Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[RoyalChick]

Deworming
The flubenol KH arrived yesterday. It's a paste in a syringe but it's dosed for cats or dogs, which doesn't make dosage simple for chickens. I weighed the heavier ex-batt and the lightest : there wasn't that much difference so we made an average and divided for two for the smaller chickens. We injected the paste in an individual grape for each chicken. That went really well with the ex-batts. We waited until the smaller chickens were roosted and the ex batts still out to give them the grapes on their roost and that worked well too. The only failure was Théo. He wouldn't take it from me on his roost, and this morning when I gave the grape to him on the ground as he came out of the coop he tidbitted it to Nougat .
Today I found a dead tapeworm in one poop, so my guess was right. I don't think all the chickens are infested, but I can't tell which are or not so they will all be treated. We also have to do the cats because I suspect them of being the culprits.

Locking the younger chickens
I had to leave for an hour and a half this morning and since the sparrowhawks had been circling yesterday I didn't want to let the four younger chickens out on their own. I wasn't sure I could get them to come back in the coop, so I locked them up in the coop as soon as the ex-batts were out, with Chipie. They were unhappy but the loudest protest came from Brune - she wanted to lay in the coop, and nowhere else! I had to let her in as she was causing chaos. Then out again when she laid, and then back in the run with the other ex-batts and Théo when I left. Not a simple arrangement .

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Love the sunbathing ex-batts. Glad the worming went well. I tried the grape method once and it was a disaster. Do yours eat a whole grape? Mine chose to peck it in pieces and then ignored the bits with the medicine on it!

 

[ManueB]

Love the sunbathing ex-batts. Glad the worming went well. I tried the grape method once and it was a disaster. Do yours eat a whole grape? Mine chose to peck it in pieces and then ignored the bits with the medicine on it!

It worked fine, but I used the "wild" grape we have all around the place, and they are very small, a third of the size of a normal grape! Most people don't eat it here (it was used to make wine) but I love it, and so do the chicken, they gobble it whole.

 

[ManueB]

Yesterday afternoon there was a nice sunbathing session. Then in the evening the four younger chickens decided to dustbathe in the barrel they loved as chicks. It was really funny because they barely fit in there, and everytime Gaston made a move he sent half of the barrel's earth flying over.

There was also a weird moment when Théo and Gaston stayed side by side and Théo started crowing. I didn't know if he was asserting his authority by showing what a great crower he is, or trying to teach Gastounet

Second day of dewormer went well even though I was on my own.

 

[ManueB]

Today was a long rainy day, the kind of steady rain that's great for the soil that we very rarely get here. The chickens, much to their disappointment, found it too rainy to get out until three when it turned to a light drizzle. The younger ones's cohabitation with the adults inside the coop went slightly better than last times.
I found a worm again in a poop this morning and Cannelle has been acting a bit off all day so I think she's the culprit. It would maybe explain why she has stopped laying for a month. I hope she will be ok. Day three of deworming was a bit harder as the chickens were very excited and rushing to get the grapes, but everyone got their dose. Only two days left!
Three eggs again and thanks to the rain all three in the same nest hole inside the coop.

 

[ManueB]

Today felt like autumn. Misty morning, leaves falling, 8 in the morning.
I mixed the fish meal I received yesterday with the layer feed. The chicken seem to like it. I caught both cats gulping layer feed down -it smells strongly of fish. I'll be giving it for a few weeks during their molt, it has too much calcium to be given on a regular basis.
There was a lot of honking and screaming as Nougat and Blanche keep running after the young ones. I didn't see who but someone managed to peck Gastounet's comb and draw a little blood.
Deworming day 4 was hard. Blanche was intent on getting all the grapes. Théo didn't want me to carry the hens to give them the grapes individually. Gaston was acting like Blanche au masculin- honking and running for the grapes. It took me almost 40 minutes to get it done.
I give the grape to Piou-piou at night in her nest, because she won't take anything from me and isn't fast enough to catch her grape before another chicken gets it. Yesterday night I tried to get her to take it from my fingers and she pinched me again . She's got a terrible temper! Now she's all alone in the garden, her hatch siblings have gone to bed, but she's doing her thing...

 

[RoyalChick]

Is that a scarecrow, art, or an optical illusion in the last photo?

 

[LateBirdFarms]

What stunning views you have! You've done a great job of keeping your information for future perusing and supplying the rest of us with some stellar eye candy in the process!

 

[ManueB]

Is that a scarecrow, art, or an optical illusion in the last photo?

It's a scarecrow my partner made three years ago with old clothes we found in the house! The hens love pecking it but it really needs a make over, it's clothes are falling to pieces .

What stunning views you have! You've done a great job of keeping your information for future perusing and supplying the rest of us with some stellar eye candy in the process!

Thank you for your kind comment. I'm taking a lot of pictures now, because our views can get quite stark from November to March. But I guess Fall is beautiful everywhere!

 

[lightm]

Following!

Now I have to add a third tab (thread) that is constantly open in my browser.

 

[ManueB]

This morning I went to see a doctor and then we were invited for lunch at my stepmother, who's finally back from two months of hospitalization and pulmonary rehabilitation. So the chickens were locked in. Like I did last time I didn't let the youngest out of the coop at all and they stayed locked in there with Chipie. The ex-batts and Théo we let out and then got them back locked in the pen / run. I think it's better to do that for now if the weather allows it because there is just too much bullying going on. It's funny that Gaston is now bigger than two of the ex-batts, but still terrified of them!
We came back at two and they enjoyed a sunny afternoon. Gastounet hung around all the time with us while we were putting away the hoses for winter and sorting out the potatoes by size . I finished the dewormer but didn't give the smaller chickens the 5th dose. It would have meant opening a syringe just for them and then having to throw it away. Hopefully they are not as concerned by the worms as the ex-batts as I never saw at segments in their poop and they free range on a much wider space.