Doesn’t ring a bell. I don’t have a fb account.
Nice to hear from Beautiful-foot (Pied-Beau) again Manue.
Théo and the chickens des Sauches
- Thread starter ManueB
- Start date
Nice to hear from Beautiful-foot (Pied-Beau) again Manue.
The dramatization of the news has become the norm here in the British media. Alarms for this, warnings for that, it's no wonder some people have become terrified of their own shadow. It's not as if we can do much about the weather. I've worked outside in worse conditions than the recent storms that have bothered the UK.
The tribes in Catalonia couldn't. The lot at the field can't either. We had at least a dozen walnut trees most of which fruited. Mostly the chickens ate walnuts that had been broken open by the wild boar, or the sheep and donkeys when they trod on them.
I've tried this and it didn't work for me. Either the chicken dropped the food and leaf, or they felt me approaching and darted off just as I bent down to catch them.
One of my favourite memories is a New Order gigwe call them 'spent' - an even worse word than 'used' for hens that are barely 2 years old (if that)
he's such a good chap! I imagine he was pleased to add 10 to his retinue
Your link to Depeche Mode sent me back to the 80s too. This was one of my favorites of that era/style
- Thread starter
- #2,876
Yes, I read that term and I don't like it.
We called them "poule de réforme" which is the word used for military retirement. It's nicer and quite appropriate in a way, I think.
I should have explained more. No, they didn't crack full round walnuts. I don't think any chicken could do that, as the nut would roll away. They cracked walnuts that had natural or worm made small holes in their shell, or nuts that have a slit as they are beginning to open. Like these :
My chickens, who only have access to one young walnut tree that yields less than fifty nuts a year, do not know how to do that. But at Gaston's place the ground was literally covered in nuts. There were hundreds or maybe thousands of them. AND it had rained after the nuts fell, and many of them were half buried and stuck in. I think that's why they managed that trick, because otherwise, like at our place, Gaston's farm is on a slope and the nuts would just roll down as soon as the chickens pecked them.
Their tactic was to enlarge the hole or the slit until they could grab the nut in their beak. Then they slapped it hard on the floor several times, just like when they kill a mouse. One of the red hybrid that looked the most terrible was really fun to watch - as soon as she managed to grab a nut, she went sprinting far away from the others to safely "kill" her prey and keep it all to herself.
RC, the nuts we get here are easy to open by hand when fresh. But when I want to give a lot to the chickens and my hands dont agree, I have a big heavy stone and I just smash them to pieces and give them everything. They sort out the nut from the shell.
When I was in the 80's I felt like nothing good could come after Ian Curtis died but now I keep humming their songs and I even like them a lotOne of my favourite memories is a New Order gig
.Another Mediterranean episode forecasted and this time they are telling people not to panic. There was just a drizzle today so the chickens still enjoyed the weather ! It is very warm for this time of year. We still have loads of courgettes and tomatoes. I even got green beans from the rows I planted at the end of August, that had been ruined by the hail.
I didn't mention it, but "our" boar has been shot. Our neighbour is captain of one of the hunting team and we were at least three houses that had major damage from this boar. He tracked and killed him three weeks ago, with one of the young village teen that just had his hunting license this summer. The electrical ribbon we had put around the vegetable garden had done it's job though ; the boar had not been back in the garden, but we saw that he had breached a few times the property 's fence.
I've been finding a very tiny touch of blood in many of the chicken's droppings and especially Kara. She is not acting really off, but like often, she rests a lot more than the other chickens and is the first in bed at night. This morning she found a huge slug and a big chicken chase ensued. She didn't manage to keep it, but I'm not sure who ate it in the end.
I'm having network issues so can't post all pictures. Anyway my phone takes blurry pictures as soon as it's rainy !
Group nap.
Angry Léa. Even when she's done she doesn't want any hen to lay in her nest !
Moulting Lilly.
Annette digging.
Laure's comb is now very pale as expected from the implant.
Lilly again.
love the nut story! we only have hazels and the chickens show no interest in those the squirrels either leave or bury. Also glad to read that the boar threat is over for you. The photos are fab, as always; it seems your battle with bumblefoot is never-ending.
Thanks for the walnut explanation. I have black walnuts. They are very difficult to crack and if handled they stain your skin dark brown.Yes, I read that term and I don't like it.
We called them "poule de réforme" which is the word used for military retirement. It's nicer and quite appropriate in a way, I think.
I should have explained more. No, they didn't crack full round walnuts. I don't think any chicken could do that, as the nut would roll away. They cracked walnuts that had natural or worm made small holes in their shell, or nuts that have a slit as they are beginning to open. Like these :
View attachment 3972552
My chickens, who only have access to one young walnut tree that yields less than fifty nuts a year, do not know how to do that. But at Gaston's place the ground was literally covered in nuts. There were hundreds or maybe thousands of them. AND it had rained after the nuts fell, and many of them were half buried and stuck in. I think that's why they managed that trick, because otherwise, like at our place, Gaston's farm is on a slope and the nuts would just roll down as soon as the chickens pecked them.
Their tactic was to enlarge the hole or the slit until they could grab the nut in their beak. Then they slapped it hard on the floor several times, just like when they kill a mouse. One of the red hybrid that looked the most terrible was really fun to watch - as soon as she managed to grab a nut, she went sprinting far away from the others to safely "kill" her prey and keep it all to herself.
RC, the nuts we get here are easy to open by hand when fresh. But when I want to give a lot to the chickens and my hands dont agree, I have a big heavy stone and I just smash them to pieces and give them everything. They sort out the nut from the shell.
When I was in the 80's I felt like nothing good could come after Ian Curtis died but now I keep humming their songs and I even like them a lot
Another Mediterranean episode forecasted and this time they are telling people not to panic. There was just a drizzle today so the chickens still enjoyed the weather ! It is very warm for this time of year. We still have loads of courgettes and tomatoes. I even got green beans from the rows I planted at the end of August, that had been ruined by the hail.
I didn't mention it, but "our" boar has been shot. Our neighbour is captain of one of the hunting team and we were at least three houses that had major damage from this boar. He tracked and killed him three weeks ago, with one of the young village teen that just had his hunting license this summer. The electrical ribbon we had put around the vegetable garden had done it's job though ; the boar had not been back in the garden, but we saw that he had breached a few times the property 's fence.
I've been finding a very tiny touch of blood in many of the chicken's droppings and especially Kara. She is not acting really off, but like often, she rests a lot more than the other chickens and is the first in bed at night. This morning she found a huge slug and a big chicken chase ensued. She didn't manage to keep it, but I'm not sure who ate it in the end.
I'm having network issues so can't post all pictures. Anyway my phone takes blurry pictures as soon as it's rainy !
Group nap.
View attachment 3972551
Angry Léa. Even when she's done she doesn't want any hen to lay in her nest !
View attachment 3972553
Moulting Lilly.
View attachment 3972554
Annette digging.
View attachment 3972568View attachment 3972569View attachment 3972571
Laure's comb is now very pale as expected from the implant.
View attachment 3972572
Lilly again.
View attachment 3972574
The squirrels are able to deal with them but that is about it. Some people put them on the road, cover them with a steel plate and drive over them. I haven’t tried that!
In the Netherlands we would say ‘afgedankt’ . Meaning thank you we don’t need you anymore in an unfriendly way.
Google translates the word to discarded or écarté
Congrats this must be a relief.
I knew you were considering electric fencing but cant remember you actually put up an electrical ribbon. Are you keeping it wired to avoid future trespassers?
We have extreme nice weather here this afternoon, this last day with summertime.
What a bummer?
Are you sure the red is not from the tomato peels? And their behaviour is not from moulting?
Im jealous. Last year we had a slug plague her.
If my chickens would eat slugs we wouldn’t have had a slug problem. The ate all our zucchini’s and pumpkin plants. And a lot of chic feed too.- Thread starter
- #2,880
Yep. Maybe you remember I didn't treat Lilly's abscess on top of her foot right away because she was moulting too much. Now she has enough feathers so as not to feel like a porcupine, she has bumblefoot on the other foot as well.
Just when Kara is healed, Alba has it again and Nieva is beginning to as well.
Our ground is very rocky and full of buried old small trash, so it's probably a problem that will be permanent. We've changed the whole setting in the coop and sanded again any wood that was a bit harsh, so I can now rule out that the set up in the coop would be the cause.
The four hens I bought keep getting it and none of my other chickens do, although they do get other type of foot and ankle problems. So, I've come to think either they have a genetic predisposition for it, or because they did not grow up here, their foot soles have not cured enough to be safe from small injuries.
It's common for heavier hens like Kara and Lilly, on but not as much for lightweight leghorns like Alba and Nieva.
I didn't post about the choice we had made in the end. Light plastic posts that we can take off in winter, ribbon and a powerful plug-in energizer that we can switch on and off from our kitchen. It worked very well and was very convenient, so we will keep exactly that. It's still on, because we have quite a few veggies in the garden and the common experience around here is that where one boar has been others will come.
My only regret is that the energizer's level of power isn't adjustable, otherwise we could have used it to keep the chickens out of the garden, instead of fencing them in their yard . I might get a second lighter one for next year.
No. It's mostly Kara and she has a long term issue which is linked to a reproductive problem- remember, my partner took her twice to the vet.
Her behaviour isn't unusual for her. She has periods when she is more active and periods when she seems very tired and not mobile.
She is almost over moulting and she began acting like this almost a year ago now.
****************
We had a lot of rain as forecasted. Luckily it was regular during 24h so we only have light damage, old terrace dry walls tumbling down. 100 ml total of rain which is a lot for here, and October overall has been very rainy
The chickens were totally unhappy about it. Most of them did not go in the rain, except Lulu and Annette, the two younger chickens that don't mind getting soaked.
Some of the chickens stayed in the coop, they wouldn't even stay in the covered run, like Laure and Chipie !
Today it's a beautiful sunny day and the chickens are utterly happy that the sun is back !
Léa is broody. I'm trying to block her as much as possible from going in the nest without crating her for too long, so hopefully it will not last for three weeks as usual. She hasn't finished moulting, she needs a tail back, and when she sits she eats very little, so I would prefer if she quickly broke out of it.
Although she feels very heavy now, she has put some weight on to prepare for sitting obviously!
I'm feeling sorry for Gaston whose moult doesn't seem to be going well. He has irritated skin and bloody quills that don't seem to grow properly on his neck and bum. He is grouchy and tired. He doesn't let any of the hens sleep next to him now except Lulu, he pecks all the others hard to make them go. I remember he did this last year with Blanche and Nougat during the moult too, but this year it's far worse. I hope it doesn't last too long !
And I'm a bit disturbed again to see how early the chickens are going to roost, especially now we've switched time. I get it when the weather is crappy, but today it's gorgeous and sunny, and they are already wanting to roost at thirty past three ! It won't be night before six. And then they spend a lot of time quarrelling on the roosts because they don't fall asleep before at least five. I'm hesitant to use the fact that I keep the coop locked in the afternoon so that Léa will not access her nest, to force them to stay out a bit longer.
The only photo I have from Saturday! A terrible one to prove Lulu did not fear drowning.
Sunday, drizzle all day.
Sick of rainy weather.
Théo gets wet quickly with his long mane.
Today.
Merle's nest.
Lilly.
Annette
Laure
Annette surprised me. I did not realise before this picture she is moulting.
Dustbathing in the tunnel.
Piou-piou laid three eggs in a row, had not happened for the last two months.
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