Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[RoyalChick]

I discovered coming here that I really love irises ! They are very sensitive to temperatures and altitude. The bottom of the village is 1850 feet high, we're at 3500 feet, and there is only one house still inhabited way above us at 4400 feet. It makes almost a month of difference for the irises to bloom! Ours always begin blooming in the first 15 days of April, except for one that is two-toned which comes out later. I think it's the prettiest, I would love to replicate it !
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We woke up to bright blue skies, which was a bit surprising as there was an orange alert for thunderstorm today.
I was both eager to get some rain and a bit worried as my partner was working. Driving the bus in the road through the gorge is really not safe in stormy weather.
Anyway, it was a lot of excitement for nothing because just like the last alert, there was no storm and it barely rained for twenty minutes.

The chickens certainly enjoyed the beautiful weather in the morning. I missed the photo but the ex-batts had a lovely collective sun bathing sequence, all aligned. They spent a good time foraging, I think it's because we are beginning to have tiny grasshoppers. Only Blanche laid and she was rather upset because Merle was screaming broody insanities in her favorite nest.

In the morning after opening the coop, laying has become a complicated business. Léa now wants to lay in the coop right before getting out, and Gaston really tries to coax her to lay elsewhere, but in the end he will come back in the coop to stay with her. But sometimes the ex-batts also want to lay at that time and some of them, Blanche and Brune, are still very afraid of Gaston. Théo tends to stay away, but if he is already in the coop or run he will attack Gaston to stop him from going back in the coop. I know it would be better to let them sort it out, but with Brune unwell and Blanche half-blind I feel compelled to check the drama doesn't escalate, and this means locking the roosters out.. But I also want the hens to be able to handle this without me, so I'm not sure what to do. Since Brune is getting a bit better I may stop coming to check what's going on unless I hear screams.

I didn't give any pain killer to Brune today, and she didn't seem to be in pain. Just like Blanche, she has become obsessed by getting a special menu for her crop only, and she makes pleading noises whenever she sees me now. I've also been giving treats to Piou-piou, to keep her from getting too depressed. She has again opened her wound a little, though it does look like it's finally beginning to heal. I still don't feel like we can let her dustbathe though.

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I know I am an outlier on the wound front but don’t over-baby her. How much of it is still open flesh?
I checked back over my photos - here are my wild irises with a couple of white cultivated ones as well. These are from a number of years ago - May 22 and May 30. I too love Irises - possibly may favorite flower though it is hard to choose!

 

[MaryJanet]

I know I am an outlier on the wound front but don’t over-baby her. How much of it is still open flesh?
I checked back over my photos - here are my wild irises with a couple of white cultivated ones as well. These are from a number of years ago - May 22 and May 30. I too love Irises - possibly may favorite flower though it is hard to choose!

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They really are amazing in a bank like that.

 

[ManueB]

I know I am an outlier on the wound front but don’t over-baby her. How much of it is still open flesh?

I will try to get a proper photo today as my partner is home. Only the bits she has pecked at are still really open but there is quite a lot of fragile new skin.

I checked back over my photos - here are my wild irises with a couple of white cultivated ones as well. These are from a number of years ago - May 22 and May 30. I too love Irises - possibly may favorite flower though it is hard to choose!

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Oh, but you are talking fully flowered- I always refer to the first guy coming out for blooming. So I think the difference is not so huge, mine won't be all out before at least ten days.
Beautiful gateway .

 

[Perris]

I have found something reminiscent of the nesting 'boxes' in your cellar walls - though in this case on an industrial scale! - that you might find interesting : https://prebendalmanormedievalgardens.weebly.com/the-dovecote.html

The Romans used to build dovecotes for >1,000 pairs - archaeological sites of them are in France if memory serves correct.

 

[RoyalChick]

I have found something reminiscent of the nesting 'boxes' in your cellar walls - though in this case on an industrial scale! - that you might find interesting : https://prebendalmanormedievalgardens.weebly.com/the-dovecote.html

The Romans used to build dovecotes for >1,000 pairs - archaeological sites of them are in France if memory serves correct.

How wonderful. The Romans were keen on keeping chickens too.

 

[ManueB]

I have found something reminiscent of the nesting 'boxes' in your cellar walls - though in this case on an industrial scale! - that you might find interesting : https://prebendalmanormedievalgardens.weebly.com/the-dovecote.html

The Romans used to build dovecotes for >1,000 pairs - archaeological sites of them are in France if memory serves correct.

Very impressive ! I didn't know about them. Yes, apparently there are many in France.
I did visit pigeon valley in cappadocia- the troglodytes houses also had pigeon caves, but on a much smaller scale.

Here is Piou-piou's wound today. Still putting it under a spoiler if anyone reads this at breakfast though it's much better. The red part in the middle is a crust. @RoyalChick would you let her out ? She's really turning nuts being locked in but I would rather wait a few days than having to start all over. And the apron hasn't arrived yet .

Spoiler

 

[Perris]

that's an extraordinary landscape! Must've been very special to see it for real rather than just in pictures.

 

[RoyalChick]

Very impressive ! I didn't know about them. Yes, apparently there are many in France.
I did visit pigeon valley in cappadocia- the troglodytes houses also had pigeon caves, but on a much smaller scale.

Here is Piou-piou's wound today. Still putting it under a spoiler if anyone reads this at breakfast though it's much better. The red part in the middle is a crust. @RoyalChick would you let her out ? She's really turning nuts being locked in but I would rather wait a few days than having to start all over. And the apron hasn't arrived yet .

Spoiler

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Is the red part dry or oozing?
And what is the brown/black lumpy bit at bottom left?

 

[ManueB]

Is the red part dry or oozing?
And what is the brown/black lumpy bit at bottom left?

It's all dry today, but yesterday when she had pecked at it it was bleeding a little. It's not black, but dark red, the picture is not true to the colors.
There as still bits of dead skin hanging out.

that's an extraordinary landscape! Must've been very special to see it for real rather than just in pictures.

Yes. I went out of season, and in the valleys that required a bit of walking there were almost no tourists. My whole trip to Turkey was very special, which makes me sad for how things have become today.

 

[RoyalChick]

It's all dry today, but yesterday when she had pecked at it it was bleeding a little. It's not black, but dark red, the picture is not true to the colors.
There as still bits of dead skin hanging out.

Yes. I went out of season, and in the valleys that required a bit of walking there were almost no tourists. My whole trip to Turkey was very special, which makes me sad for how things have become today.

I too have loved every trip I have made to Turkey and am very sad for them.
On the wound - bleed ing when pecked is not too much of a concern.
I might give her another day or two. Do you have any clean sand - maybe left over from the building project? I would probably let her bathe in that already. It is smearing chicken poop all over it that I would try to avoid for a day or two.
It should t be a concern if it is dry and scabbed - but she itches poor girl and will rub until the scab comes off. Again, not a terrible thing if it bleeds and you can wash it but maybe worth a couple more days to fill in a bit more.
There is one school of wound healing that would say rubbing off the scab is a good thing as it will help the wound heal from the base and avoid any trapped infection, and maybe make the scarring less restrictive. All that to say clean(ish) sand might be a good compromise.