Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[LozzyR]

I do have a source for humanely raised eggs near me and I would never buy battery hen eggs for sure.
But even knowing the hens who laid the eggs are well cared for it feels disloyal to my Princesses to go shopping.
I have 4 eggs in the kitchen and 2 in the coop and I froze about a dozen for baking in winter.
Focusing on recipes that don’t require eggs for now at least. Maybe I will manage without buying.

When I stopped eating shop eggs because of shredding, I looked for egg-free recipes.

 

[featherhead007]

I’m in trouble. Just because I caught a slight head cold, all these migrating buzzards are hanging around the yard waiting on me to kick the bucket! (Gezz, it’s only a head cold) So.. shoo, go away, get lost!!

 

[Shadrach]

Maybe a second coop is a good idea. Maybe they will sort themselves into two tribes if they have the chance.

A second coop is a realistic possibility but not this year.

 

[MaryJanet]

When I stopped eating shop eggs because of shredding, I looked for egg-free recipes.

Good point about the shredding.

I'll have to check up what that KI egg farmer does with the cockerels he hatches.

 

[Shadrach]

They are so lucky to have you, Shad.

That remains to be seen.

 

[Shadrach]

Aww, poor girl. Poor all of them with that filthy mess of wet excrement and paper. She was killed inside the enclosure? Did you find the security breach?

Nope, I couldn't find any forced entry point.

 

[Shadrach]

The Legbar to the left of the tree looks unwell to me. And maybe the red one behind the white one in the last photo. Are those the two?

The White Suusex hen is moulting. I can't see any other health problems. This doesn't mean she may not have internal problems. I don't know any of them well enough yet to be able to tell within a few minutes that all is not well like I could with the tribes.

 

[Marie2020]

Things are going to get rough for a bit with my posts. I hope I can get the spoilers to work.
As some of you know, I've taken on some of the care duties of a group of chickens that live on an allotment plot not far from where my daughter lives.
All the chickens are rescues and more recently Ex Batts. This lot of Ex Batts are part of 2000 rescued by a farm in the next county. This farm contacts the people they know who keep chickens and asks if they can take any of the Ex Batts. The person who has been trying to run the allotment project and look after the chickens and geese, unwisely imo took on 14 Ex Batts.
The coop is disgusting as is the run. The person who has tried to take care of the chickens just doesn't have the knowledge, or the time to do more than feed them basically. There used to be aperson who was at the allotments full time. This person built the coop and run and maintained the place. He died over two years ago and the place has slid into the state it is in now.

My first priority was to get them fed properly. I bought decent pellet feed at 17% protein and 3.5% calcium. All flock feed isn't easy to come by locally. They were getting fed once in the morning at what I estimate to be a bit over half of what they need.
My next priority was to get them out of the run as often as I could. They are not safe out without supervision. The Ex Batts don't have a clue about the outside world.
I started gently with half an hour a day out of the run and kept a close eye on where the Ex Batts went and what they tried to eat. On the first few outings most didn't even scratch the ground for bugs etc. They've got the idea now from watching me weed and the other hens scratching. There are tow or three that stand around looking a bit bemused by it all. I might add this is not thhe way I would go about things in better circumstances. I must work with what I have at the moment.
I've increased their time out over the last week. I've made small repairs to the allotment border fence in the hope that it will stop them wandering too far away to keep an eye on and still be able to get on with stuff.
I have plans and I think the money to expand their run by 59 square meters, 635 square feet. I doubt I'll get much by the way of help.
This is the view with my back to the coop and run as it is now. I'm hoping to fence up to the two wooden post in the distance just past the bucket.
View attachment 2856625
This is the view if I trun around to face the coop. This was waist high in nettles and brambles up to where I'm standing and a bit. The stuff on the right of the picture will give you some idea of what it was like.
View attachment 2856627

You are so kind. Thank you ever so much.
Love from the battery hens

 

[Shadrach]

Oh yes, I know that about hawks. Last time I was chasing it, yelling with my hands waving in the air and it still went after the chickens. It was when I told Lexi to “get it!” that she bolted for it and the hawk flew off. Hawks can dive bomb their prey in open areas and stun or injure them, then start eating them alive. Brutal predators!

I have never heard that about bald eagles. I know they are considered fishing birds, but have seen with my own eyes one carrying some sort of plump mammal; I thought it must have been a rabbit, but could not tell for sure. Why not a chicken?

None of the hawks or falcons would carry a chicken away. They all eat at the kill site or very close by on the ground.
Owls on the other hand will carry away their prey, or at least some species will.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Speaking of hawks, one visited again late this afternoon. It swooped low across the yard. I did my best to do the alarm call and most ran for cover, but a few of the younger ones were clueless. I tossed the ball to place the dog where the hawk was sure to see her (she’s very fast!) I also marched in the hawk’s direction when it was perched on a power pole and declared, “I see you, hawk!” I continued to show the dog to the hawk and it left. When my neighbor drove in, I told him about the encounter and he shared a recent bald eagle sighting. I know they live here, but usually (and rarely) only see them near the reservoir, except once when I saw one soaring WAY up high near our place. Apparently my neighbor’s sighting was right nearby. Good to know, since a bald eagle could easily lift and carry a hen away. My brother-in-law witnessed a golden eagle grab his cat and fly off with it.

This is one of the reasons I love these threads. Who else in the general population of chicken owners would think to give their hens the alarm call? I’m sure most people would just run at the hawk flapping and yelling.

The shared knowledge and experiences here are brilliant.

I don’t get much in the way of aerial predators here Michelle but, if I see any, I hope to have the presence of mind to give the alarm call like you did.