Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[BDutch]

Piou-piou this morning after the first mating by Pied beau. She was locked up so long in this woodshed she still sees it as her safe place.

Pour Piou-piou. I rather lock up Pied beau with his behaviour until he can go to a better location.

Villages don't afford anonymity like big cities do. Village folks are almost obliged by circumstances to be over-sensitive about their reputations.

But weirdo’s live everywhere.

 

[ManueB]

Pour Piou-piou. I rather lock up Pied beau with his behaviour until he can go to a better location.

But he’s doing nothing wrong. Piou-piou gets wounded almost every time a rooster mates her, because her skin is completely naked. And now she is stressed again, she has plucked out the few new quill feathers that were coming in.
Pied beau hasn't hurt any of the other hens he has attempted to, or successfully mated. He’s a young cockerel, you can't expect him to try only with willing hens !
Lilly doesn't seem to mind, so he follows her around a lot. This morning I tried to leave him inside the chicken netting with Gaston, and he was panicked. Then Lilly showed him how to get out.

But weirdo’s live everywhere.

Yes, indeed. The difference is that here they are just a 100, compared to the 350 000 in Nice. And this has an impact on how people behave.

People are rarely 100% good or bad. For me it's very disturbing to see people I like behaving terribly. But the opposite also happen, people who are overall evil doing something good, and it's also very hard to accept.
*******

Update on the colloidal dressing : it was great. Alba’s feet were already pretty good : there is no doubt that the colloidal dressing at this stage is better than the plain corn dressing. It stayed very clean underneath after three days, there was no swelling at all where it was applied whereas sometimes the corn dressing will leave superficial swelling because of the weight that the hen puts on it. The foot that still has bumblefoot looked like it's close to healing. The colloidal dressing is also easier and quicker to apply and to take off, which is an advantage with struggling chickens. It doesn't leave any glue on, which some corn dressings do, and it needs less bandage to maintain which means it's more confortable for the chickens.
I’m waiting to see if it looks so fine on Nieva’s feet, which was less healed, but I think @RoyalChick you may have had a very good idea. And if it can really be left on four days, it would be a great help for people who have many chickens to tend, because when we had four of them with bumblefeet it felt overwhelming.

 

[RoyalChick]

But he’s doing nothing wrong. Piou-piou gets wounded almost every time a rooster mates her, because her skin is completely naked. And now she is stressed again, she has plucked out the few new quill feathers that were coming in.
Pied beau hasn't hurt any of the other hens he has attempted to, or successfully mated. He’s a young cockerel, you can't expect him to try only with willing hens !
Lilly doesn't seem to mind, so he follows her around a lot. This morning I tried to leave him inside the chicken netting with Gaston, and he was panicked. Then Lilly showed him how to get out.

Yes, indeed. The difference is that here they are just a 100, compared to the 350 000 in Nice. And this has an impact on how people behave.

People are rarely 100% good or bad. For me it's very disturbing to see people I like behaving terribly. But the opposite also happen, people who are overall evil doing something good, and it's also very hard to accept.
*******

Update on the colloidal dressing : it was great. Alba’s feet were already pretty good : there is no doubt that the colloidal dressing at this stage is better than the plain corn dressing. It stayed very clean underneath after three days, there was no swelling at all where it was applied whereas sometimes the corn dressing will leave superficial swelling because of the weight that the hen puts on it. The foot that still has bumblefoot looked like it's close to healing. The colloidal dressing is also easier and quicker to apply and to take off, which is an advantage with struggling chickens. It doesn't leave any glue on, which some corn dressings do, and it needs less bandage to maintain which means it's more confortable for the chickens.
I’m waiting to see if it looks so fine on Nieva’s feet, which was less healed, but I think @RoyalChick you may have had a very good idea. And if it can really be left on four days, it would be a great help for people who have many chickens to tend, because when we had four of them with bumblefeet it felt overwhelming.

I am so glad that the colloid dressing worked, and am very keen to see how Nieva's foot is doing.

 

[ManueB]

Nieva’s feet has not progressed as much as Alba. One is still quite swollen looking from above. It was good looking from underneath and the scabs look like they will come off almost by themselves next time. We decided to keep on with the colloid dressing changing it every three days, and not take the chance of extending for longer. It gains a lot of time because we’re not doing the extended soaking anymore, just cleaning in a short bath, as the colloidal gel keeps the scab moist. So I think it's a very good idea; I would not be sure however if it's possible to use one in the beginning, when there is a suspicion of infection that could spread.

I was worried for Piou-piou yesterday who opened her wound more and was terrified of Pied beau. We tried several things, stitch dressings, plain dressing, even colloidal dressing, under vet wrap, and she managed each time to pull the wrap and tear them away. Then I tried locking her in the woodshed, and she kept pecking at her wound and plucking her few quills feathers. It felt horribly like self mutilation ! So today, apart from the time I had to leave when I locked her up, I just staid with her all day making sure she didn't meet Pied Beau. She is still very afraid of him and cries and tries to hide as soon as she hears him. The wound is better. It's just a line, but it's quite deep in the middle, and it could easily open again. I’m not sure Théo would protect her against Pied Beau. He’s already as big as Gaston and when I pick him up I think he’s almost as heavy, and his nails are much sharper.

Also yesterday I found quite a lot of baby lice on Lilly. I think it may have been a week since I last checked her. Her feathers are so thick and soft and furnished that it's hard to see the base. I didn't manage to spot any eggs but babies means there must have been some. I sprayed her during the day with the dimethicone product, and put some neem oil at night all around her neck and vent. Today I didn't see anything on her. I’ll do the same things in five days. The chickens hate the spray, whereas it's very easy to put the oil on them while they are on the roost. But I think combining both is probably more efficient.

It's hard to say with Lilly if she is feeling good or not. Sometimes she looks completely apathetic, with eyes closed and mouth open, and then a few minutes after she flies over the first netting, jumps over the second and on to the compost, and then goes scratching in the garden like she means business. She is a very strange chicken. She never runs from the roosters, which mean all three mate her, and she’s bottom of the adult hens order, because she never pecks back. Sometimes I wonder as we say in French if she has all cases up there.

Tonight when he came back inside the chicken netting just before roosting, Pied beau tried again to mate Nougat, and got attacked by Gaston. He ran and was chased a bit. Then maybe five minutes later he did the same with Lilly! Gaston chased him more insistently. If he doesn't understand, he could be in trouble quickly. Petit Blanc’s departure had a dramatic effect on his hormones !

This week on two different mornings I found remains of dormouses that the cats had left, that were being eaten by the hens.
Today I found a baby dormouse had made it's home in the tiny bird house where we put bird feed so the cats can't reach them.

 

[lightm]

So sorry about Piou-Piou's wound.

 

[MaryJanet]

Has piou piou got a best friend among the hens who could go into the woodshed with her? Maybe two will be happier than one?

 

[Shadrach]

I'm so sad today after work I had to drink liquor...

I am afraid I have to vent here so I do apologize.

I'm in department of math and stat. My colleague wants to propose a new statistics course. It looks like sh*t to me. Think of proposing a class studying Shakespeare literature but requires no speaking English at all.

The logic: "No students want to take math ot Stat so let's water the programs waaay down. Have no standard. Don't require any prerequisite ever because it is all too hard for the students. "

That's right, don't ever teach them anything. Just be selfish and teach them easy and useless stuff.

Yes, mathematics and statistics are different subjects. I do not like any of my Stat colleagues. It sounds very offensive but truth is statistics people are often people who cannot handle math so they switch to the easy stat. Sigh. Of course there are great statisticians. I teach lots of Stat myself. It's more like 10% of mathematians are legit and only 1% of statisticians are legit.

Yes I'm one of those professors that students think tough and difficult.

Oh I ask for forgiveness with chickens pictures. View attachment 3645401View attachment 3645402View attachment 3645403View attachment 3645404View attachment 3645405View attachment 3645406View attachment 3645407View attachment 3645409

It's a similar problem here in the UK. The mathematics I had to learn for my degree seem very different to what gets taught now. We did some statistics but if one wanted to be a statistician one had to take a different degree profile. Now it seems both are mixed in together.

 

[ManueB]

Has piou piou got a best friend among the hens who could go into the woodshed with her? Maybe two will be happier than one?

The only chickens she likes are Gaston and now Théo .
She attacks or is attacked by all the hens.
I used to lock her up with the chicks, but now they are almost laying she attacks them as well.

 

[BDutch]

The only chickens she likes are Gaston and now Théo .
She attacks or is attacked by all the hens.
I used to lock her up with the chicks, but now they are almost laying she attacks them as well.

It’s quite normal a senior hen pecks the little ones if the get food or start to roost. O wouldn’t worry if its only a couple if pecks on the head.
Is she really attacking? Blood drawn?

You have so much trouble all the time while you really care for your chickens. It doesn’t make sense to me anymore.

 

[ManueB]

It’s quite normal a senior hen pecks the little ones if the get food or start to roost. O wouldn’t worry if its only a couple if pecks on the head.
Is she really attacking? Blood drawn?

You have so much trouble all the time while you really care for your chickens. It doesn’t make sense to me anymore.

No, attacking was not the correct term then ! She is just unfriendly. Piou-piou doesn't hurt anyone, except the two times she got into fights for dominance with Léa and Chipie. But MJ's proposition was to put a hen she likes with her in the woodshed for confort, so she wouldn't pluck her feathers and peck at her wound. I don't think locking her up with the chicks would be of any confort to her.
If I really needed to lock her up, if we were leaving for the whole day for example, I would probably put her with Théo and the chicks. But for now it's just to avoid that she gets mated by Gaston or Pied beau for a few days. If i’m around I can watch that they are not hanging out close to one another and that they are always in a zone separated by netting.

The wound is healing fine. If she doesn't get hurt again for two or three days it will be over.