compared to the social usefulness of his work . My mum made up for it as she never stopped working as a unionist first then in various social organisations.
Starting life having a good amount of money, their two salaries, the fact that they were both extremely thrifty, and a lot of luck the three times they bought and later sold homes, meant they had far, far more money than they needed, and money makes money. My brother and I both started working in our early 20s. About eight years after, my parents decided to donate to us all the spare money they had, rather than wait to die. Since we had both been earning money and not spending much for years, and with no children, and no loans, we both had already set aside quite a nice sum and this allowed us to buy without any credit, him a house and me a flat. I was even able to buy a smaller flat a few years later. And having no rent to pay meant I could save about half of my salary every month.
And that is how twelve years after I was able to quit my job, which was the one thing that money could buy that I really wanted, and come live here, as my partner's father lets us live in this place for free as long as we take care of house and land.

Before we elected Macron president, my parents used to pay what was called "impôt special sur la fortune" , a special fortune tax (they were just above the low limit) and that used to concern more or less 1% fiscal homes. Macron suppressed it and created a new tax that concern about half of those, the middle and upper part. So much for trying to make people believe he still had social aspects at heart !
Stopping to pay this tax since 2018 has meant saving enough money for my mum to buy a small one room flat in Nice she lends to a social association to help people with housing. They would have preferred to keep on paying that tax.

And although I feel very lucky that things were so easy for me, I don't think it's right, as it indirectly means they are so hard for a very large number of people.

Back to chicken but first I need to know- @Perris where did Fez roost last night ?

Cannelle was still able to eat yesterday, she had tiny pieces of rice, chicken ham, scrambled eggs, and bread. But today her system is shutting down, she is still attracted to food but she doesn't really manages to eat. Same for moving. We are trying to do as she pleases and not bother her too much. She did come around when we handed a plate of rice with eggs to the chicks and Piou-piou, and participated weakly in the ensuing chaos, reminding them that they were only allowed to eat because she agreed to let them.

I said I didn't expect my ex-batts to make it through summer. I will miss Cannelle- I would say she is one of my favorite, if I was to admit I have some preferences between the chickens.

It also dawned on me that if, or rather when, Blanche and Nougat will come to pass, we won't have any ex-batts anymore. So I'm not saying it loud to my partner yet, but it makes me feel a bit sad. Life isn't always long and easy for the chickens here, and we certainly make a lot of mistakes, and we keep making them, but it's heaven compared to living in a battery. If and if and if...the chicks all turn out to be cockerels...if we keep only one pullet from that batch...if we don't have illness in the flock...and if all stars align... Maybe we could give it another try.

Also, I was talking with my partner about this integration thing and we agreed that while getting the four adult pullets was a disaster health wise, socially, it's actually working out quite well. Since Gaston is king, the groups of hens mingle. That doesn't mean it goes smoothly, there is a lot of bickering and pecking and reminding who's the boss, but it's safe to say that the three groups (two ex-batts, three of Chipie's hatch, and four new pullets) now spend most of their time together. They still hang out with their initial group every now and then, but most of the times it's not possible to see to which group they belong.

View attachment 3575526
Kara comes out of the chicken yard flying over this wall and she comes back in flying down.
View attachment 3575527View attachment 3575528
Only 16 days after weaning the chicks, Léa is making broody sounds again !
View attachment 3575530View attachment 3575532View attachment 3575534View attachment 3575535
Cannelle enjoying a bit of sun this morning.
View attachment 3575536View attachment 3575537View attachment 3575538View attachment 3575539View attachment 3575540
Merle, Kara, Alba, and out of the picture Nougat and Léa dustbathing together.
View attachment 3575541View attachment 3575542View attachment 3575544View attachment 3575546
We've given up on locking up Piou-piou and witholding her from dustbathing. We just keep her separated from the roosters as much as possible. She mostly doesn't try to go to Gaston, but sometimes he jumps over the netting and if we're not quick enough he runs on her to mate as soon as he sees her.
View attachment 3575547View attachment 3575549

Thanks for sharing that personal story. Mine's not like your's.

Here's a list. I grew up in a single parent family, in a housing trust house, not great schools (I was bored stiff in huge classes, didn't bother applying myself, no one called me out on it), mum had a chronic mental health problem, Dad went into great debt providing for her medical care (before Australia had it covered), they divorced when her cruelty towards and neglect of my brother became apparent, the maternal grandparents challenged Dad in court for custody of us, he went into yet more debt fighting them off, he was the first man granted custody of his kids by the newly formed family court. I finished high school and worked in a shop, then was unemployed for a year, worked in a factory, then another factory, then uni. Now I'm an academic. I feel I really earned any privileges being an academic bestows (I'm at a point where my money is making more money - although it wouldn't be anything like what you're used to) and I often feel as though I speak in terms that are unrecognised by my colleagues, who can't relate with precision when I speak of, for example, hunger or justice. Lived experience of such things matters.

Anyway, I appreciate your understanding of your privilege and your efforts to undo a little of it through walking lightly on the Earth while cultivating and nourishing what you can of it. In those terms, terms that really matter, you are a successful person.

And sorry I rushed through the post, as usual for winter, I'm too slow out of bed and now I'm rushing

 

[ManueB]

Thanks for sharing that personal story. Mine's not like your's.

Here's a list. I grew up in a single parent family, in a housing trust house, not great schools (I was bored stiff in huge classes, didn't bother applying myself, no one called me out on it), mum had a chronic mental health problem, Dad went into great debt providing for her medical care (before Australia had it covered), they divorced when her cruelty towards and neglect of my brother became apparent, the maternal grandparents challenged Dad in court for custody of us, he went into yet more debt fighting them off, he was the first man granted custody of his kids by the newly formed family court. I finished high school and worked in a shop, then was unemployed for a year, worked in a factory, then another factory, then uni. Now I'm an academic. I feel I really earned any privileges being an academic bestows (I'm at a point where my money is making more money - although it wouldn't be anything like what you're used to) and I often feel as though I speak in terms that are unrecognised by my colleagues, who can't relate with precision when I speak of, for example, hunger or justice. Lived experience of such things matters.

Anyway, I appreciate your understanding of your privilege and your efforts to undo a little of it through walking lightly on the Earth while cultivating and nourishing what you can of it. In those terms, terms that really matter, you are a successful person.

And sorry I rushed through the post, as usual for winter, I'm too slow out of bed and now I'm rushing

Thanks for sharing too. Yes, you should be proud of what you've achieved, and I think your path sets an example to others.
It seems like your dad was a remarkable person. Maybe you got some of his persistence and strong will ?
And I'm glad you seem to love your work, which must feel rewarding.

I agree with you that lived experience makes you understand things differently. Theoretical expertise can be totally disconnected (which is useful in a sense).
Two things my parents taught me is that social status is completely unrelated to personal worth- as you say, it's your actions that count, and that academic intelligence and education doesn't always prevent people from being narrow minded.

update: I don't know how chickens can forecast the weather, if they can, but we've been told there's a storm coming in tonight, and it's coming from the SE, which is the only direction to which her established nest is exposed. So is it just coincidence that tonight Polka and Fez were camped on the log pile under the walkway?

Anyway, with a little encouragement, Polka decided to go in one of the coops, and tried to call Fez in, but to no avail, so she left that one and went into the large one (where he slept without her the other night) and coo-ed for a full 20 minutes to encourage him in. After lots of round, under, and over the coop, plus two complete circuits of the garden with me in pursuit with a long stick (to get him out of any borders he might duck into), he finally went up the ramp and in

Happy ending! I would have been very worried if he had stayed outside with Polka in ! That is a worry with free ranging chickens.
I'm lucky for the time being, apart from Chipie's first night, all of mine have never had the idea of sleeping outside.

I do believe they have some sense of weather forecast. I have no clue how !

mathematical theory might seem useless but non-Euclidean geometry is everywhere in real life!

My total inadequacy in maths would not allow me to ever make such a judgement on his work if he hadn't assured me every time I asked that what he does has absolutely no use.
I think if I understood right, non euclidean geometry could be considered an application of the geometrical algebra he does.

I don't believe we should only finance research that has direct applications. It's more that I believe social usefulness of difficult jobs that are not well considered should be taken into account for defining wages. COVID sort of highlighted this but I don't think salaries followed.

 

[Perris]

if he hadn't assured me every time I asked that what he does has absolutely no use.

he sounds like a true theoretician!

 

[Perris]

It's more that I believe social usefulness of difficult jobs that are not well considered should be taken into account for defining wages. COVID sort of highlighted this but I don't think salaries followed.

sadly capitalism doesn't work that way. It's nearing breaking point I fear.