Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[Perris]

A strange scene. Théo staying with Blanche in the coop while Gaston and Nougat come to check on broody Merle.

It may be strange there but I think it's a lovely scene; a couple of roos in close proximity, each doing their own thing, each with female company. If only it was like that all the time!

 

[ManueB]

It may be strange there but I think it's a lovely scene; a couple of roos in close proximity, each doing their own thing, each with female company. If only it was like that all the time!

Just the fact that it happens sometimes, makes me feel relieved, and think that I wasn't totally wrong to keep both Théo and Gaston. But then like just now, I hear Théo screeching from my window and see him flying away with a bunch of torn feathers on the ground .

Théo is still not completely recovered. He stands on one foot most of the time, and often looks lethargic. I've checked again and again : the broken nail is totally clean, there is no swelling, no heat, he doesn't limp, no hint at all of what is going on. If he is not better in a week maybe we will take him to the vet.

I mentioned Chipie started laying again. These last 8 days she has laid 4 tiny eggs, one every other day. Unlike last year, they are perfectly shaped and shelled, so they could most likely be hatched, but we will resist the temptation as we are convinced having less chickens will be better both for them and for us.
Her eggs weigh 30g : @BDutch , is that similar to your bantam eggs, or are they even smaller ? I can't imagine how tiny the chicks would be.

Thunderstorm this weekend, and Blanche is now in the crate in the coop. She is sliding into unconsciousness on and off.

Standing on both feet for once.

Yesterday before the rain.

 

[BDutch]

Some eggs if my bantams. My chickens are a little bigger than a pigeon.

 

[ManueB]

View attachment 3786381
Some eggs if my bantams. My chickens are a little bigger than a pigeon.

Well, Chipie is the size of a pigeon also . I think she may be smaller than the city pigeons ! But small in size doesn't mean small in temper ...

We have had steady rain almost non stop from friday at noon, to this morning (90 ml total). This has been the most rainy month we have had since we came here. It was a tough time for the chickens who stayed inside mostly. Théo really wanted to stay inside the coop but Gaston was not tolerating him ; so Théo stayed perched on a roost most of the two days.
I was worried he was getting worse but today with the sun, he did a lot better so I guess some of his attitude is due to being depressed.

Anyway today was sunny and the chickens made the most of it.

Blanche survived the rainy week-end and we were glad that we could take her for a little time in the sun today, even if most of it was spent sleeping.

The grass hasn't really began to grow back yet but the rain turned everything green. It feels like spring !

 

[ManueB]

Parasites, oh no !!!
About two weeks ago, I noticed that my chickens were preening excessively and found since almost every morning three or four feathers under the roost.
I was thinking red mites most likely, so I did all the usual checks and didn't see a single one.
I checked for lice on the chickens that seemed to preen the most and found nothing. Well, I spotted one louse on Blanche and one on Nieva and that was it.
Since the rain Nieva has been acting off, sleeping too much, and laying less. And while her feathers have always been ratty, I noticed they are now even more sparse. So I caught her and checked again absolutely everywhere. And in the only place I hadn't thought to check before, I found a massive lice infestation. They were underneath her body in the fluff between her legs, and on her legs on the hocks and just above, where the feathers begin.

I freaked out and checked all the chickens (except Laure who is impossible to catch). Sadly, in the exact same place, Blanche was also covered in lice. I also saw a lot on Alba, and a few on Kara and Théo. But my guess is that all the chickens I've seen preening a lot have an issue even if I can't see the lice.
My partner happened to be on the way to the agricultural store to collect potatoes for planting, so he bought a huge can of pyrethrin powder and we thoroughly dusted half the chickens yesterday night and the other half today.
I'm really upset that I missed this again. I am beginning to think the lice they have don't belong to the common chicken lice specie, but could be fluff lice. They are extremely tiny and they almost don't move, and when they do they are slow, so they are very hard to spot. In fact my partner did not see them at all unless I specifically pointed them out.
https://www.veterinaryentomology.org/chicken-lice

I suppose it's not what is killing Blanche but it must definitely have made worse . And it's probably what's affecting Kara and Nieva, who have been acting a bit off for a few days.
The powder instructions say to power twice a week apart, but I think I will do it again in three days for those three.

To end this on a lighter note : I baked a cake that unfortunately came out really stodgy for tea. We call those in french "étouffe chrétien", "christian strangler". But when Blanche saw the cake (she was on my partner's knees) her eyes lit, she snatched a piece, and she ate it , which was the first time she ate more than a clover in four days . And she actually even had two more bites ! So it was a sort of success.

This dude is definitely getting better even if he sometimes still stands on one foot.

This is my chickens special power. Pace up and down the netting until they find a place where it's slack enough to raise slightly with their head and crawl under.

Still broody and thrown out op the coop today to finally see the sun for an hour.

 

[Perris]

good luck with the lice-dusting!

Pace up and down the netting until they find a place where it's slack enough to raise slightly with their head and crawl under.

sneaky! but isn't that sort of netting supposed to be electrified?

 

[MaryJanet]

Parasites, oh no !!!
About two weeks ago, I noticed that my chickens were preening excessively and found since almost every morning three or four feathers under the roost.
I was thinking red mites most likely, so I did all the usual checks and didn't see a single one.
I checked for lice on the chickens that seemed to preen the most and found nothing. Well, I spotted one louse on Blanche and one on Nieva and that was it.
Since the rain Nieva has been acting off, sleeping too much, and laying less. And while her feathers have always been ratty, I noticed they are now even more sparse. So I caught her and checked again absolutely everywhere. And in the only place I hadn't thought to check before, I found a massive lice infestation. They were underneath her body in the fluff between her legs, and on her legs on the hocks and just above, where the feathers begin.

I freaked out and checked all the chickens (except Laure who is impossible to catch). Sadly, in the exact same place, Blanche was also covered in lice. I also saw a lot on Alba, and a few on Kara and Théo. But my guess is that all the chickens I've seen preening a lot have an issue even if I can't see the lice.
My partner happened to be on the way to the agricultural store to collect potatoes for planting, so he bought a huge can of pyrethrin powder and we thoroughly dusted half the chickens yesterday night and the other half today.
I'm really upset that I missed this again. I am beginning to think the lice they have don't belong to the common chicken lice specie, but could be fluff lice. They are extremely tiny and they almost don't move, and when they do they are slow, so they are very hard to spot. In fact my partner did not see them at all unless I specifically pointed them out.
https://www.veterinaryentomology.org/chicken-lice

I suppose it's not what is killing Blanche but it must definitely have made worse . And it's probably what's affecting Kara and Nieva, who have been acting a bit off for a few days.
The powder instructions say to power twice a week apart, but I think I will do it again in three days for those three.

To end this on a lighter note : I baked a cake that unfortunately came out really stodgy for tea. We call those in french "étouffe chrétien", "christian strangler". But when Blanche saw the cake (she was on my partner's knees) her eyes lit, she snatched a piece, and she ate it , which was the first time she ate more than a clover in four days . And she actually even had two more bites ! So it was a sort of success.
View attachment 3790509
This dude is definitely getting better even if he sometimes still stands on one foot.
View attachment 3790514
This is my chickens special power. Pace up and down the netting until they find a place where it's slack enough to raise slightly with their head and crawl under.
View attachment 3790517View attachment 3790519View attachment 3790520

Still broody and thrown out op the coop today to finally see the sun for an hour.
View attachment 3790522
View attachment 3790524

So glad Blanche ate a few bites! She'll feel much better without the lice.

 

[BDutch]

Good you did find the lice while they were so hard to see. Did you find feather lice or something else?

Chickens and treats, the perfect combination.

 

[ManueB]

sneaky! but isn't that sort of netting supposed to be electrified?

Some is electrified and some isn't. Theoretically, if you are just trying to keep chickens in, it doesn't need to be.
We are finally putting up a fence around the chicken yard, where the useless netting is. But we will have doors on every side, so that the chickens will be able to get out when we don't need to contain them away from the garden.

Good you did find the lice while they were so hard to see. Did you find feather lice or something else?

Fluff lice I think, which are a less common type of feather lice : https://www.veterinaryentomology.org/chicken-lice.
*********
More on creepy crawlies.
Blanche took a long time to wake up ; I checked her as soon as she did. She was covered all over, mostly with dead lice, but there was still many alive. Either they hatched during the night or some escaped to places on her body that were free of pyrethrin powder. So thinking that anyway she doesn't have many days to live, I pulled out the heavy artillery and used a drop of a dog spot-on suggested by the vet - the infamous Permethrin and Fipronil mix. While I think this will kill almost all the live lice, it won't help with the eggs, so I guess I will need to dust her again daily.
We will really have to question ourselves about euthanasia if she is still alive when my partner stops working on Sunday. Though it doesn't seem fair for a little hen that has surprised us so many times by surviving when we were sure she would die.

Changing subject. Looking up chicken stuff on the web, I came upon the website of a french breeder who does things differently. Her first focus was Brahmas, but now she has mostly cross breeds with an intent on resistance and fun looks (colours, crests, muffs..). I thought of you @Perris because she sells most of her adults as families ; here is her page translated with Google.. She says one of the family has been roosting by choice in trees for a whole year, without any loss ! (She does have a lot of losses during the day as like us, most of her predators come from the sky).
She also ships and sells fertilised eggs. They are very expensive, but the adult chickens are on the higher range of usual prices. A different business model.

 

[BDutch]

Fluff lice I think, which are a less common type of feather lice : https://www.veterinaryentomology.org/chicken-lice.

In this article I came across this info too:

Diatomaceous earth (DE) can be used to achieve louse control. A safe and effective way to apply diatomaceous earth is to mix it with sand and allow the birds to dustbathe in the mixture. Mix ~6 cups of food grade DE with ~25 lbs (½ bag) washed play sand in a plastic container (swimming pool or concrete mixing bin) (Fig. 4).

Thought it might help Blanche after the poisonous treatment. I don’t know if she lays eggs anymore, but you should discard them after using fipronil/permetrin for your own health.

******
Today was on the news your government is going to forbid the use of PFAS for consumers (cosmetics and clothing). Such a good thing. Id wish my government was that wise too. But here they always choose short time profit over health.

Last weekend there was a tv program where they interviewed backyard chicken keepers and people who do lab research. Lots of people were sending in eggs to check on PFAS from all over the country. It seems that 40% of the eggs from backyard chickens are contaminated to a dangerous level if you eat an egg daily. And the places with high levels of PFAS often were not where they would have expected it.

Tintin the adopted, spoiled brat with 2 mothers.