Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[MaryJanet]

Theo! Such a disruptive little fella.

It's such a gorgeous place to live. The light, the terrain, the scenery. All beautiful.

 

[BDutch]

Piou-piou laid a soft shell egg during the night for the second time in a row. I'm not used to hens laying while they do a slow molt, I've mostly seen hens taking a break. Could the molt explain the soft shells ?
I'm going to try to increase calcium intake for a week and see if it helps at all. They are all being active, so I'm not worried at this stage.

If you like to know, you could ask this in a new thread. Giving more calcium might help, I wouldn’t count on it.

It's such a gorgeous place to live. The light, the terrain, the scenery. All beautiful.

Yes, absolutely. It’s always a joy to see the landscapes, with and without the chickens.

 

[RoyalChick]

?
Why do you think so? Maybe not too much or not raw. But they are both nutritious and healthy for humans. I’m sure it must be good food for chickens too.

I was wondering the same.
I eat both quite often which means the chickens get my leftovers.
I don’t feed them raw.

 

[ManueB]

Theo! Such a disruptive little fella.

It's such a gorgeous place to live. The light, the terrain, the scenery. All beautiful.

Thank you and yes, I'm very grateful to be living here after having spent my whole life in cities.
I am also on a mission to enjoy fall as much as possible because once the leaves fall and winter sets in, the landscape becomes stark and sad.

But many of you reading this thread live in very nice places too ! It's easier to take a deep breath rather than go bonkers at the state of the world when you can spend time in beautiful nature.

I was wondering the same.
I eat both quite often which means the chickens get my leftovers.
I don’t feed them raw.

My thought was that lentils have too much iron and potassium and very low level of methionin, lysine and tryptophan. But it seems that may be a misconception. If you googled it you may have seen this review which mentions lentil byproduct as a possible future source of livestock feed : https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09712119.2024.2362254#abstract
Chickpeas don't have the issue of a low level of limiting amino acids. They are closer to soy in terms of nutrition. I thought they had more anti-nutritional components because the information on french sites often mention that the lectins can cause disease (swelling pancreas and intestinal hyperpermeability) but it seems that is not so true either.
https://www.researchgate.net/public...eas_Cicer_arietinum_in_poultry_diets_A_review

Those studies meant for commercial layers and broilers are talking about inclusion up to 20% of the diet. Keep feeding your chickens your leftovers .

I'm beginning to wonder if the main reason for using soy and not other pulses in commercial chicken feed is just because it's a by product left over from human nutrition, making it more economical.

Some nice pics from my run this morning : I didn't take a single chicken picture today .

 

[RoyalChick]

Thank you and yes, I'm very grateful to be living here after having spent my whole life in cities.
I am also on a mission to enjoy fall as much as possible because once the leaves fall and winter sets in, the landscape becomes stark and sad.

But many of you reading this thread live in very nice places too ! It's easier to take a deep breath rather than go bonkers at the state of the world when you can spend time in beautiful nature.

My thought was that lentils have too much iron and potassium and very low level of methionin, lysine and tryptophan. But it seems that may be a misconception. If you googled it you may have seen this review which mentions lentil byproduct as a possible future source of livestock feed : https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09712119.2024.2362254#abstract
Chickpeas don't have the issue of a low level of limiting amino acids. They are closer to soy in terms of nutrition. I thought they had more anti-nutritional components because the information on french sites often mention that the lectins can cause disease (swelling pancreas and intestinal hyperpermeability) but it seems that is not so true either.
https://www.researchgate.net/public...eas_Cicer_arietinum_in_poultry_diets_A_review

Those studies meant for commercial layers and broilers are talking about inclusion up to 20% of the diet. Keep feeding your chickens your leftovers .

I'm beginning to wonder if the main reason for using soy and not other pulses in commercial chicken feed is just because it's a by product left over from human nutrition, making it more economical.

Some nice pics from my run this morning : I didn't take a single chicken picture today .
View attachment 3988116View attachment 3988117View attachment 3988118View attachment 3988119View attachment 3988121

Just beautiful. And yes, the chickens will keep getting my leftovers!
I am particularly keen at the moment on a lentil ragu I make with lots of tomato and some veggies, and served with an egg baked on the top.

 

[MaryJanet]

Just beautiful. And yes, the chickens will keep getting my leftovers!
I am particularly keen at the moment on a lentil ragu I make with lots of tomato and some veggies, and served with an egg baked on the top.

Sounds wonderful!

 

[BDutch]

I'm beginning to wonder if the main reason for using soy and not other pulses in commercial chicken feed is just because it's a by product left over from human nutrition, making it more economical.

The soy factory makes 2 products from soy beans. Oil and feed for animals.

Don’t bother. The landscapes are great without chickens.

 

[ManueB]

We've had a few very nice days, but the weather should really shift at the end of the week, forecasting wind, rain/snow and negative temperatures.
Piou-piou has gone back to laying normal eggs after three soft shell ones. They are not as solid as usual though, but I'm reassured it's not a serious issue.

Poor Gaston looks really awful now. Théo is not molting as badly but looks also quite bad. Both are grumpy and sometimes almost mean with the hens.
Gaston has a lump on one of his finger that is slowly getting worse. Before he began moulting so bad I felt it several times and wasn't able to say what it is. I can't feel a lump of pus and it's cold, it doesn't feel like bumblefoot, but I don't know what else it could be. I don't want to bother him while he has so much pin feathers but if it doesn't go away we'll have to do something about it. He isn't in pain, but most of my hens who had bumblefoot were not showing any sign of discomfort either.

Merle is turning broody. She isn't sitting yet, but should be in a day or two.

We put the light in the coop ! It's great. The chickens also seem to like it because now they don't leave the coop until 8.30 .

It's interesting that the roosters eat more when they most and the hens less. Overall my chickens are really eating a lot less now, of everything I offer. They eat almost nothing before roosting. In the morning they finish their mash, but it takes them a long time, even the stuff they normally love like rice, pasta or eggs. But I think it's partly due to the hens who are not laying or very little. They don't seem to have as much an appetite as the ones who lay almost as much as usual.

Slow morning

Laure is now the best looking of my chickens !

This is the sprouted left over barley. It was completely gone in 24h.

Merle dominates all the hens, except Chipie and Piou-piou even though they are both very low in the hierarchy.

The small chickens like this space behind the old houses because it's protected from aerial view. I don't really like it because I can't see them unless I climb right up there.

Kara is growing a new tail.

Ouch...

Nite nite.

 

[MaryJanet]

But I think it's partly due to the hens who are not laying or very little. They don't seem to have as much an appetite as the ones who lay almost as much as usual.

I've noticed this too. The heaviest crops at roosting time are always the hens who are laying.

 

[ManueB]

Last days have been a bit of a bummer. Rant post warning !
Tuesday during the night there was a huge wind storm. It was forecasted, but only for the next day. It tore half of our tunnel out and our living room was literally covered in ashes and soot from the stove's chimney. All through wednesday it was so windy we could barely stay outside.Temperatures dropped and the rain forecasted yesterday was more like icy snow drizzle, although it then rained during the night.

Work rant :

Spoiler

My partner was working this morning. He and his colleague on the bus line have to drive a 50 seat bus to pick just one or two person from the mountain villages who call ahead to make a reservation. It's already bad in normal conditions, but this morning the one place where the bus can turn around hadn't been salted, and it was packed with icy snow so it was too dangerous. My partner had to call the road service at 6.45 and wait with the bus until they could come clear it 45 mn later. It drives me crazy that they won't put a smaller vehicle for the end of the bus line that is optional. So many times, he or his colleague drive up for one person ...who sometimes doesn't even show up.

And the chickens...are having issues as well. They hated the wind and the icy snow of course.

Piou-piou is sick. She has been laying soft shell eggs again and the last two made her eggbound. It took her almost 20h to get the last one out. I'm giving her calcium which she gobbles up but it's not solving the issue. It has happened to her before and it solved itself with no other treatment than scrambled egg and some time inside the house, so I dearly hope it will again. She's our little princess and she's so happy and active usually that it's really sad to see her unwell again. I'm hesitant to bring her inside because there is such a huge difference in temperature but I might do that until the sun comes out in the morning. It was -4 today.

The other bad news is Lilly. Just yesterday we were tending to her feet and commenting how much better both bumblefeet were. And I saw her only late this morning and was shocked to discover that she was limping terribly ! I looked at her foot and couldn't see or feel anything. It's not the bumblefoot. It doesn't stop her from scratching, but she avoids putting any weight on the foot when she walks. I was really expecting to see a wound underneath seen how she is walking, but I didn't. I guess we are going to have to keep her in a cage. She is going to hate it, she is the most active of the hens with Lulu now, always digging and running around.

And because Merle is broody my strategy to get Théo to roost while Gaston is out in the terrace beyond doesn't work anymore. Merle won't roost next to Théo so he doesn't stay on his roost and keeps going down to get her and pick a fight with Gaston. Hopefully she will break out of it soon as I'm not letting her on the nest at all. Gaston is molting really bad and I'm coming to think he has broken his toe. I don't want him sparring even just a little.

And finally we had some other life issues...one of which is a disagreement in my partner's family, which could potentially mean if they do not manage to find an issue that we will have to move. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that.

I have very few pictures. There was a beautiful light today but I was too bummed.

Piou-piou wanted to come back inside the coop for a while after she passed the egg this morning. It's very unusual for her to do that.

Yesterday Lulu was the only hen to brave the weather.

Gaston's toe

Kara judging the hooman very defective.