Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[Molpet]

Server farms for computing, especially AI, use a tremendous amount of power.

https://e360.yale.edu/features/artificial-intelligence-climate-energy-emissions

 

[ManueB]

I think there will come a time when we realise that the dream of environmentally friendly limitless power that's affordable isn't going to happen.

I think we as a society should be looking to low cost, low tech solutions rather than what I see now for solar power, which is still an environmental disaster that the "alternatives" have managed to convince themsleves that they are helping to save the planet.

I agree. I've said it before, the only clean energy is the one we don't use.
Solar isn't alternative, it's mainstream and heavily funded here if you dont install it yourself, as in fact geothermal floor heating ...with systems that still require a lot of electricity.
Low tech is I think what alternative communities turn to now, and there are (ironically) a lot of great resources for DIY on the web and inspiring experiences and examples, but like regenerative farming, it's not what the big amount of public money funds.
I think the depressing truth is the majority of us are just not ready to adapt more than marginally our way of living, unless / until we have no choice.

Good chicken news : Lilly laid a healthy egg today, the day was beautiful and warmer than has been for a long time and the chickens loved it, and they are eating quite a bit more now which is always reassuring.
Bad news : Théo is really testing my patience again at roost time. I'm not managing to keep calm, even if I know shouting doesn't help. It's still all about Merle - as soon as she roosts next to him everything quiets down.

 

[BDutch]

Lilly laid a healthy egg today, the day was beautiful and warmer than has been for a long time and the chickens loved it, and they are eating quite a bit more now which is always reassuring.

I prefer the good news .
Just tell Theo to ….or its him time to enjoy some real nice chicken soup.
(Obviously worked too hard today to say such a stupid thing)

 

[ManueB]

I prefer the good news .
Just tell Theo to ….or its him time to enjoy some real nice chicken soup.
(Obviously worked too hard today to say such a stupid thing)

I do tell him quite often that I'll turn him into coq au vin .
He is afraid of me now, and terrified when I raise my voice at him. Fear has always made him aggressive. I don't think I will ever regain the trust he had in me when he was terrified of Gaston and I protected him. He also pretends to attack my leg whenever he feels I'm stopping him from getting to Merle.
Tonight Merle went to roost directly with him, so everything was fine.
But she doesn't want to stay with him all the time : he is a real pain with her, and Piou-piou dominates her and keeps reminding her of that. When she is in the chicken's yard, Merle dominates all of Gaston's hens..except Chipie, even though she is so low in the pecking order. So while she likes free ranging outside all around the place with Théo and Piou-piou, she also enjoys playing at being the mean leader of the chicken's yard.

Today much time was spent touring for nests. Both roosters were very busy, Gaston with Chipie and Léa, Théo with Merle. It's an exhausting job and the client is never satisfied!
Lulu was very unhappy and jealous. She's one of the few hens who hasn't slowed down or stopped laying ; she was already well liked by Gaston and this gave her a favourite status. But Gaston really likes Léa, who was his hatch sibling, and Chipie his mum , and if they start laying again he will definitely pay more attention to them. Lulu is pitiless with the other hens and especially with Chipie, more than once she has pulled off a few feathers or pecked her close to the eye.

You want me to lay where Piou-piou lays ? You must be joking ?

No way I'm going to lay in this stinky small coop.

Lilly laid again today. Her eggs aren't back to normal yet, still a bit pale and fragile, but it feels possible that she gets over the problem. It's hard to believe seeing how scary the stuff she passed out was.
We have stopped treating one of her bumblefoot, it's over. On the other foot she still has the swelling from where she had the surgery, so we keep doing epsom salt baths a few times a week. That seems to keep it under control if it doesn't heal.

Kara

Annette on her own in the garden gets supervised by Hibou

 

[BDutch]

Théo is really testing my patience again at roost time. I'm not managing to keep calm, even if I know shouting doesn't help. It's still all about Merle - as soon as she roosts next to him everything quiets down.

Really strange. But I don’t think shouting to him will help. It’s often hard to understand why they behave the way they do.

Can’t you think of something that might work (doable of course) and give it a try for a couple of weeks?

If I was in your shoes, as we say in the the Netherlands, I would try to rehome one of the roosters. Probably Théo. But I can imagine this is out of the question for the both of you.

 

[Shadrach]

Really strange. But I don’t think shouting to him will help. It’s often hard to understand why they behave the way they do.

Can’t you think of something that might work (doable of course) and give it a try for a couple of weeks?

If I was in your shoes, as we say in the the Netherlands, I would try to rehome one of the roosters. Probably Théo. But I can imagine this is out of the question for the both of you.

I think the shouting may be of benefit to the keeper rather than the rooster. I found it helped me anyway.

 

[MaryJanet]

I think the shouting may be of benefit to the keeper rather than the rooster. I found it helped me anyway.

I have found it beneficial to threaten to turn Peggy into a slipper!

There are times she grabs on to Mary's short neck feathers or head feathers and hangs off with her legs dangling while gentle Mary runs around terrorised. The feathers get pulled out and Peggy spits them out.

"If you hang from Mary's neck one more time, I'll kick you up the arse and wear you like a slipper!! Now f*** off out of it!!"

She couldn't care less, the vicious little dinosaur. Defiance is all I get.

Come to think of it, after an outburst like that, defiance is all I deserve.

 

[BDutch]

I have found it beneficial to threaten to turn Peggy into a slipper!

I know what a real slipper is, and grasp a little of the metaphor/saying from the behaviour you describe. Is there a good translation for it?

 

[MaryJanet]

I know what a real slipper is, and grasp a little of the metaphor/saying from the behaviour you describe. Is there a good translation for it?

Well, I wish I hadn't shared that mean story now. But it's true. When Peggy jumps on Mary and rides her around like a cowboy at a rodeo, my affective empathy is so instant and powerful that I defend Mary by threatening to wear Peggy like a slipper on my foot. It doesn't make sense unless you imagine the outrage.

 

[ManueB]

Can’t you think of something that might work (doable of course) and give it a try for a couple of weeks?

If it really becomes too stressful, my option would be to force Merle, Théo and Piou-piou to roost in the woodshed, by relocating them there every night until hopefully they get it. It would just need a bit more isolation for winter. But I think they would hate that. They all really want to roost in the coop. It's bad enough for Piou-piou that she can't go in the coop during the day, I know she would prefer to lay there, and hang in the coop in the morning.

I think the shouting may be of benefit to the keeper rather than the rooster. I found it helped me anyway.

Well, that's interesting.
Personally it doesn't help me at all, it just makes me feel 100×more terrible!
Making horrible threats in a neutral voice like turning a rooster into Sunday pot or a hen into slippers is one thing. I sometimes find it comforting because it's funny and a way to express frustration without causing harm. Shouting at an animal that is angry and afraid, especially such a tiny one as Théo, is a failure for me.
Not all the hens here are sensitive to loud human voices, but both roosters certainly are, and get anxious when they hear me shout, even when it's not at them.
----------------
Today was the big day Théo had been waiting for -Merle laid an egg ! And right where he was telling her to, oh happy days !
Her last egg was on the 20th November and while her behaviour showed she would, I'm a bit surprised, because she hasn't finished moulting.

I didn't enjoy today's weather, it was above zero this morning but grey and damp. The chickens however seemed to enjoy it as they spent a longer time doing chicken stuff outside than the previous days. Léa and Annette seem to be mostly over their moult and are getting more active.
The next days won't make the chickens happy. We have a first wind storm tonight until tomorrow midday ; then another wind storm Sunday and Monday. They showed again this afternoon that they have a keen weather inner station because they went to roost forty five earlier than usual , at three, and the wind gusts started about twenty minutes later.

Not sure what was the cause of Léa's startled look !

I've laid an egg !

Kara has the softest fluffiest feathers of all the hens. I find it curious since she isn't healthy - my partner thinks that it's because she doesn't lay and she can use all her ressources to grow pretty feathers.

Annette is growing her tail back !

Other species living here thought this was a more appropriate activity for the day.