Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[ManueB]

Blanche was a bit better today. She came down off the roost in the morning a few minutes after the others. When I clean the coop I now close the door and give Chipie her special breakfast. I usually take some spare in case Théo stays and today I managed to give to Blanche. She ate all of it so she didn't wait until midday to have some food.

I went away running this morning and my partner had a surprise for the chickens...he went to get some sheep manure for the garden and he put a stack in their yard ! How exciting! Maybe not very safe regarding to parasites but anyway half of them access the stack that we use for the garden. Even Blanche was thrilled. A big part of the day was spent scratching for worms and spreading it around and Gaston even had quite a hard time convincing them to come roost in the evening.

 

[RoyalChick]

Blanche was a bit better today. She came down off the roost in the morning a few minutes after the others. When I clean the coop I now close the door and give Chipie her special breakfast. I usually take some spare in case Théo stays and today I managed to give to Blanche. She ate all of it so she didn't wait until midday to have some food.

I went away running this morning and my partner had a surprise for the chickens...he went to get some sheep manure for the garden and he put a stack in their yard ! How exciting! Maybe not very safe regarding to parasites but anyway half of them access the stack that we use for the garden. Even Blanche was thrilled. A big part of the day was spent scratching for worms and spreading it around and Gaston even had quite a hard time convincing them to come roost in the evening.
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Is that Merle in the picture with your partner?
It is a cute picture. Made me smile.
Mind you the heap of sheep manure made me smile too!

 

[Shadrach]

Blanche was a bit better today. She came down off the roost in the morning a few minutes after the others. When I clean the coop I now close the door and give Chipie her special breakfast. I usually take some spare in case Théo stays and today I managed to give to Blanche. She ate all of it so she didn't wait until midday to have some food.

I went away running this morning and my partner had a surprise for the chickens...he went to get some sheep manure for the garden and he put a stack in their yard ! How exciting! Maybe not very safe regarding to parasites but anyway half of them access the stack that we use for the garden. Even Blanche was thrilled. A big part of the day was spent scratching for worms and spreading it around and Gaston even had quite a hard time convincing them to come roost in the evening.
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Do you get those flying ant bore hole eruptions. Almost impossible to get the chickens to bed when the flying ants hatched and flew in Catalonia.

 

[ManueB]

Is that Merle in the picture with your partner?
It is a cute picture. Made me smile.
Mind you the heap of sheep manure made me smile too!

Yes, it's Merle. Most of the chickens here would not be that confortable in our arms !

Do you get those flying ant bore hole eruptions. Almost impossible to get the chickens to bed when the flying ants hatched and flew in Catalonia.

Yes and no- we get flying ants but only for one or two days ; the chickens love them, but not as much as the tiny jumping crickets we have in summer that the cats also hunt.

I made a stupid sad mistake today. I locked up the chickens for an hour when I went to pick the cheese. I called them in the run with sunflower seeds : usually Théo stays outside if Gaston is inside, but this time he came in to eat with the others, and I thought since he wasn't scared to come inside and they have been together in the coop and run quite a bit during the snow storms with Gaston, they can stay for an hour together. Normally when we leave for a short while, we just let Théo stay outside : he flies very well and also he is such a nervous guy that on his own he is rather safe from raptors.

When I came back he was standing on the trunk inside the coop on one foot with his eyes closed, not moving. He broke a nail and it was bleeding an awful lot. And he looked terrible. I cleaned the nail, searched on the internet what to do, and I found to apply pressure with a gauze for ten minutes to stop bleeding and use cornstarch in place of styptic powder. All the time he was on my lap almost asleep. It was still bleeding and he stayed on my lap for another twenty minutes dozing. He must have been in shock because he would never, ever do that willingly. He looked so bad I thought he may have another problem, but I couldn't find any other wound. I gave him some rice and scrambled egg, then put him on the ground after an unsuccessful try to isolate him in a crate to rest. He spent most of the day lying down or standing on one leg not moving, though he perked up a bit when Piou-piou or Blanche came to see him. He didn't go in the coop on his own, I had to pick him up and carry him to his roost.
Either he is in real pain, or he had an awful fright, or both. I haven't seen him looking so bad when he sprained his ankle last year or when he broke the spur last week. I'm so sorry I locked him in and I hope he feels better in a few days.

 

[lightm]

Manue, did you talk about eggs looking like below in the past? Something like this is due to two eggs bumping into each other inside a hen?

 

[Perris]

Manue, did you talk about eggs looking like below in the past? Something like this is due to two eggs bumping into each other inside a hen?
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I maybe wrong but that looks like an incomplete bloom laid down over the shell to me.

 

[ManueB]

Manue, did you talk about eggs looking like below in the past? Something like this is due to two eggs bumping into each other inside a hen?
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I think Perris is right. When I have seen those eggs that touch, it was always on the long side.

 

[Perris]

Don't beat yourself up about Theo ManueB; your intentions were good and the boys will scrap. I hope he gets over it quickly.

While I was unloading the car the day before yesterday, I was surprised to see Chirk run past with Killay in pursuit. Evidently one or more of the roos had got in with Chirk while I was out. I found him later hiding where Sven used to hide from him (irony), but he didn't want to be 'rescued' then. He turned up for tea, and walked back into the pen and coop, but he didn't leave the coop all day yesterday. I found several gaps in the netting and secured them, but his confidence is no doubt shaken by the unexpected loss of security. He's eating inside the coop, but it may take a while before his confidence is restored enough to come out.

 

[BDutch]

I made a stupid sad mistake today. I locked up the chickens for an hour when I went to pick the cheese. I called them in the run with sunflower seeds : usually Théo stays outside if Gaston is inside,

It was mainly Theo who made a sad mistake. Chickens have to figure out themselves what is stupid and what is wise within the pecking order. You just cant protect Theo or any other chicken 24/7.

Theo probably learned his lesson now to stay away from Gaston during the day, even if there are treats.

If the problems between your 2 roosters get really nasty, I think I would try to rehome one of them. Easily said, because I don’t have roosters and only have gathered a little knowlegde with reading.

Btw: You do a great job to heal his wounds like a real expert!

 

[lightm]

I maybe wrong but that looks like an incomplete bloom laid down over the shell to me.

I think Perris is right. When I have seen those eggs that touch, it was always on the long side.

Thank you!