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  1. Shadrach

    Are my wood shavings okay?

    Hardwood chippings is what is recommended for chicken runs here in the UK. My choice would be hardwood chips over Pine. They last longer, should be low dust and tend to carry fewer pathogens than soft chip or mulch. I wouldn't use Mulch. I don't know what season you are experiencing but if it is...
  2. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Glais has got a bit to learn yet. The most noticeable between say him and Henry, is Glais is quite insistent on having his own space. I hope this will change. Mow and Sylph like their rooster cuddles.
  3. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Two hours without any rain and a bearable temperature of around 11C.
  4. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    I struggled with this before taking on Glais. So far I haven't seen ant signs that he's missing home or his family. He is obviously used much better cover in his environment; it's a major issue at the field. Currently he looks a bit loved up with Mow, she's still laying eggs. He really likes...
  5. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    A direct hit from a Muscovy Duck, in this case a sitting female, managed to draw blood through a pair of leather riggers gloves.They've got some power in those necks.
  6. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    I'm pretty sure if I didn't leave food in there overnight there wouldn't be a problem.
  7. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Yes, he got here in time for the most recent. It could be. I've wondered if it had anything to do with air flow. They've always favoured that side of the coop. The rat entry holes are too high to be reached from the roost, just.
  8. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    I used to see broody hens do that when they finally shook off their broody trance.
  9. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    He fecked up. He turned to run too late. I imagine he shook it off coming out of the flood ditch (one of the weasels we had lived there). I heard the general panic and got to the top of the bank in time to see him charging up the bank to the house. I saw a lot of weasel attacks. Most were...
  10. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    That would be me as much as Glais if he is actually happy with his new conditions. He's brought my sense of humour back. I'm usually happier having a rooster around.:love
  11. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Correct.:) I think I can remember reading that the higher density and composition of the recycled plastic the Nesteras are built out of has better resistance to chewing than the Solway has. It definitely looks the part.
  12. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Three hours today. Not too bad weather wise really. A bit of sun, not that cold and no rain as such. Sylph, She's doing okay so far with her moult. She's still active but she does spend more time with me close to or under my chair while Glais and Mow forage. Glais is happy to relax right by...
  13. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    I'll talk to Glais about it. He was there the night before last. Yes they will peck at any moving object they can reach, trying to slide ones hand under a roost bar loaded with chickens in the dark shows as much. They're not very good at the pecking bit because they can't see very well, and...
  14. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    A further cautionary picture to the text above of a young chap called Cillin not looking like he's having a good day after a weasel fastened it's teeth on Cillin's rear end inflicting wounds that required stitches and removing the majority of his tail feathers.
  15. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Anyway, about this coop, the rat, the weasel, stoat and mink. It has been suggested that a predator, should it manage to breach the coop, would be unlikely to enter for fear of violent retribution for the damage by the hens, or even our magnificent roosters. So what's going on here then.:lau...
  16. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    :lau:lau:lau
  17. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    They can. There is constant communication between the hen and the eggs. I can't remember at what stage it starts. I notice it from day 16 to 18 if I've been observing carefully. What's more, the eggs start communication with each other at a certain stage. Again, there is stuff on the net about...
  18. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Six is the number of eggs I usually allow a hen to sit. The conversation with the hen goes something like this, "I know I said you could sit and hatch, but I'm not dad and I'm not supporting your army."
  19. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    It's as frustrating as trying to teach chicks to walk up a coop ramp. When mum has given up I can recall some dreadful nights, soaked to the skin with peck marks on my hand from the irate mum who seems to think I'm trying to kill her chicks while I tried to ferret them out from underneath the...
  20. Shadrach

    Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

    Pardon my humour, I know the smell.:lol: I know it happens. Maybe I've been lucky. I don't let hens sit indefinitely; six weeks I think has been the longest before I intervened. There is something wrong with a hen that doesn't switch off when her eggs haven't hatched in the usual time. Also, I...
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