Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[HiEverybirdy]

I got a surprise in the mailbox ...the BYC calendar ! Thank you @Sequel !
I am amazed at how professional the pictures look. They come out really well printed. And it even includes the playboy @HiEverybirdy 's beautiful Merle !

That was a sweet gift! My calendar arrived in the mail yesterday. It's a pretty sequence of photos, and of course I'm so proud of Mr. March

Sorry to hear Gaston's being a jerk. Stilton went through a phase a couple years ago where he'd peck everyone's feet at roost time, hard. They'd be all cozy and settled in, and here comes Stilton for no reason, pecking feet. He'd even grab the feathered-footed girls' foot feathers and lift their feet off the roost! They weren't appreciative. Lots of flapping and annoyed squawking. Occasionally a hen or 2 would even go roost in another coop to avoid him.

By day, he's mild and loved by the hens (and people), but that bizarre roost-time habit lasted for months.

 

[ManueB]

So strange. Could they be some of those tiny facial feathers growing in an unusual place?

I don't think so, today it really looks like yellow moldy spots. But now she is afraid of coming anywhere near me so it's hard even taking a good picture, let alone get to catch her to look. She doesn't act like she’s feeling anything unusual.

That was a sweet gift! My calendar arrived in the mail yesterday. It's a pretty sequence of photos, and of course I'm so proud of Mr. March

Sorry to hear Gaston's being a jerk. Stilton went through a phase a couple years ago where he'd peck everyone's feet at roost time, hard. They'd be all cozy and settled in, and here comes Stilton for no reason, pecking feet. He'd even grab the feathered-footed girls' foot feathers and lift their feet off the roost! They weren't appreciative. Lots of flapping and annoyed squawking. Occasionally a hen or 2 would even go roost in another coop to avoid him.

By day, he's mild and loved by the hens (and people), but that bizarre roost-time habit lasted for months.

Yes, I remember that you described this before ! And that you hesitated on intervening or not.
It also seems to be a roosting thing for Gaston, because I was relieved to see he acted completely normally with the ex-batts this morning.
I got so upset last night that my partner offered to stay with them at roost time today for once and I could hear him as I write having a difficult time .
*****
Today began as a grey autumn day and we had a bit of drizzle. Then the wind started blowing and chased the clouds away, it got warm, but then the wind turned very strong, so strong we had to lock all the chickens in.

The morning temperature has gone down a bit to 5/40, which is still quite warm for the season, so once again all the chickens were quickly out of the coop and spent most of the day outside.
Every day I think Nougat can't look more terrible and every next day she does. I compared her pics with last year. I remembered that last year her molt was very hard, but seeing photos, it's actually a lot worse this year. This morning she was shivering, and my partner thinks she may have neurological issues at time because she has difficulty walking. I think it is just that she is so naked. Her main asset is that unlike many others, she keeps eating quite a lot while molting and a bit of everything from commercial food to grains, foraging, and anything we cook for her.
Also, I forgot to mention that the first night in the nest she didn't poop at all, and this morning there was only a small perfect poop. There is an egg in that nest, and she did not poop on it. So like we discussed with @Perris before, I think there is some form of control conscious or not.
Last year it took her more or less three weeks to get over the worse of the molt so I hope it will be quicker and she will start to be better in the middle of next week.

The chickens were very unhappy being locked up at 3.30 as the strong winds were intermittent and it was quite warm, but I feel that when we think it's dangerous for us then it's dangerous for them. My partner said Gaston hadn't really pecked either Blanche or Cannelle at roost time but Blanche wasn't next to him, Mélisse was in between.
I just thought that the molting of the older hens is coinciding with the younger pullets laying, on top of Pied-Beau leaving. So maybe it's the whole social organisation of the group that has to be rebuilt.

Grey early morning.

Blanche not thriving but keeping up with her mates.

Good morning!

Mélisse.

Kara. I didn't see her bullying Blanche today, but she was put in place hersey by both Nougat and tiny Chipie.

Now what could this be ?

Hint

Yep..piou-piou has a new nest

It's beginning to look like autumn !

The baby persimmon tree we planted has grown it's first few persimmons this year, like our almond trees.

The linden tree ...my partner is 90% decided to bring it down to the house’s size next week .

3

Then 4.

Light rain does not stop Piou-piou from doing her favourite activity, digging.

Laure and Annette

Lilly pecked Kara! That is a first, she has always been very submissive!

Here you can see the dots on her wattle. For now I will just wait to see how it turns out...from what I read fowl pox would just have to run it's course , and we don't have OTC fungal creams here.

Sometimes I think it's FOMO that keeps Blanche alive (fear of missing out for @BDutch !)

Pecking at my partner's pants always works (when it's a chicken).

Spoiler: Molting Nougat

 

[Molpet]

The baby persimmon tree we planted has grown it's first few persimmons this year, like our almond trees.

Do you have the lore of how the winter will be based on persimmon seeds?
https://patch.com/us/across-america...skBuELbB3BpUIqHEI-j65_QZ3tZFVsxXRVWWUaiMOK_pE

 

[BDutch]

Pour Nougat.
But the new feathers are coming up nicely!

My chickens dared to go 10 meters away from the coop again. On the terrace.
They still go back in the run by themselves. Black and Ini mini.

 

[Molpet]

Sling for holding chicken so one can work on bumble foot

 

[ManueB]

Do you have the lore of how the winter will be based on persimmon seeds?
https://patch.com/us/across-america...skBuELbB3BpUIqHEI-j65_QZ3tZFVsxXRVWWUaiMOK_pE

No, we don't, but it's a lovely one !
Not sure about seeing forks / knives in the shapes of the seeds though .

Pour Nougat.
But the new feathers are coming up nicely!

My chickens dared to go 10 meters away from the coop again. On the terrace.
They still go back in the run by themselves. Black and Ini mini.
View attachment 3685331

I am not surprised that it is taking them a very long time to be fully serene, especially as the most likely predator is still around.
As I said mine took a bit more than a month to get over attacks where there were only wounds.

Sling for holding chicken so one can work on bumble foot
View attachment 3685335

While this would be very convenient, I wouldn't dare try something like that. I would be too afraid the chicken would hurt itself if it started struggling!
**********
Quite a nice day today and not a pinch of wind. It feels so much better!

I had quite a scare this morning. While I was cleaning just after opening the coop, I heard a clump and saw Nougat on her back on the floor, having what looked like convulsions. In fact she had fallen off the roost on her back when coming out of the nest, and she was trying to get up and not succeeding. I picked her up and put her on her legs. I was afraid she might have really hurt herself but although she was shocked after a while she moved slowly and went to eat in a corner where she was hidden from the other chickens. I don't want to say she seems ok because she is doing terrible, but she was like yesterday.
If temperatures get colder before she grows back feathers, I think I will have to lock her in the coop.

All the chickens stayed together for the morning in the chicken yard, even Théo and Piou-piou at one point. In the afternoon Gaston as usual took his new favourite girlfriends wandering around the garden.
I saw again this morning that he looked to be on correct terms with Cannelle and Blanche. Nougat is deadly afraid, but she doesn't go near any chickens at all, and any hen that comes near her gets pecked hard.

Before roosting,I witnessed again the beginning of two hen fights almost simultaneously. Piou-piou came inside early and started exchanging words with Kara and suddenly they jumped on each other with raised hackles. Gaston interposed himself and this time Piou-piou backed away. At the same time I heard a scream and saw Lilly running off from Cannelle, who had a good amount of Lilly 's feathers in her beak. I thought Cannelle was the offender as she is now badly molting and quite aggressive, but then I saw she was bleeding on her side from quill feathers pulled off- that is typical Lilly, she is always grooming other chickens at best and sometimes plucking their feathers off.
Roosting was again complicated.

Oh, and I caved in and bought a cheap Chinese unecessary kitchen appliance- a digital kitchen scale ! So here are the weight of today's eggs :
Piou-piou 45g, Annette, Laure and Mélisse 54g ; Léa 55g, Alba 64g ; Nieva 68g, Lili 69 g.
Isn't it interesting that the three sister pullets lay eggs that weigh exactly the same ?

Piou-piou starts digging before sunrise

Lilly

Piou-piou and Théo came in and Gaston didn't mind, but in the afternoon he chased Théo several times all around the garden .

Mélisse

Gaston spent a bit of time with Cannelle and Blanche, even showing them goodies.

Annette. By the way she lays light brown eggs even though she has white ears. Laure lays the palest of the three and she has yellow ears.

Blanche and Nieva.

Cutie pie with a bad temper.

Gaston being nice with Cannelle, who doesn't look afraid like she does at night.

Piou-piou now hangs out with Gaston again part of the day. I haven't seen him trying to mate her but it's going to happen at some point.

Nieva and Alba. For the first time yesterday I noticed a difference. Nieva has taken on a bit more bulk, whereas Alba is still very thin.

Laure attempting to dustbathe without being disturbed.

Lulu’s comb is finally beginning to turn more red, it is still small and straight compared to the three others floppy combs

Tomorrow Merle will be tail-less !

 

[BDutch]

If temperatures get colder before she grows back feathers, I think I will have to lock her in the coop.

Im quit sure Nougat or other chickens know best what is comfortable for them. You only have to provide aces to the coop or another sheltered and wind-free spot.

Isn't it interesting that the three sister pullets lay eggs that weigh exactly the same ?

Probably a coincidence. I have different weight from day to day from my chickens.

Lilly, she is always grooming other chickens at best and sometimes plucking their feathers off.

Maybe this problematic behaviour could be because she needs the nutrients in the feathers? I don’t know for sure. Maybe it’s nonsense but I have been reading it from others.

I can’t see the pictures anymore after the last iPhone update. Just a stripe of the top. Catch up later on my laptop.

 

[RoyalChick]

I don't think so, today it really looks like yellow moldy spots. But now she is afraid of coming anywhere near me so it's hard even taking a good picture, let alone get to catch her to look. She doesn't act like she’s feeling anything unusual.

Yes, I remember that you described this before ! And that you hesitated on intervening or not.
It also seems to be a roosting thing for Gaston, because I was relieved to see he acted completely normally with the ex-batts this morning.
I got so upset last night that my partner offered to stay with them at roost time today for once and I could hear him as I write having a difficult time .
*****
Today began as a grey autumn day and we had a bit of drizzle. Then the wind started blowing and chased the clouds away, it got warm, but then the wind turned very strong, so strong we had to lock all the chickens in.

The morning temperature has gone down a bit to 5/40, which is still quite warm for the season, so once again all the chickens were quickly out of the coop and spent most of the day outside.
Every day I think Nougat can't look more terrible and every next day she does. I compared her pics with last year. I remembered that last year her molt was very hard, but seeing photos, it's actually a lot worse this year. This morning she was shivering, and my partner thinks she may have neurological issues at time because she has difficulty walking. I think it is just that she is so naked. Her main asset is that unlike many others, she keeps eating quite a lot while molting and a bit of everything from commercial food to grains, foraging, and anything we cook for her.
Also, I forgot to mention that the first night in the nest she didn't poop at all, and this morning there was only a small perfect poop. There is an egg in that nest, and she did not poop on it. So like we discussed with @Perris before, I think there is some form of control conscious or not.
Last year it took her more or less three weeks to get over the worse of the molt so I hope it will be quicker and she will start to be better in the middle of next week.

The chickens were very unhappy being locked up at 3.30 as the strong winds were intermittent and it was quite warm, but I feel that when we think it's dangerous for us then it's dangerous for them. My partner said Gaston hadn't really pecked either Blanche or Cannelle at roost time but Blanche wasn't next to him, Mélisse was in between.
I just thought that the molting of the older hens is coinciding with the younger pullets laying, on top of Pied-Beau leaving. So maybe it's the whole social organisation of the group that has to be rebuilt.

Grey early morning.
View attachment 3684931
Blanche not thriving but keeping up with her mates.
View attachment 3684932
Good morning!
View attachment 3684933
Mélisse.
View attachment 3684934
Kara. I didn't see her bullying Blanche today, but she was put in place hersey by both Nougat and tiny Chipie.
View attachment 3684935
Now what could this be ?
View attachment 3684939
Hint
View attachment 3684952
Yep..piou-piou has a new nest
View attachment 3684940
It's beginning to look like autumn !
View attachment 3684941
The baby persimmon tree we planted has grown it's first few persimmons this year, like our almond trees.
View attachment 3684942
The linden tree ...my partner is 90% decided to bring it down to the house’s size next week .
View attachment 3684946
3
View attachment 3684948
Then 4.
View attachment 3684949View attachment 3684951
Light rain does not stop Piou-piou from doing her favourite activity, digging.
View attachment 3684953
Laure and Annette
View attachment 3684954
Lilly pecked Kara! That is a first, she has always been very submissive!
View attachment 3684955View attachment 3684956
Here you can see the dots on her wattle. For now I will just wait to see how it turns out...from what I read fowl pox would just have to run it's course , and we don't have OTC fungal creams here.
View attachment 3684984
Sometimes I think it's FOMO that keeps Blanche alive (fear of missing out for @BDutch !)
View attachment 3684985
Pecking at my partner's pants always works (when it's a chicken).
View attachment 3684987

Spoiler: Molting Nougat

View attachment 3684937
View attachment 3685054

OMG poor Nougat!!! She is like a porcupine. It makes me itch just to look at it.

 

[ManueB]

Im quit sure Nougat or other chickens know best what is comfortable for them. You only have to provide aces to the coop or another sheltered and wind-free spot.

OMG poor Nougat!!! She is like a porcupine. It makes me itch just to look at it.

It's really bad. It's worse in real than on the pictures.
I would also normally leave a molting chicken be, but she seems to have mobility and/or neurological issues. When she moves, which she barely does, she is crouching on her knees like she can't stand up, and she moves around in circles instead of going straight from one point to another.
Even if it's much colder today, it still feels pleasant with the sun. The weather should turn on Monday and if she is not better I will keep her in the coop.

Today it was only 3 this morning when it was 12 yesterday - back to more normal weather! I was worried for Nougat but she seems to manage, although she stays far from the other chickens. I can literally see her new feathers growing throughout the day. I think in two or three days she should begin to get better. She is molting harder than last year, but so is Cannelle relatively; she had a long slow molt last year but this year it's going much faster.

Like yesterday, Gaston stayed in the chicken yard all morning. Toward midday he went with the younger pullets, Léa and Piou-piou, and Lilly in the furthest garden, behind where the tunnel was. That's about 70 meters away from our outside lunch table where I was eating. I suddenly heard panic calls, saw Piou-piou coming back runflying with Gaston close behind screaming alarm, and a crow flying up. I ran toward where they were without seeing what actually happened - they must either have been attacked by a hawk that was chased away by the crow, or frightened by the crow itself landing on them.
Léa was crouching, completely hidden in the linseed. Laure and Mélisse were two terraces under, hiding in the lilacs. When I brought them back, I found Annette, Lulu and Lilly hiding under the Jerusalem artichokes. Annette and Lulu came out with me but Lilly was shocked and wouldn't come out even with treats. I had to tear off some of the dry stems to get to her and carry her back under the laurel tree, where all the chickens hid for the next three hours.

Then Gaston let the hens go in the run and below the coop, but he chased Annette who was wanting to go out of the chicken yard back in.

It's a good lesson. We’re getting into that time of year where it gets really dangerous as all the leaves fall and the possibility for shelter grow rare. Most of the attacks we had with wounds were between december and february. Some of the young pullets, Annette and Mélisse especially, are much too careless. Hopefully they will be more weary.

That kind of morning where you want to stay in an Amazon box.

Spoiler: Poor Nougat.

Lulu.

Annette laid a speckled egf. She has been trying out various styles and hasn't laid two similar eggs yet.

Annette

Come closer girls...

Annette again.

Blanche. She is better in the morning, in the afternoon she goes downhill.

Um. Princess Hibou again..what are you exactly doing on the chicken's chair ? It doesn't look very princess like.

Mélisse.

Kara.

Merle still had a tail ! But she is so cranky she must know it will soon be gone .

Lulu, Léa and Laure practice synchronized grazing (I think it's called artistic grazing now).

Cannelle did not try to kill anyone today.

 

[Molpet]

I would also normally leave a molting chicken be, but she seems to have mobility and/or neurological issues. When she moves, which she barely does, she is crouching on her knees like she can't stand up, and she moves around in circles instead of going straight from one point to another.

I have read that it can be a nutritional issue.