This week we’ve had a challenge from long time reader Trent. Trent has asked that I try the Hot Sauce: 357 Mad Dog, and subsequently film it.
Mad Dog has the moniker 357 because it’s rated at 357,000 Scoville, making it the second hottest sauce I’ve tried after God Slayer.
So watch the video below and enjoy the mouth-burning hi-jinks!
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Sharkticons. In G1 they worked for the Quintessons. In IDW they worked for the Junkions. Whatever the place in the Multiverse, it always seems to be the fate of the Sharkticons to be the serving class – rotund warriors who turn into savage shark… thingies.
Gnaw is to this day the only named member of the Sharkticon race, whereas even the Junkions have grown their named-character ranks over the years. But given their appearance in The Transformers: The Movie in 1986 and then in multiple episodes of G1 Season 3 thereafter Sharkticons – and therefore Gnaw – are instantly recognisable to nearly any Transformer fan on the planet.
Gnaw got his first new toy in thirty years with his 2016 Titans Return figure. It was much beloved, especially since he was so small and cheap that you could by a ton of him! Well now three years after that Gnaw is taking his first steps into the Multiverse with a bigger (if somewhat similar figure). So let’s chomp down on Cyberverse Gnaw.
Robot Mode
Tubby fragger isn’t he! But he conforms perfectly to how the Sharkticons looked in the G1 show and how they may/probably look when they debut in the Cyberverse cartoon. The articulation isn’t too bad for a Warrior-Class CB figure, with some actuation in his shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and neck. With a neckline covered in teeth and a light grey, light blue and pink colour scheme you would be hard pressed to mistake this fella for anyone else.
Mace Mash 
By pushing the shark fin situated in the middle of Gnaw’s Back you make him do a Mace Mash spin, akin to the gimmick that the Cyberverse Acid Storm sports. It’s kinda fun I guess, certainly aimed at a younger demographic. Certainly adds more play value than simply pressing a button like on Alpha Trion. I do like how his mace has a big kink in it, something to give it a bit more visual appeal.
Sharticon Mode
Half-Frog, Half-Shark – all ugly! Yup – he ticks all the boxes. This is for the most part simply an upscaled version of the Titans Return version, in fact their transformations are nearly identical. Sadly this Gnaw has no articulation in his arms which is a bit of a letdown as was something they could have been easily included without compromising the Mace Mash gimmick. But it’s a small quibble, on the whole he looks great. Ugly yes – but great.
Worth Getting?
Well, I reckon so. As only the third official Gnaw toy we’ve had in the last 33 years, people would have been over the moon if this had been released before the Titans Return figure existed. As it is he is worth getting if you are into Cyberverse or the character in general. Given the $29(AU) price point I can’t see many folk using him to army build. Given his size however, which is half way between the other two official Gnaw figures, he will add some nice variety to your Sharkticon displays.
Got anything to say about this figure? Pop it in the comments section below!
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Season 2 of Cyberverse has just started to air in Australia and more Cyberverse toys are hitting the shelves. One of the latest ones is a character who ironically died in a flashback back in Season 1. So let’s have a look at that grand old sage, one of the Original 13 and Matrix-babysitter for hire: Ultra-Class Alpha Trion.
Robot Mode
Ol’ Alpha is looking pretty beefy here for an aging bot. Really strong and stocky, looks like he should be pounding iron rather than babysitting baubles. I really like how the wings of his alt-mode become a quasi-cape and he has the big spikes on the shoulder that the character did in the G1 cartoon in the Evergreen style Cyberverse has adopted – I believe he is the first Alpha Trion figure to be sporting them. A decent beard on him as well. Otherwise he is pretty simplistic looking, suffers from very limited articulation and sports no weapon whatsoever.
Vehicle Mode
Alpha Trion first sported a Space Cruiser alt-mode in the Timelines toyline which also carried over into his Titans Return toy. This seems to be the go-to alt-mode for Alpha now as he sports it again here. Like the Titans Return version, the Space Cruiser mode is severely plain, his paintjob consisting of big unadorned patches of red and purple with a small cockpit at the back. From the top and sides it looks OK, but don’t look from the bottom as it reveals how simplistic the Transformation is (i.e – you can see its just the robot hunched up and Trion staring at you angrily).
Laser Beam Blast
Well, it makes more sense than Slipstream’s helicopter-out-the-back-thingie power I guess. By pushing down on at the back you can make giant lasers flip out from both wings. It’s kinda cool, but there is a paint deficiency on the outer front halves of the lasers, making them a streaky pink instead of a solid one. Will add a little bit of play value for the younger fans.
Worth Getting?
To be honest, at $39(AU) I would have to say no. The fairly decent looking robot mode does not make up for the cheapy feel, lack of articulation, less than inspiring alt-mode and the simplistic transformation. Add to that no accessories and this is a figure you can easily bypass. Frankly I only got him as it was the first time in a long time I had actually seen a new Transformer toy on the shelves of the only department store that’s within 50km of where I live. However if you are a fan of the Original 13, Cyberverse or want what is probably the most G1-looking Alpha Trion toy we have ever had, then he may be worth picking up if you see him at a discounted price. Considering Alpha Trion is already dead in the cartoon, if you want a Cyberverse representation of him don’t wait for a better toy to come along as you are unlikely to see it.
Got something to say about this figure? Add it to the comments section below!
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Dear Big Farmer Trev,
I had been warned about this with Silkies and it’s happened.
I have a broody hen.
I spent all weekend watching her trying to figure out why she is so grumpy.
She’s been laying an egg every day and getting mad as hell when I collect them.
Then she started walking about shouting and sulking and now she is mostly staying in her coop looking very upset.
I checked her over trying to figure out what on earth is wrong with her.
Physically she is in tip top condition.
My mate just walked outside and said ‘maybe she’s broody’
Then he said ‘I don’t actually know what that means, is that a thing?’
Pretty sure he is right.
So now I need your wisdom.
How do I ‘break’ a broody hen?
Or should I get her some chicks and shove them under her at night time?
Help!
Love Mads
Yup, she sure sounds broody to me! You have 3 options:
1: Let it run its course, after several weeks she will get over it.
2: Lock her out of her coop during the day so it forces her to scratch about rather than sitting inside looking grumpy. This sometimes helps decrease the duration of the broodiness by a day or two.
3: Get some fertilized eggs and put under her. Do NOT get some chicks already born, she will know they are not hers and won’t look after them. However if you get some fertilized eggs and put them in her nest, when they hatch she will think she is their mum and will act as such.
Good luck!
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The exclusives continue thick and fast in the Transformers: War for Cybertron: Siege toyline. In fact nearly 40% of this toyline is made up of figures you can only purchase in particular US stores or otherwise online.
Last time we looked at Greenlight, who was only available through the US Amazon Prime site. Today we are looking at some more Amazon exclusives, though thankfully you can get them through the AU store. Today we look at the Autobot Alphastrike Counterforce.
This pack is made up of three bots but four characters – Covert Clone Sideswipe, a new Battle Master character named Trenchfoot, and vehicle only characters Raindance and Grand Slam who combine into Slamdance.
Covert Clone Sideswipe
Robot Mode
Yep – despite the name we all know from the colour scheme this is really G2 Sideswipe. Except the inversion of the red and black colours, this figure is exactly the same as the regular Sideswipe that came out in the main Siege toyline. At least with all the blaster adaptability you can beef up his weaponry – which consist of a Photo-Pulser Proton Launcher and a Gryo Blaster that can combine into a RR Gryofuse Axleswitch Hyper-Blaster – so he resembles more his more hardcore G2 incarnation.
Cybertronian Sports Car Mode
No sir, I don’t really like it. It’s not bad, but with all the red under the translucent dome the colour scheme really screams the Decepticons Wildrider or Runabout. Once again, adding lots of weapons is your friend here to give him that G2 Sideswipe feel.
Trenchfoot
Trenchfoot is a recolour of Decepticon Battle Master Caliburst and his colour scheme makes it clear he is more intended to be paired up with Sideswipe than Slamdance. I think he works really well in both modes, his gun apparently being a Foxhole Counterblast Cannon. Interestingly he is one of the very few completely original characters in the Siege toyline so far.
Raindance & Grand Slam
A little history lesson. In 1988 G1 Blaster finally got a 3rd set of cassettes – Raindance and Grand Slam. What made these characters unique was that they had no robot or robotic animal modes whatsoever (until they combined) – they both turned from cassettes into vehicles.
Raindance
Here Raindance once again has no robot mode of his own, and not even a cassette mode! He is however a very cool looking blue earth jet, replacing his Cybertronian Jet-Drone mode.
Grand Slam
G1 Grand Slam turned from a cassette into a red Cybertronian Tank. Like Raindance he has also lost his cassette mode but turns into a pretty sweet red tank fairly reminicent of the original, sporting a big A2A Proton Missile Launcher on the front. Both Grand Slam and Raindance can sport each others weapons as well (Raindance’s being a Smokecloak Blaster)
Slamdance
As mentioned, the original G1 Raindance and Grand Slam toys could combine to finally give them a robot mode – Slamdance – and here he is once again. A slight retool of Siege Skytread but with a new head, he stands that slight bit taller than your average Deluxe figure. This is a great shout out to a pretty obscure character!
Beware the left ankle!
There have been many reports of people snapping the left ankle off their Slamdance! And indeed having this knowledge in advance I was very careful with mine and found that yes, his left ankle is very tight and stiff. However I found that giving the area a quick squirt with some spray lubricant like WD-40 and then leaving him for half an hour resulted in a much less stiff and more fluid movement in the part, so now I transform him without worry. I highly recommend doing the same when you first remove yours from the box.
Is this set worth getting?
Well there are no brand new moulds here. All 3 (or 4) moulds have already been released in the main Siege line so if you are looking for something new look elsewhere. That said, this has been the cheapest version of G2 Sideswipe we’ve had since the original, its the first time in over 30 years we’ve had a Slamdance figure and Trenchfoot is that rare thing becoming more elusive – a whole new character. The price is around $80(AU) online which really isn’t too bad for 2 Deluxe’s and a Battle Master so you can feel like you are getting decent value for money. This is really a take or leave exclusive which I primarily picked up for Slamdance, and I am quite happy I did.
Got anything to say about this set of figures? Pop it in the comments section below!
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Note: It is illegal to capture Monitors in Australia in the wild. It is only permissible to ‘capture’ a Monitor if it is already within a structure such as a house or, in the case of this blog, a duck pen. Even then a person can only capture the Monitor for the purpose of removal from the structure and subsequent relocation. Monitors should never be approached in the wild and should never be harmed under any circumstance, being a protected species.
Monitors, Goannas , big friggin lizards – whatever ya wanna call them I love’em!
They are truly beautiful creatures. Before moving to our new farm I had only ever seen a couple in the wild; now we have a property full of them!
For the most part I love having them around. First and foremost as they eat baby snakes. Even full grown snakes don’t like to hang around them. Ergo the more Monitors we have, the less snakes. And as a father of two young children that suits me just fine.
Monitor’s are egg enthusiasts. I’ve often found them in our compost after the egg shells and even in our own yard I’ve taken film of them scaling trees to first go after Cockatoo eggs and then Magpie eggs. Considering the amount of both we have around our place, that doesn’t bother me too much and I don’t get involved since its part of nature’s cycle.
However at least a half-dozen times over the past two years I’ve caught them raiding out duck nests.
Now our organic free-range duck eggs are one of the few things we sell on our farm, so we don’t like them to be taken. And once a Monitor has discovered where the ducks lay, he will be back again and again and again. I’ve even found one pushing its head under the arse of a clucky duck to eat the actual eggs she is sitting on! It can be very frustrating when your new ducklings are only a week or so off hatching and they get gobbled down by a sneaky lizard.
So because of this, from time to time I’ve had to relocate the odd Monitor. Bear in mind this is always done with the upmost care so as to cause the animal no injury. I only relocate them when they have started the duck egg filching, before that I’m more than happy for them to climb our trees, keep the snakes away and just, well, be beautiful to look at really. Catching and relocating monitors is actually a surprisingly simple and easy process, and here is how you do it:
Materials Required
*1 garbage can
Yup, that’s it! Sometimes I’ve used a cage as well but I find a plastic bin works best.
Method
You see, Monitors are not aggressive creatures at all. They eat eggs and carrion and baby reptiles. They don’t attack big creatures and are not remotely hostile so when approached by a human they will run away as fast as they can, preferably up the nearest tree.
So your technique is simple, when you spot the Monitor in your house or coop, grab a plastic bin and a lid and chase him. If he runs outside and goes up a tree he will wait up there for hours until you go away so you have lost him. Plus it is then illegal to interfere with him in any way. The idea is to back the Monitor into a corner of whatever room or pen it has entered.
Once in the corner he will turn his head and hiss at you. This is all bluff. Whilst Monitors do have venom sectretions in their mouths and a bite can make someone sick, they will only go the chomp as a last resort. Likewise he has claws like chainsaws and a tail that can it can use like a whip. However again he will only use these as a last resort – he doesn’t want a fight – he just wants you to go away.
Quickly, very quickly but making sure you don’t snag one of his legs, dump the bin over him. If the opening is vertical slam the lid on, if it is upside down on the ground slide the lid underneath. Now secure the lid via its side handles, or if it doesn’t have handles simply tie it down with a bit of rope so it accidentally doesn’t pop off. The Monitor is going to be quite bewildered inside and is going to be trying to figure out his situation, not slamming himself against the lid trying to get out.
Relocation
Now it’s just a matter of taking the Monitor to its new home. Our farm backs onto a state forest so it’s a great place to let them loose for us. However as I’ve learned, make sure you let them loose under a tree for them to immediately scale. If not they are going to be looking for the nearest cover and that may well be the underside of your vehicle. Then you’ve got the headache of getting the bugger out.
Out of all the Monitors I’ve relocated I’ve only ever had one return, so next time I took him further afield. And I’m pleased to say that when bushwalking I’ve even spotted ones I’ve relocated before. Very easy, just triangulate the angry noise of cheeping birds and there’s a good chance you will spot a Monitor half way up their tree.
And remember, unless you have your own birds whose eggs you want to protect, if you find a Monitor on your property, leave him be. They are beautiful creatures, will never, ever attack you and will help keep your place clear of snakes.
Happy and humane hunting!
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Transformers may be an intergenerationaly beloved franchise that began in 1984, but there is another that began that same year that is just as beloved and famous, and that is Ghostbusters.
Transformers rock! Ghostbusters rock! One involves giant shape-changing alien robots, the other using proton streams and containment systems to catch ghosts. Plus both have cool vehicles and catchy theme tunes!
It’s the cool vehicles (or at least one of them) we will be looking at today. Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters vehicle and a true icon of pop culture. But here Ecto-1 has been given the Transformers Crossover treatment, so for the 35th anniversary of both franchises we get Ectotron.
The Packaging
Oh it’s just sooo beautiful! Pure 80’s Transformers G1, right down to the transformation steps at the top. And subtly altered with the odd bit of slime and Ghostbusters symbols to show the dual heritage of this toy.
Vehicle Mode
Be still my beating heart! Ecto-1 looks superb here! So much detail! From the grill to the doors to all the various equipment on top, this is an incredibly faithful rendition of the original vehicle. The only downside is that there is no interior detail, but given this is also a Transformer I find this completely forgivable – all those robot pieces have to go somewhere after all.
Robot Mode
Very cool! The colour scheme is mostly white due to the vehicle form, but incorporates some brown as a shout out to the uniforms the Ghostbusters wear. The figure has great articulation which allows you to put him in all sorts of bustin’ poses. Instead of the usual robot optics, he has spectro-goggles such as Ghostbuster Ray Stanz wears. And speaking of equipment the Ghostbusters wear…
The Proton Pack
The roof equipment from the vehicle form transforms into a detachable Proton Pack for the Ectotron robot mode. This is very clever! Not only can he take the pack on and off, but he can also either holster the gun on his back, or can hold it in order to do some bustin’ of his own. Very, very well done – Slimer better watch out!
Worth Getting?
This wasn’t a very hard review to write as I am absolutely in love with this figure! Could it have been better? Perhaps. Inner detail for the vehicle, maybe some more paint apps on the robot mode and some eye and mouth colour on Slimer so he is not just a green blob (though really, the character literally is a green blob). But given this figure is not that cheap as is, it would have resulted in a far higher price tag in order to accommodate all that, and I think he is fine as is.
Personally, whenever not playing with it I’ll be keeping Ectotron in the beautiful packaging as a display piece. Ectotron is currently available at multiple places online or here in Australia at Zing & EB Games stores for around $80. If you are a fan of both the Ghostbusters and Transformers franchises (and let’s face it – who isn’t), then I heartily recommend picking up what, in my opinion, is the best TF crossover toy we’ve ever had!
Got something to say about this figure? Pop it in the comments section below!
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Note: The following in an opinion piece based upon actual events. All images taken were posted publicly in a public forum.
When one is providing a service, whether it be performing a surgical operation or digging a ditch, it is incumbent upon one to take all necessary steps to make sure that the service is provided with the highest professionalism and standards. If the service involves services for children, then the pre-planning involved in order to provide that service is effectively delivered should be considered of even greater importance. One could assume that this kind of thinking pervades every right-minded person in society.
Well apparently not. Not when it comes to the Panthers Penrith Leagues Club anyway.
In what could only be described as a colossal cock-up, Panthers Penrith failed to deliver on a Transformers Interactive Stage-Show, disappointing hundreds of kids and their families who had paid substantial amounts months in advance to see the performance.
Their excuse – bad weather.
To clarify, this show was not outside, it was inside the venue in a theater. The reason the bad weather stopped the show was that the ‘artists’ (D-grade actors in Transformer costumes) were unable to fly in to perform due to grounded planes on Saturday morning.
‘Oh OK’ you might think “Well sometimes these things cannot be helped. It’s nobody’s fault’.
Only thing is, the bad weather had been forecast a week in advance, and in an extreme example of penny-pinching, Penrith Panthers had inexplicably still decided to try and fly the actors in that morning of the show rather than the night before, which would have resulted in them shelling out for a nights accommodation at their on-site hotel.
Of course, this meant that many families who had booked a hotel so they could bring their kids to the show, were now out of pocket for nothing.
For our family personally, this was all a gigantic disappointment! We had booked months in advance and even booked a hotel room. Then on the day driven 2 ½ hours over the Blue Mountains, only for the cancellation to be announced on social media a mere 90 minute before the show was due to start. My son, who loves Transformers almost as much as I do, was incredibly upset. All that build up and travelling just to have his show whisked away at the very last minute… it was probably the biggest disappointment he has experienced in his 6 years of life.
Panthers Penrith handling of the situation was deplorable, in fact one might say the term ‘bungling incompetence’ is an apt phrase to use. First they announced the 11am show was cancelled.
Then 2 hours later announced ALL shows were cancelled.
Then they rang some people to tell them of the cancellations, but certainly not all:
The outrage on Facebook was palpable:
While it was allowed to last:
In pure damage control, first Panthers Penrith kept going through their Facebook ‘All Shows Cancelled’ post and deleting every negative comment, which meant pretty much all of them. In fact when talking to Lisamaree the next day, she mentioned how surprised she was by all the positive ‘It’s not your fault, you guys are great’ comments. Panthers Penrith not only left all the positive comments up, but also rather startlingly all the troll comments that made fun of the upset parents.
By Monday, Panthers Penrith Leauges Club must have realized how suspicious that looked so simply started deleting everything anybody posted:
So not only did Panthers Penrith disappoint a lot of families with their idiotic decisions, but even denied families the right to vent their very valid frustrations.
Thankfully here at bigangrytrev.com we engage in no such censorship, so granted Jason, another parent who was bringing his family, his chance to vent here:
When you recieved the call saying the show was cancelled, how did you feel?
‘Annoyed. Our eldest son had been looking forward to this for almost 2 months, we had accommodation booked, we were on our way out to Penrith and we find out that the actors didn’t have the forethought to look at a weather map in advance (or listen to the news) and realise that flying in on the morning of the shows was not a good idea.’
What were your children’s reactions when you told them the show was off?
‘Our youngest was ambivalent, mostly due to his age. Our eldest was upset, until we bribed him with playing at Timezone for a few hours instead.’
So yes, in all, one could say this was a complete cock-up. While even the angriest of parents (a group which included myself) agree that in no way did Panthers Penrith Leagues Club or the actors wish for this to happen, it is a situation that could have easily been avoided with even a modicum of forethought and preparation. The equipment was already at the venue and there wasn’t a show the previous few nights in Melbourne where the actors were flying from. So really, besides the Leagues Club saving a few bucks, there was no reason the actors could not have flown in earlier, especially with the bad weather known about so far in advance. Thus when Panthers Penrith gives their ‘it’s nobody’s fault’ speech, it doesn’t ring true, not one bit. Next time they make such a mistake they should own it. Admit ‘Yes we f*cked up – we are really sorry! We will try to make it up to you all!’. It would garner them a lot more respect than weaselly excuses and deleting negative facebook comments.
But personally I wont know next time it happens as I plan on never trying to attend a show at their venue again. Maybe they should just stick to being the overgrown pokies parlour that everyone considers them to be – because a kids entertainment venue they certainly are not.
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Good old Soundwave, after having a break for many years he got revived for the Cybertron series and has been a staple ever since. Animated, Prime, RID(15), Movieverse – he’s been in them all. It should not come as much of a surprise then that Soundwave has cropped up in the new Cyberverse series, ensuring he gets yet another new toy. So lets take a look at Cyberverse Warrior-Class Soundwave. 
Robot Mode
I kinda like the style of it. Somewhere between the G1 and Animated Soundwaves. The blue is quite vibrant, the yellow stands out well on his chest with the Decepticon Symbol in the middle, the soundwave patterns on his shoulders, the shoulder cannon – all good! Good to see the cassette-player symbols on there too despite the fact that’s not what he transforms into. He also has an extra little satellite dish that can flip out from the side of his head.
The articulation here is better than most other Cyberverse Warrior class figures too with the elbows and knees bending, the neck turning and the leg and shoulder connections being able to swivel.
The only letdown is how bare his legs look, much like Cyberverse Prowl, they look far too plain due to making up the back half of the vehicle mode.
Vehicle mode
Quite a letdown. A survellience vehicle is a good alt-mode choice for him but this is just way to bland. Some different colours on the lights and grill or even a stripe down the side would have helped break up this big box of blue. Once again you can flip out the satellite dish which makes sense for the vehicle, whereas the cannon definitely does not.
The Laserbeak Blast
This made me laugh the first time because I didn’t mean to activate it, I was just seeing if his head swiveled. By turning his head & cannon you make Laserbeak (who sadly can’t detach) pop out of his chest compartment at a surprising speed! But that colour – translucent neon pink?! Haven’t seen a Laserbeak this pink since he was pretending to be a Bumblebee copy in DOTM! It’s kinda fun and it’s kinda quirky – it would have just been a lot better if Laserbeak popped all the way out.
Laserbeak can also pop out the back of the vehicle. I can’t figure out if this works in the figures favour or not. On the one hand it forces Soundwave’s head to be uncovered and the overall effect is weird. On the other hand the back panel dropping down like that and Laserbeak shooting out makes it looks like Soundwave is getting tailed and is deploying Laserbeak out the back of his vehicle – could make for some interesting play options.
Worth Getting?
I’d say that this figure is worth getting for the price tag, but only just. The robot mode is really nice (if small) and has replaced Shockwave as my favorite Warrior-Class bot. However the vehicle mode is definitely lacking. Pretty simplistic transformation too. It may simply be a case of how amusing you think you or your kids will find the Laserbeak gimmick. But it’s easy to say this is definitely one of the much better Warrior-Class Cyberverse figures. 
Got anything to say about this figure? Pop it in the comments section below!
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Today we have another chook question from Maddy in Melbourne:
Dear Big Farmer Trev.
Firstly I would like to acknowledge and thank you for being instrumental in this city kids foray into pseudo ‘country life’. Ok I’m over stating things, into suburban hen keeping.
The little silkies did prove a complex hen to care for and I subsequently found myself down from two to one.
The bird vet said ‘they are very poor egg layers, you can’t get them wet, they’re very broody , have a myriad of health problems…’ whereby I asked him if that was his professional way of saying ‘why the fuck would anyone ever want to keep silkies?’ He laughed. A lot. Which I took for a ‘yes, yes that is what I was getting at’
In any case one of the adorable little munchkins made it but was desperate for companionship and I have managed to assimilate a new hen into my flock.
All is mostly going swimmingly.
The newest girl is a Welsummer.
She’s not just the prettiest bird I have ever brought home, she is the smartest.
She was first put in with the Silkie who was thrilled to have a new roost pal. Problem being Silkies roost low and are very poor flyers and jumpers and . . . all that other stuff the bird vet said about silkies and more.
Anyway I built a new coop, and trained the little silkie how to navigate my complex hen ladder system to get into the higher coop.
She’s done well the adorable little munchkin.
So anyway..here comes my question.
The Welsummer (Penny) is still not happy at all with the coop.
Every evening right on dusk the other two happily put themselves to bed and Penny paces about looking for (even) higher digs.
As a keeper of many birds I am hoping you can help me to understand where does she actually want to sleep?!
In a tree?
Over the neighbours fence?
Is there a coop I could get built for her that would be appropriate for her discerning specifications or is she just being a dick?
I’d love to let her freerange at dusk to see where she actually wanted to sleep but I fear she may end up over the fence.
Someone suggested clipping her wings first.
I’ve never done that to any of my hens. I am remiss to fuck with their abilities like that in case it disables them in a possible escape from a predator scenario.
Historically I have just taught them that shit is so good here they don’t need to fuck off. It’s worked so far, but Pen really really wants a higher night time roost.
Or that’s what I assume she wants when she paces about considering her options and winds up on my shoulder or on the roof of her coop.
I’d rather figure out how to accomodate her needs than fuck with her body.
Do different breeds have different innate desires or is this a quirk of Penny herself?
Have you had hens that protested their accomodation and how did you address it if they did.?
Yours in good faith,
NOT a farmer by any stretch of the imagination but semi fluent in chook.
Mads.
Hey Mads,
Most birds roost according to their inherent nature and it’s damn hard to get any animal to go against it. In the photo’s you’ve sent I see you’ve got those little chook houses that I’ve also got a couple of. When I first introduced my Frizzles to their houses I kept them locked up in the little coops every night for a full week so they would come to see them as their homes.
This worked – to a degree. The chickens would go inside their houses to lay eggs and often go inside them if the weather was foul. However at dusk, most evenings the birds would fly up as best they could (Frizzles are not god flyers, yet still a cut above Silkies) and get up onto the highest part of the houses of a night to roost there. I tried to change this but ended up giving up, it’s what they wanted to do, and they were still pretty safe due to the high fences I had installed.
However behavior can be changed. After we moved state and brought all our poultry with us, for about 9 months my Frizzles had to share a pen with my Muscovy ducks. Now Muscovy’s are about the only duck breed that like to roost rather than settle on the ground, and they found the tops of the chooks houses perfect. Being about 3 times the size of the chooks and outnumbering them greatly, the ducks easily won this battle and the chooks took to roosting on the little perches inside their houses rather than on top.
After 9 months I had finally built a very large pen for the ducks and chooks and moved everyone and their accomodations inside. As part of this new set up I had built big perches strong enough to accommodate the Muscovy’s and they quickly took to them. However the chickens, even a year later, have opted to remain inside their coop of a night, despite the tops of their little houses now being vacant. Where I was unable to train my chickens, the ducks succeeded.
From what I know of Welsummers, they are medium perchers. As in they like to be up at a decent height but don’t feel the need to be up massively high in a tree like some chooks do
So my advice is either:
A: Just accept you are going to have to physically pop her in and lock her into the little coop houses each night, which she may not particularly like but will keep her safe, and hope she will eventually acclimatize to it
or
B: Build some taller perches inside your enclosure at heights of 5 and 6 feet. Then she can sleep up higher and be happier. The downside is she will be more exposed to the elements and won’t keep your Silkie company of a night. Considering your pen has a ceiling of 7 feet, I don’t think you need to go any higher.
Of course you could do as others suggested and clip her wings, but I understand why you don’t and to be honest I’ve always adopted the same thinking myself. I don’t want my birds to think they can escape a predator by flying away, only to find when they try that some bastard human has taken that ability away and they are now feral-cat food.
Anyway Madds, hope that is of some help.
Got any other advice for Maddy? Pop it in the comments section below!
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