Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[ManueB]

What you describe is one of my worst nightmares. Every time I lock them in at night I worry I have locked a raccoon in with them!
I hope Piou-Piou makes a full and fast recovery.
Hey-ho. Tomorrow is another year.

I never thought of that possibility. It's actually changing my mind about cameras in the coop which I was totally opposed to !
Congratulations for your spirit nomination . It's well deserved even though you are also an excellent friend.

he would have been back, so be glad
this looks like a young one. so I am sure there are more

It might not show on the picture but it was definitely adult size. Not sure if our red foxes are smaller than the grey foxes in the US but my partner said it was around 8 or 9 kg. But there are definitely foxes around, we have just been very lucky that there had not been any attack before.
*****
Piou-piou's update is mostly reassuring. This morning we took her inside to assess how she was doing, try to feed her and keep her warm as it was -2.
We saw that she wasn't stumbling anymore although she didn't move a lot, and that the deep wound had made a normal looking scab that didn't seem infected. Throughout the morning she didn't want to eat anything even though we tried all her favourite foods, she refused sunflower seeds, walnuts, mackerel and scrambled egg, until we found something she was keen to eat - whole grain rice.
Then in the afternoon we took her out. Nougat pecked her hard on her wound and Kara attacked her, so she didn't want to stay with the other chickens ; she went in the garden, then laid an egg in the old barn, and stayed with Annette for a good while. She seemed almost well, but her mobility is still impaired and after two hours she was very tired. We put her at three 30 in the crate in the coop and she went to sleep.

We are both relieved . Happy new year !

She spent a lot of time preening and plucking out feathers. I hope she doesn't pluck at the scabs like she did on her wound last year.

On other news...

 

[Molpet]

It might not show on the picture but it was definitely adult size. Not sure if our red foxes are smaller than the grey foxes in the US but my partner said it was around 8 or 9 kg. But there are definitely foxes around, we have just been very lucky that there had not been any attack before.

We have red foxes also. I have seen them on the property but they haven't been in the poultry yard. So I have not tried to kill any. They are about the same size.

There's mostly coyotes around that usually keep the foxes away.
In town, along a walking path, there's a lot of foxes. They seem to den in people's yards along and near this trail. People post pictures of young playing in driveways
Problem when wildlife isn't afraid of people and come up taking food from people. Then people wonder why they get bit.

 

[Sequel]

We have red foxes also. I have seen them on the property but they haven't been in the poultry yard. So I have not tried to kill any. They are about the same size.

There's mostly coyotes around that usually keep the foxes away.
In town, along a walking path, there's a lot of foxes. They seem to den in people's yards along and near this trail. People post pictures of young playing in driveways
Problem when wildlife isn't afraid of people and come up taking food from people. Then people wonder why they get bit.

Yes it’s crazy. When I throw rocks at raccoons they go pick them up and lick them! They wouldn’t if I could actually hit them with one haha!

 

[ManueB]

We have red foxes also. I have seen them on the property but they haven't been in the poultry yard. So I have not tried to kill any. They are about the same size.

There's mostly coyotes around that usually keep the foxes away.
In town, along a walking path, there's a lot of foxes. They seem to den in people's yards along and near this trail. People post pictures of young playing in driveways
Problem when wildlife isn't afraid of people and come up taking food from people. Then people wonder why they get bit.

Foxes are considered a harmful specie where I live, which means it's legal to trap them to kill all year round and to shoot them after the hunting season ends until the 31 march. They come very close to the houses, but usually they are afraid of humans, maybe for this reason.
It's common to have foxes, boars, deers, and roes on the streets and in the gardens (some people in the village even mention seeing the wolves but I have trouble believing that). However none of them have become daring with humans like for example raccoons in the US.
I don't feel the same anger toward a wild predator as I would if it was a domestic dog. I feel like it's up to us to do better to protect the chickens. But trapping and releasing a fox in a place where he would not hurt someone else's chickens require logistics we don't have.
*************
This morning I brought Piou-piou inside our house again. Théo was really upset because he didn't understand where she was gone. Yesterday, he spent all day in the chicken yard trying to stay near the other chickens and didn't want to go near the woodshed. This morning he kept running up and down to the barn looking for Piou-piou and then going further away, I was afraid he would actually leave. So I took Piou-piou outside a bit and this instantly calmed Théo. However she was cold and not well, even though it was only 0/32 this morning, so warmer than yesterday. So I brought her back inside and she rested most of the morning. I took her back out toward 11, and she was almost back to her old self. She wants to go foraging around but she still hasn't got her mobility back, so I stayed with her. I saw she wasn't able to make a 40 cm jump the first time to hop on a barrel, but she tried again a'd succeeded.
The main problem she will have is that she is pulling off her feathers again ; so now she is back to how she was before growing back a few feathers- half naked. When Théo saw her again he tried to mate her and she escaped him running as she could on her short legs. She is back to the stage where no rooster should tread her for fear of ripping her open.

The other chickens don't act worried. I don't think they understood what happened since they were all in the coop's run, but because the weather has turned very grey and damp, they stay under the laurel tree quite a lot and even the younger pullets don't hang out much. Also it's the last two weeks of hunting so the hunters are killing a lot and there are herds of thirty to forty vultures circling above every day, which is impressive even for a human so I suppose also for the chickens.

I didn't mention that after her two soft shells eggs, Nougat laid a normal one yesterday, and didn't lay today. I'm hoping she just needs to get back into laying. Gaston is now mating her again and she crouches for him, although it really looks like she isn't happy about it ! And she didn't sleep in her nest the last two nights so maybe she will stay on the roost from now on.

Only three weeks and she wants to make babies again.

Gaston was very glad to see Piou-piou when she came out. They stayed frozen like that for a few seconds.

Kara seems to be feeling quite well and she is a worse bully than ever. When the ex-batt are gone I think she will take over domination of all the females. She is still afraid of Chipie and Merle, though.

Piou-piou had a look inside the woodshed. I thought she might go in, but she decided she was too scared, and turned around.

When my partner makes ravioli he leaves the water full of flour for the chicken. Mélisse just loved it and kept going back for more .

 

[RoyalChick]

Foxes are considered a harmful specie where I live, which means it's legal to trap them to kill all year round and to shoot them after the hunting season ends until the 31 march. They come very close to the houses, but usually they are afraid of humans, maybe for this reason.
It's common to have foxes, boars, deers, and roes on the streets and in the gardens (some people in the village even mention seeing the wolves but I have trouble believing that). However none of them have become daring with humans like for example raccoons in the US.
I don't feel the same anger toward a wild predator as I would if it was a domestic dog. I feel like it's up to us to do better to protect the chickens. But trapping and releasing a fox in a place where he would not hurt someone else's chickens require logistics we don't have.
*************
This morning I brought Piou-piou inside our house again. Théo was really upset because he didn't understand where she was gone. Yesterday, he spent all day in the chicken yard trying to stay near the other chickens and didn't want to go near the woodshed. This morning he kept running up and down to the barn looking for Piou-piou and then going further away, I was afraid he would actually leave. So I took Piou-piou outside a bit and this instantly calmed Théo. However she was cold and not well, even though it was only 0/32 this morning, so warmer than yesterday. So I brought her back inside and she rested most of the morning. I took her back out toward 11, and she was almost back to her old self. She wants to go foraging around but she still hasn't got her mobility back, so I stayed with her. I saw she wasn't able to make a 40 cm jump the first time to hop on a barrel, but she tried again a'd succeeded.
The main problem she will have is that she is pulling off her feathers again ; so now she is back to how she was before growing back a few feathers- half naked. When Théo saw her again he tried to mate her and she escaped him running as she could on her short legs. She is back to the stage where no rooster should tread her for fear of ripping her open.

The other chickens don't act worried. I don't think they understood what happened since they were all in the coop's run, but because the weather has turned very grey and damp, they stay under the laurel tree quite a lot and even the younger pullets don't hang out much. Also it's the last two weeks of hunting so the hunters are killing a lot and there are herds of thirty to forty vultures circling above every day, which is impressive even for a human so I suppose also for the chickens.

I didn't mention that after her two soft shells eggs, Nougat laid a normal one yesterday, and didn't lay today. I'm hoping she just needs to get back into laying. Gaston is now mating her again and she crouches for him, although it really looks like she isn't happy about it ! And she didn't sleep in her nest the last two nights so maybe she will stay on the roost from now on.

Only three weeks and she wants to make babies again.
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Gaston was very glad to see Piou-piou when she came out. They stayed frozen like that for a few seconds.
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Kara seems to be feeling quite well and she is a worse bully than ever. When the ex-batt are gone I think she will take over domination of all the females. She is still afraid of Chipie and Merle, though.
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Piou-piou had a look inside the woodshed. I thought she might go in, but she decided she was too scared, and turned around.
View attachment 3717334View attachment 3717335
When my partner makes ravioli he leaves the water full of flour for the chicken. Mélisse just loved it and kept going back for more .
View attachment 3717336View attachment 3717337View attachment 3717338

The Piou-Piou/ Theo relationship is quite fascinating and endearing.

 

[Perris]

Theo looks resplendent in his new feathers

 

[BDutch]

some people in the village even mention seeing the wolves but I have trouble believing that).

In the village next to mine with 10.000 inhabitants they have spotted (photographed) a wolf in the shopping centre street in the night. This village is near to the Veluwe, a nature reserve.

And I have seen a fox in my garden in the middle of the day twice a couple of years and > 10 years ago. He spotted me when I spotted him and just looked at me until I walked up to him.

 

[Perris]

It's common to have foxes, boars, deers, and roes on the streets and in the gardens (some people in the village even mention seeing the wolves but I have trouble believing that). However none of them have become daring with humans like for example raccoons in the US.

could be worse

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/planet-earth-three-episode-5-human

 

[ManueB]

There is some maintenance going on on the phone's antenna that means I have restricted internet access for the next few days, so not sure if I will be able to post, and I can not upload pictures. It seems at dinner time, when the hundred and something locals are trying to use their smartphones at the same time (instead of talking to their real life family), I can barely manage to like or quote posts anymore .

The Piou-Piou/ Theo relationship is quite fascinating and endearing.

Théo wasn't hurt (he opened his comb a bit but we think he did that himself trying to get away) but he is quite shocked. And Piou-piou was his only hen, because Merle hasn't been back to friendly term with him since she was broody in December. So if he doesn't see her I suppose he must worry she is dead or gone, and think he is now completely alone ? And she is only half keen on seeing him because he wants to mate her, and she realises she will get hurt.
But Piou-piou is a hen who likes roosters, and not other hens. She is still very much friend with Gaston, and I think Gaston also realised she was in danger, because these last three days each time he sees her he goes to her, dances around her very gently and makes cooing sounds. And contrary to Théo, because he has so many hens he doesn't try to mate her. Though tonight I put her on her usual place on the roost instead of in the dog crate and she seemed very happy when Théo came to roost beside her, she groomed him a bit and huddled close to him.

I still don't understand by what miracle they were not more hurt, especially Piou-piou who can't fly at all. We are 99% sure the fox was locked up with them all the time, we've checked again and again and we can't figure out where it would have broken in. Maybe it waited a while before attacking to be sure no human was coming back.

Theo looks resplendent in his new feathers
View attachment 3717363

Actually my partner is worried about him, he thinks he is too thin and he is molting again from the mane and neck, which he already did in september.
Before the attack I was trying to build some trust back feeding him treats by hand, but he is now more stressed and weary toward me than he was. I would also be if someone had locked me in a place with a human hungry creature ! This morning though I tried to call him inside the house to see Piou-piou, and he almost came in. I want to bring him in and weigh him and have a closer look at his feathers, but I will wait a few days when he is more calm.

Otherwise the day was pretty horrid because we had again strong winds. Nougat laid a nice 78g egg with a strong shell and terrified all the pullets by laying where they do on the floor . And Gaston stuck his feet in the netting for the first time ; he had several loops around his ankles and spurs and he couldn't move anymore. It took me some time to notice because he was just standing looking chilled with the pullets around him, but in fact he must have been scared. He struggled a bit but quickly understood I was untangling him, so he was quiet enough that I didn't have to cut the netting.

 

[BDutch]

I still don't understand by what miracle they were not more hurt, especially Piou-piou who can't fly at all. We are 99% sure the fox was locked up with them all the time,

I think this is the reason. He noticed he was locked in and panicked. He had no interest anymore in butchering a hen anymore because he was trapped.

I had a fox in the run two years ago. He killed one hen who got out through the auto-pop-door. The chickens sounded the alarm (stil in the coop). When I arrived the fox panicked and just tried to get out where he couldn’t. Two chicks went to the run while the fox was there. But he had no interest in them.