Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[ManueB]

I need to read the papers again. The reason I have some confidence that the conclusions are correct is that the hen is being used as a model for human disease and is the main model used for research into human ovarian cancer.
A lot of work goes in to establishing good models of human disease and this seems to be the accepted one!
I am astonished that progesterone-only contraceptives are not available in France. I mean truly astonished.
The combination pills obviously work, but the oestrogen content is where the risk is in terms of thrombosis for example. So the finding that progesterone-only pills work was a major breakthrough for women's health and what allowed many countries to feel comfortable making contraceptive pills available at the pharmacy without a prescription. I don't think anyone would say pills including oestrogen would be safe enough for over the counter use!

Oh I did not make myself clear. They are available, of course, but they are rarely prescribed. Possibly it's a cost issue?

What's not available anymore are the so called third and fourth generation combined contraceptives, like the one I took for a decade. Containing those progestatives : Desogestrel, Gestodene, Norgestimate,
Drospirenone, Chlormadinone, Dienogest, Nomegestrol.

 

[BDutch]

Isn't postponing death what we also do when we try to treat ourself from a disease ?

Yes of course. If it is to cure with a good quality of life after treatment.
I have seen people I love who lived anther 6 months in misery because of medication/ hospitalisation and surgery. This is not what I wish for my own end of life.

With chickens my feelings are a bit different. Of course I do not wish to let them live longer in misery. But I also think its probably better for the flock as a whole to avoid interference as much as possible. They are not humans I really strongly feel for.

 

[RoyalChick]

Oh I did not make myself clear. They are available, of course, but they are rarely prescribed. Possibly it's a cost issue?

What's not available anymore are the so called third and fourth generation combined contraceptives, like the one I took for a decade. Containing those progestatives : Desogestrel, Gestodene, Norgestimate,
Drospirenone, Chlormadinone, Dienogest, Nomegestrol.

Ah yes. Makes sense.

 

[Molpet]

Partly yes, but not where it comes to eating animals. I never eat my own chickens and rarely a piece of someone else’s animal. I eat vegetarian 6 days/week and prefer to eat animals that swum freely in the sea the one time I do eat an animal.

I wasn't ready to quit eating land animals but didn't like the way the grocery store birds were raised .... so I started raising my own. As a kid we had chickens.
I do trade turkey eggs for grass fed beef and pasture pork. I get venison from a family friend I let hunt on my property.

It's funny how we value one animal life over another. I buy line caught tuna because nets kill turtles and sea mammals. Why do I feel sad for those and have no problems opening a can of tuna.

 

[RoyalChick]

I wasn't ready to quit eating land animals but didn't like the way the grocery store birds were raised .... so I started raising my own. As a kid we had chickens.
I do trade turkey eggs for grass fed beef and pasture pork. I get venison from a family friend I let hunt on my property.

It's funny how we value one animal life over another. I buy line caught tuna because nets kill turtles and sea mammals. Why do I feel sad for those and have no problems opening a can of tuna.

Well some of that is to do with damage to ecosystems not just empathy for animals.
Many of the agricultural practices we instinctively don’t like are both cruel to the animal and damage the environment.

 

[AntiqueB]

There is also the issue of the animal (like tuna) dying for a reason: our survival. Turtles and sea mammals caught in nets are dying for nothing. That waste of life seems wrong.

 

[lightm]

She definitely looks bigger, at least on this picture !
I hadn't read anything about implanted hens putting on weight before, but coincidentally I saw a post on Instagram just yesterday where the poster mentioned how much fluff and weight her hen had gained on the implant. Another poster, who has many hens implanted, commented on how much weight they put on. So yes, it seems to be a thing.

Not sure if it's relevant but It happens to some women who use a contraceptive implant, even when they had the exact same dosage in a pill before. That was the case for me, so I think it has something to do with how the hormones are delivered. It wasn't the reason why I had it taken off as I could then do with a few spare kilos. Unfortunately it also gave me vivid horrible nightmares every night to the point I was afraid of falling asleep. Both the weight and the sleep came back to normal a few days after I had taken it off. I really hope our hens don't get such nightmares!

Laure seems bigger, but like she was before she started being unwell.
As far as I can tell, she has now gotten back to her usual personality after the moult. But I think the implant may be already wearing off : she is checking nests and beginning to talk with Gaston. He still rejects her though so she probably has some more time.

This is very interesting.

 

[ManueB]

A bit of rain for two days, and some snow on the mountains, and now the sun is back and temperatures have gone up. We should have nice days until the end of the week.

The chickens were very afraid when we had a horde of vultures (what do you call a large group of birds ?) fly very close above us in circle Monday and yesterday. This usually happens when the hunter have killed and skinned as their hunting cabin is by the second house closest to us. So Gaston's team are not ranging much, and mostly staying under the laurel tree. With the leaves fallen, they feel and actually are much more vulnerable from aerial predators.

Piou-piou hadn't laid since the last soft shell egg last Friday and though she looked around at possible nests with Théo, she did not seem to be trying. She has been doing fine. This morning however it was clear she was intent to lay and wanted to go in the coop. It's always a problem because she's considered an outsider for most of the hens, and at least four or five bigger hens will try to beat her up. But she did succeed to lay a huge egg, with a normal shell. Hope she gets back on track. Gaston ran to her and was overjoyed that she had laid in the coop .

Lilly's limp is a bit better. We still have no clue what the cause is.
Annette, Gaston and Léa are looking very uncomfortable from molting, and Kara is looking tired. Merle has stopped sitting, and she spends her whole day under the laurel tree, which makes Théo really angry. However she still roosts with him and Piou-piou. Mélisse seems to be getting back on better terms with them and she spends time with Piou-piou during the day.

I'm sorry that I have a lot of photos and I can't seem to get them to load in chronological order. So it's a random mix from the previous days.

And running pictures from this morning. The larches are now a stunning orange and when I was high enough I saw a sea of clouds toward Nice while the sky above me and the mountains was a striking blue. Wonderful!

 

[RoyalChick]

Never apologize for too many photos!
At least for me, your photos are always an inspiration and raise my mood.

 

[Perris]

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