Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[ManueB]

Weather is turning grey and slightly colder. The two molters Cannelle and Nougat certainly don't seem to enjoy it. They took a bit longer to leave the coop this morning than usual, but in the day neither went back in. We're supposed to get strong rain tonight and tomorrow and seen how the temperature is dropping maybe we'll get a bit of snow.

I mentioned the other day that we saw sticky fleas on Gastounet's wattles. I tried to take them off again a few days ago, and it turns out it's not sticky fleas but black dots and scabs. I don't understand where this comes from as he's not being pecked at. It doesn't look like pox either from the pictures I've seen. I'm not sure if I should put anything on it since I've no clues what it is.

Poor Chipie has the worse of the actual situation. She's badly bullied by the ex-batts, Gaston terrorizes her now, and Théo doesn't really protect her and sometimes even drives her away.

Tonight when Gaston went to roost he made some kind of noise which must have meant a death threat, because she flew away from her roost and outside the coop, and perched in the run making low alert calls. She only came back in when it was dark enough that he couldn't really see her.
Then the ex-batts came to roost and Nougat threw Chipie away from her place, and went to roost in her place! That may have been because for the first time Piou-piou decided to try sleeping on the roost with her squad instead of in her nest. So Nougat found herself between Piou-piou and Chipie, and that was not bearable . So Chipie had to find a new place to roost and she landed on the roost below where she used to be, next to Cannelle, who wasn't happy about it either.

This was going on for too long so I closed the big door we don't use that puts the whole coop in the dark, and that got them quiet.

Cannelle has grown some feathers back but her comb and crests are still very pale. She has ongoing diarrhea and has many moments looking ill.

I could change my mind and enter Gastounet's head in the beauty contest @Perris

Since she has become Gastounet's sweetheart and started laying, I find Piou-piou's turning into a little lady. It even looks like she has make up on with her bright crest and her white earlobe

 

[HiEverybirdy]

What I've found is if you provide alternative accomodation it will get used. Build/arrange what you need to and let them have access to it. In Catalonia this meant having a habitable space (sometimes a maternity/isolation unit, or my house) available all the time. I had seven coops at one point.

I was wondering how many coops the tribes had (but have been too lazy to pore over the tribes thread to figure it out). We have 4 coops, including 1 that's supposed to be free in case of emergency. It's true that somebody always moves in. Often, a few hens choose to roost or lay there for a couple weeks. They love that extra coop.

Poor Chipie has the worse of the actual situation. She's badly bullied by the ex-batts, Gaston terrorizes her now, and Théo doesn't really protect her and sometimes even drives her away.

Tonight when Gaston went to roost he made some kind of noise which must have meant a death threat, because she flew away from her roost and outside the coop, and perched in the run making low alert calls.

It'll be fun to see who-roosts-where when their barn space is finished. Théo and Chipie are so complicated! Our Stilton and Ashley roost by each other most nights, but Stilton's not above roost drama. He has the weirdest habit. Once or twice a week for the past year, when everyone hops on the roosts, he goes around pecking feet and combs.

I've repeatedly checked for parasites on the roosts, but there's nothing amiss. Just a confusing rooster. Fortunately it's not too disruptive. The ladies usually grumble and shuffle until he settles down. During the molt, they have less patience, so sometimes a hen will stomp across the yard to roost in the free coop. The funniest is when the EEs wiggle their heads under his feathers to avoid his beak, pushing Stilton back and forth like a pinball until he chills out.

Raisin avoiding the beak:

I mentioned the other day that we saw sticky fleas on Gastounet's wattles. I tried to take them off again a few days ago, and it turns out it's not sticky fleas but black dots and scabs. I don't understand where this comes from as he's not being pecked at. It doesn't look like pox either from the pictures I've seen. I'm not sure if I should put anything on it since I've no clues what it is.

Maybe he ran through thorny shrubs? Or found something else sharp to scrape against.

 

[Perris]

I could change my mind and enter Gastounet's head in the beauty contest @Perris

yay! I think he's very handsome but I realize Theo's got top spot for you

 

[ManueB]

I was wondering how many coops the tribes had (but have been too lazy to pore over the tribes thread to figure it out). We have 4 coops, including 1 that's supposed to be free in case of emergency. It's true that somebody always moves in. Often, a few hens choose to roost or lay there for a couple weeks. They love that extra coop.

It'll be fun to see who-roosts-where when their barn space is finished. Théo and Chipie are so complicated! Our Stilton and Ashley roost by each other most nights, but Stilton's not above roost drama. He has the weirdest habit. Once or twice a week for the past year, when everyone hops on the roosts, he goes around pecking feet and combs.

I've repeatedly checked for parasites on the roosts, but there's nothing amiss. Just a confusing rooster. Fortunately it's not too disruptive. The ladies usually grumble and shuffle until he settles down. During the molt, they have less patience, so sometimes a hen will stomp across the yard to roost in the free coop. The funniest is when the EEs wiggle their heads under his feathers to avoid his beak, pushing Stilton back and forth like a pinball until he chills out.

Raisin avoiding the beak:
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Maybe he ran through thorny shrubs? Or found something else sharp to scrape against.

I guess a bit of chicken drama at roost time is inevitable, even with a multi-coop setting ! It's not the first time I'm reading about a rooster pecking hens in the coop, but I don't know why this happens.

We're also having chicken drama between my partner and me we keep arguing and pecking each other about what to do, and whether or not to use the barn or another place. The barn is the most simple solution but it is a bit far from the actual coop. A nearer location would maybe be better but it would mean building both a run and a coop and doing some levelling and obviously my partner doesn't want to put in a lot of work. Gaston loves the barn, but today Piou-piou didn't want to follow him up there .
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Today was a rainy day as forecasted but it stayed too warm for snow. The ex-batts spent most of the day in the coop, sometimes coming out in the run. They have really changed on that regard because when they were younger they didn't mind rain or cold at all, or it could be due to the molt. I didn't check neither comb or feet as it was wet and muddy- the rain stops and we're having sunshine again tomorrow.

Three eggs today : Blanche laid in Piou-piou's nest which isn't Piou-piou's anymore as she sleeps now on the roost, Piou-piou also laid in that nest at some point this morning before leaving the coop to spend the day with Gastounet, and Brune laid a bit later. Seems she's over her soft-shell problem.

Bedtime was awful. The ex-batts and Théo were in the run, so right next to the coop's entrance, and Gastounet was terrified of coming in the coop and he was crying and running around outside under the rain. It took about fifteen minutes to convince him to come in the coop, I actually had to put a dark panel next to the run so he couldn't see Théo.

Then, when Nougat came in to roost she attacked Chipie, who once again flew around the coop trying all the other free roosts. She got lightly told off by Théo when trying to sleep on his roost, and she decided to roost next to Piou-piou. I was afraid Gastounet would have a go at her but he didnt- he was probably very tired from having stressed so much to get in the coop. Chipie was right next to where Blanche roosts, so of course there was another round when Blanche came in. I was exhausted by the time they were all in place.
My partner tells me to just leave them go to roost on their own like we did before these troubles began, but I'm afraid that either the roosters will really fight, or that Chipie will get hurt as she is so small.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Your weather looks like ours today. It barely reached 43F/6C all day. In less gloomy news, Gastounet gets better looking by the day. He's so handsome.

My partner tells me to just leave them go to roost on their own like we did before these troubles began, but I'm afraid that either the roosters will really fight, or that Chipie will get hurt as she is so small.

By this logic, is your presence supposed to be the cause of the conflicts? I'd peck my partner, too, if he told me this

Joking aside, I think a lot about the ways I contribute to interactions between the chickens and how they'd act if I didn't intervene. Other times, I've felt it was only right to keep birds from injuring each other because I arranged the accommodations that put them in conflict in the first place.

At the end of the day, roosters are gonna rooster, and when they do, it gets ugly fast. I'd keep going with your gut and acting as Coop Security Staff. It's tiring but temporary, and in the meantime, you might prevent serious injury to the boys and to little Chipie.

I've been loading favorite videos to share, and this one seems germane: Merle's morning "roo-tine." It's not necessary since Merle's matured, but he's still trained to leave the run first thing each morning. I close the door behind him for a couple minutes as the hens come down and stretch and wake up. In the meantime, Merle dances out his restless energy and says "good morning" to Andre and Stilton, who wait by the fences for him. They seem to relish the complexities of their cold war.

 

[ManueB]

Joking aside, I think a lot about the ways I contribute to interactions between the chickens and how they'd act if I didn't intervene. Other times, I've felt it was only right to keep birds from injuring each other because I arranged the accommodations that put them in conflict in the first place.

I also think about it, because I tend to intervene way too much, and overprotect the chickens. I think that if my chickens were completely free range it would be different, but the fact that all the bigger chickens can not get away from the zone closed by the netting means they can't really escape.

I love the video of Merle's roo-tine- he's full of morning energy ! And it reflects that sometimes a human intervention may help to solve things peacefully. However I've also noted that many times when I try to help I end up making things worse .
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Ten minutes after opening the coop I heard a chicken wailing above our house. Little Piou-piou was waiting in front of the closed barn door- she wanted to lay . I opened the door and Gastounet joined her shortly after.
The day began cloudy and damp, and then in the afternoon the sky cleared and it got really warm. The chickens were delighted to see the sun back and sunbathed for at least an hour.
They all enjoyed the afternoon grazing on the wet grass until a small hawk (I think) swooped by Théo and me.
They were all really frightened and wanted to go in the coop - except it couldn't work, as Gaston needs to get on his roost before Théo comes in. So once again I intervened hiding Gaston from Théo's sight and things went fine.

We put a mixture of iodine and Vaseline on Théo's legs in the evening while he was roosting. I hope I'm not wrong that he's got SLM and not just an infection from blocked feather follicles because in that case the vaseline would probably make it worse. We'll do that weekly, and see if he seems to be less irritated.

Love those mornings after the rain

The net has become a symbolic separation for both roosters. Théo can cross it but he almost never does.

Zooming in you can see how Theo's legs look terrible

Poor Nougat looks like Yubaba, the witch from Myazaki's "spirited away"

 

[Perris]

love those tin cans as fence post tops; that's a very useful recycling idea that I'll copy if you don't mind!

 

[ManueB]

love those tin cans as fence post tops; that's a very useful recycling idea that I'll copy if you don't mind!

I hate those ! People here do that (and also plastic bottle's cut bottoms). I find it so ugly! But we must have something like 600 poles so buying tops would have made a bit of money.
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I will keep it short today !
No eggs apart from Piou-piou.
Theo's legs looked really irritated and red so I'm afraid the vaseline wasn't a good idea.
Gaston was late roosting, he tried to rape /mate Nougat who was alone in front of the coop. This got Théo really mad and he chased him away and didn't let him come back in the coop. We had to let him in once it was completely dark.
And I got into an argument once again with my partner about the roosters .

 

[ManueB]

I found a slightly broken egg under the roost when opening the coop this morning, probably from Brune, and another egg where Blanche usually lays. I thought Piou-piou wasn't going to lay as the days before she had always been an early layer but she did go in the barn a bit later with Gaston proudly guarding the entrance. He then convinced his whole team to take a tour of the barn.

Today was a raptor's day : the couple of eagles, the gallicus hawk, and the sparrowhawk all spent some time flying above- until the middle of the afternoon. The ex-batts stayed in the coop for quite a while and then they hid under the laurel tree. I noticed that Merle and Léa stayed with Gaston, whereas they usually run back inside the chicken nettings when there is a threat : they all hid under our eating table. My partner put a steel sheet just behind it under the linden tree so they could have some cover, but they think it's a perch and only use it from above .

They did have a few care free hours in the afternoon. Cannelle is definitely doing better but now she has a hoarse voice.

This evening I got the confirmation that Gastounet is a Jekyll/ Hyde personality. I managed to get him and the girls in the coop where Chipie and Nougat were already half asleep. I don't know what he said to them : I couldn't see any threatening attitude from where I was, but they were both terrified. Chipie flew out of the coop, Nougat went down the ladder and in the run to hide behind the structure my partner made. Chipie perched on the coop's door calling alarm. Then, she came back in and perched on the free roost I've talking about at last- the one where I wanted her to perch all along, because once she's on it she's hidden from the sight of the other roosting chickens. She only stopped calling alert when Théo checked on her , then she made a sort of small plea. I wonder if she was asking him to roost next to her ?

Anyway, Théo went on his usual roost rather quietly, then the three other ex-batts came in and roosted, and Nougat was still hiding terrified outside. She was making a soft cry, it was really sad to see her like this. I got her to go inside the coop and she hopped on the platform where Blanche lays and hid in the straw in a corner.
I don't know if she was terrified or feeling ill. The only night ever that she didn't roost up on the ladder was when she had a soft shelled egg coming. I checked on her an hour later and it did look like she was in a laying posture. She's molting so badly however that I'm not sure what's going on .

So, Gastounet is a sweetheart with his ladies, but a psychopath with Theo's ? But he mated Blanche and Brune and they are not afraid of him like this. Maybe it's the hens that resisted being mated that he terrorizes. But with Merle, Léa and Piou-piou he really doesn't insist when they don't want to mate and he's so attentive! I don't know what to make of it.

In the morning. In front of the barn.

Noticed for the first time how Merle perches on her belly!

Curiously Chipie is still on friendly terms with Merle and Léa, they hang out with her when they go inside the chicken nettings. She can't go outside however as Gastounet threatens to kill her when she does.

He was very angry at me for letting Gaston in the coop tonight... but now I'm wondering if he's not just protecting his hens ?

Gaston got a long dustbath, for the first time in days.

A lovely afternoon.

 

[Shadrach]

It does happen both to body feather and feet feather. We talked about it on Shadrach's thread for body feathers - the observation was that sole of the hens that have poor quality feathers ( brittle or broken) seem to pluck at them like a habit, sort of similar to eating one's nails. I don't know why. And for feet feathers, I looked it up : when the feathers are growing and still have bloods in their quilt, apparently it can be quite itchy. That and the fact that feather feet's are very prone to SLM. Théo probably has SLM, but I'm certain Léa doesn't, at least not yet.

Well our place isn't as rocky as this ! But cows can be very agile. We had a lot of problems with a female calf, Marguerite, who kept climbing down the wall into our vegetable garden and enticed the adults to follow her .
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Do the Catalan and Spanish donkeys get on?