Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[Molpet]

Server farms for computing, especially AI, use a tremendous amount of power.

https://e360.yale.edu/features/artificial-intelligence-climate-energy-emissions

 

[ManueB]

I think there will come a time when we realise that the dream of environmentally friendly limitless power that's affordable isn't going to happen.

I think we as a society should be looking to low cost, low tech solutions rather than what I see now for solar power, which is still an environmental disaster that the "alternatives" have managed to convince themsleves that they are helping to save the planet.

I agree. I've said it before, the only clean energy is the one we don't use.
Solar isn't alternative, it's mainstream and heavily funded here if you dont install it yourself, as in fact geothermal floor heating ...with systems that still require a lot of electricity.
Low tech is I think what alternative communities turn to now, and there are (ironically) a lot of great resources for DIY on the web and inspiring experiences and examples, but like regenerative farming, it's not what the big amount of public money funds.
I think the depressing truth is the majority of us are just not ready to adapt more than marginally our way of living, unless / until we have no choice.

Good chicken news : Lilly laid a healthy egg today, the day was beautiful and warmer than has been for a long time and the chickens loved it, and they are eating quite a bit more now which is always reassuring.
Bad news : Théo is really testing my patience again at roost time. I'm not managing to keep calm, even if I know shouting doesn't help. It's still all about Merle - as soon as she roosts next to him everything quiets down.

 

[BDutch]

Lilly laid a healthy egg today, the day was beautiful and warmer than has been for a long time and the chickens loved it, and they are eating quite a bit more now which is always reassuring.

I prefer the good news .
Just tell Theo to ….or its him time to enjoy some real nice chicken soup.
(Obviously worked too hard today to say such a stupid thing)

 

[ManueB]

I prefer the good news .
Just tell Theo to ….or its him time to enjoy some real nice chicken soup.
(Obviously worked too hard today to say such a stupid thing)

I do tell him quite often that I'll turn him into coq au vin .
He is afraid of me now, and terrified when I raise my voice at him. Fear has always made him aggressive. I don't think I will ever regain the trust he had in me when he was terrified of Gaston and I protected him. He also pretends to attack my leg whenever he feels I'm stopping him from getting to Merle.
Tonight Merle went to roost directly with him, so everything was fine.
But she doesn't want to stay with him all the time : he is a real pain with her, and Piou-piou dominates her and keeps reminding her of that. When she is in the chicken's yard, Merle dominates all of Gaston's hens..except Chipie, even though she is so low in the pecking order. So while she likes free ranging outside all around the place with Théo and Piou-piou, she also enjoys playing at being the mean leader of the chicken's yard.

Today much time was spent touring for nests. Both roosters were very busy, Gaston with Chipie and Léa, Théo with Merle. It's an exhausting job and the client is never satisfied!
Lulu was very unhappy and jealous. She's one of the few hens who hasn't slowed down or stopped laying ; she was already well liked by Gaston and this gave her a favourite status. But Gaston really likes Léa, who was his hatch sibling, and Chipie his mum , and if they start laying again he will definitely pay more attention to them. Lulu is pitiless with the other hens and especially with Chipie, more than once she has pulled off a few feathers or pecked her close to the eye.

You want me to lay where Piou-piou lays ? You must be joking ?

No way I'm going to lay in this stinky small coop.

Lilly laid again today. Her eggs aren't back to normal yet, still a bit pale and fragile, but it feels possible that she gets over the problem. It's hard to believe seeing how scary the stuff she passed out was.
We have stopped treating one of her bumblefoot, it's over. On the other foot she still has the swelling from where she had the surgery, so we keep doing epsom salt baths a few times a week. That seems to keep it under control if it doesn't heal.

Kara

Annette on her own in the garden gets supervised by Hibou

 

[BDutch]

Théo is really testing my patience again at roost time. I'm not managing to keep calm, even if I know shouting doesn't help. It's still all about Merle - as soon as she roosts next to him everything quiets down.

Really strange. But I don’t think shouting to him will help. It’s often hard to understand why they behave the way they do.

Can’t you think of something that might work (doable of course) and give it a try for a couple of weeks?

If I was in your shoes, as we say in the the Netherlands, I would try to rehome one of the roosters. Probably Théo. But I can imagine this is out of the question for the both of you.

 

[Shadrach]

Really strange. But I don’t think shouting to him will help. It’s often hard to understand why they behave the way they do.

Can’t you think of something that might work (doable of course) and give it a try for a couple of weeks?

If I was in your shoes, as we say in the the Netherlands, I would try to rehome one of the roosters. Probably Théo. But I can imagine this is out of the question for the both of you.

I think the shouting may be of benefit to the keeper rather than the rooster. I found it helped me anyway.

 

[MaryJanet]

I think the shouting may be of benefit to the keeper rather than the rooster. I found it helped me anyway.

I have found it beneficial to threaten to turn Peggy into a slipper!

There are times she grabs on to Mary's short neck feathers or head feathers and hangs off with her legs dangling while gentle Mary runs around terrorised. The feathers get pulled out and Peggy spits them out.

"If you hang from Mary's neck one more time, I'll kick you up the arse and wear you like a slipper!! Now f*** off out of it!!"

She couldn't care less, the vicious little dinosaur. Defiance is all I get.