Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[ppruitt]

Finally caught up again! Been repairing from the hurricane and building a new run so I can have my backyard again. @Shadrach I wanted to thank you for all the insight you have given into chicken behavior. I purchased straight run Buff Orpingtons this spring and ended up with 19 total. Eight of which were roosters. They have been a holy terror for the most part. The poor pullets couldn't get a minute's peace and kept flying over the fence to free range on the property. I knew I wasn't keeping all the roos, so I leg banded all of them and began taking notes on behavior. Some were total asses. Attacking the hens and even me. Bullying everyone. Hogging the feed, etc. I noted which ones were calmer and less aggressive.

One day I noticed a hen on the back porch, scratching around in my peat moss. I had the porch screened off with cheap plastic and she had managed to get in. She sat down in the peat moss and acted like she was nesting. While watching her, I noticed a rooster staying nearby. When I would move towards the hen, he would follow and make noises at me. LOL

The next day he followed her onto the porch and when other roosters showed interest in what the hen was doing, he led them off to an area away from the hen. He did this every day. On the third or fourth day, she layed an egg! I saw him mate her several times. He was not rough and she seemed fine with it. Unlike the non stop attempted rape with the other roosters.

Watching this roo, I saw that he watched over 'his' hen, but I also saw other hens gravitating towards him. He and his hen always roosted together, but about a week ago he started having additional hens. I leg banded them the same color as him so I could monitor what was happening.

He stands guard over the hens while they are eating and I have seen him tidbit for them. Today I saw him break up a fuss between two hens. For a hatchery rooster, he certainly seems to know what his job is all about. And performs it well. I have yet to see any other rooster mate a hen. Looks like the hens made the decision for me. However, without reading your information here over the last 6 months, I would not have known what I was seeing or how to interpret the behavior. So, thank you for educating me (and many others I'm sure) on how chickens interact.

PS, please excuse the ratty tarp. We will be moving the coop Tuesday and I have a brand new, shiny silver one to replace it.

 

[ManueB]

You need to see them to ask them.
It's got very quiet there.

Unless people are doing a winter garden it should stay so for several months. Are you glad not to see all those noisy obnoxious gardeners anymore, or does it feel too quiet ?

15mph mainly Southerly wind this afternoon with 20mph gusts. This is what I wanted to see.
View attachment 3292403
I think I'm going to have to fit tarpaulin on the door between two layers of mesh. Normally one would just close the pop door and problem sorted, but this is a coop extension more than a run.
View attachment 3292407View attachment 3292406View attachment 3292404

There is a view that there are cold hardy chickens. This lot would beg to differ.
There is no doubt they are cold because their feathers are fluffed up and their behaviour is different. They are also cold enough to want to bunch up on the roost bars.

But wouldn't it be better to have a tarp on the door that you can take off in the summer when heat is the issue ?

Also, I think the wind bothers the chicken even if it's warm. We often have warm winds in the afternoon between 3pm to 6, it is the case now with temperatures between 20 to 24 (68 to 75) and the chickens take shelter and huddle together.

Okay, no allotment people. But friend or family (I don’t mean chickens) could come along one of these days if you make them curious? Be sure the weather is nice and surprise them with coffee ️ biscuits and a little work that has to be done.

Remind me never to come over for coffee at your place .

Can chickens eat pomegranates? I opened my first one from the store today, and there were a few seed inside not quite ripe yet… I’ll mix it in their morning wet mash if they are ok!

Lovely fall day here, chickens did a few hours of vegetable garden cleanup with me while I planted garlic. It was nice to have some company while I worked, although I had to shoo Latte and Ciabatta out of my kale a few times… they were sampling a little more than their fair share.

One of the guilty parties:

View attachment 3292609

She is such a sweetie…but looks so grumpy here!

Funny face ! You're planting garlic already, what zone are you in ? We plant at the beginning of December !

Finally caught up again! Been repairing from the hurricane and building a new run so I can have my backyard again. @Shadrach I wanted to thank you for all the insight you have given into chicken behavior. I purchased straight run Buff Orpingtons this spring and ended up with 19 total. Eight of which were roosters. They have been a holy terror for the most part. The poor pullets couldn't get a minute's peace and kept flying over the fence to free range on the property. I knew I wasn't keeping all the roos, so I leg banded all of them and began taking notes on behavior. Some were total asses. Attacking the hens and even me. Bullying everyone. Hogging the feed, etc. I noted which ones were calmer and less aggressive.

One day I noticed a hen on the back porch, scratching around in my peat moss. I had the porch screened off with cheap plastic and she had managed to get in. She sat down in the peat moss and acted like she was nesting. While watching her, I noticed a rooster staying nearby. When I would move towards the hen, he would follow and make noises at me. LOL

The next day he followed her onto the porch and when other roosters showed interest in what the hen was doing, he led them off to an area away from the hen. He did this every day. On the third or fourth day, she layed an egg! I saw him mate her several times. He was not rough and she seemed fine with it. Unlike the non stop attempted rape with the other roosters.

Watching this roo, I saw that he watched over 'his' hen, but I also saw other hens gravitating towards him. He and his hen always roosted together, but about a week ago he started having additional hens. I leg banded them the same color as him so I could monitor what was happening.

He stands guard over the hens while they are eating and I have seen him tidbit for them. Today I saw him break up a fuss between two hens. For a hatchery rooster, he certainly seems to know what his job is all about. And performs it well. I have yet to see any other rooster mate a hen. Looks like the hens made the decision for me. However, without reading your information here over the last 6 months, I would not have known what I was seeing or how to interpret the behavior. So, thank you for educating me (and many others I'm sure) on how chickens interact.

PS, please excuse the ratty tarp. We will be moving the coop Tuesday and I have a brand new, shiny silver one to replace it.

Congratulations on getting caught up and interesting to hear how your chicken keeping is coming along. Will you be keeping just this one rooster for the ten hens ? And, I've forgotten, how old are they now ?

 

[Perris]

But wouldn't it be better to have a tarp on the door that you can take off in the summer when heat is the issue ?

Also, I think the wind bothers the chicken even if it's warm. We often have warm winds in the afternoon between 3pm to 6, it is the case now with temperatures between 20 to 24 (68 to 75) and the chickens take shelter and huddle together.

I think that's a very good question. Getting the balance right between good ventilation and bad draughts seems to be the trickiest element in coop design. Is there space to reorient the whole kit and caboodle against the prevailing wind?

Re the second point, I agree. I have a sheltered corner, actually the one pointing towards the prevailing winds here, so in the eye of the storm so to speak, but it has lots of dense vegetation at low and mid storey, and a couple of trees at mid and top level (most of that growing around and beyond our boundaries in agriculturally dead space), and I early planted it with my favourite large leaved plants (as the only place they had a chance of surviving) and broke it up further with yew hedges, and it provides the chickens' preferred place of refuge here when it's windy.

Tax: most of the flock in the same photo, who'd come running after me thinking dinner was to be delivered to the feeding station, dispersing as they realized their mistake

 

[BDutch]

Finally caught up again! Been repairing from the hurricane and building a new run so I can have my backyard again. @Shadrach I wanted to thank you for all the insight you have given into chicken behavior. I purchased straight run Buff Orpingtons this spring and ended up with 19 total. Eight of which were roosters. They have been a holy terror for the most part. The poor pullets couldn't get a minute's peace and kept flying over the fence to free range on the property. I knew I wasn't keeping all the roos, so I leg banded all of them and began taking notes on behavior. Some were total asses. Attacking the hens and even me. Bullying everyone. Hogging the feed, etc. I noted which ones were calmer and less aggressive.

One day I noticed a hen on the back porch, scratching around in my peat moss. I had the porch screened off with cheap plastic and she had managed to get in. She sat down in the peat moss and acted like she was nesting. While watching her, I noticed a rooster staying nearby. When I would move towards the hen, he would follow and make noises at me. LOL

The next day he followed her onto the porch and when other roosters showed interest in what the hen was doing, he led them off to an area away from the hen. He did this every day. On the third or fourth day, she layed an egg! I saw him mate her several times. He was not rough and she seemed fine with it. Unlike the non stop attempted rape with the other roosters.

Watching this roo, I saw that he watched over 'his' hen, but I also saw other hens gravitating towards him. He and his hen always roosted together, but about a week ago he started having additional hens. I leg banded them the same color as him so I could monitor what was happening.

He stands guard over the hens while they are eating and I have seen him tidbit for them. Today I saw him break up a fuss between two hens. For a hatchery rooster, he certainly seems to know what his job is all about. And performs it well. I have yet to see any other rooster mate a hen. Looks like the hens made the decision for me. However, without reading your information here over the last 6 months, I would not have known what I was seeing or how to interpret the behavior. So, thank you for educating me (and many others I'm sure) on how chickens interact.

PS, please excuse the ratty tarp. We will be moving the coop Tuesday and I have a brand new, shiny silver one to replace it.

Great to have you back here again. And what a great story and experience.

What were you’re damages of the hurricane ? Hope it wasn’t too bad.

And what are you’re plans with the rest of the flock now? How many roosters do you want to keep? Have you already taken out some of the unwanted bad guys?

 

[Perris]

Ida died yesterday I did a necropsy to try to find out why, but I'm none the wiser, except to learn that she was an immature he, and there was no swelling, inflammation, lesions, or tumours inside or outside, at least any that were visible to me. I guess I've eliminated the dreaded AI, and ulcerative or necrotic enteritis as a possible cause in this case, so that's something. He was 4 1/2 months old, on the verge of maturity, and has been wasting away for at least a month. This has happened in years past; apparently the stress of the transition from chickhood to adulthood can trigger underlying issues and conditions, but what are those issues and conditions?

All reliable sources say Marek's and mycoplasmosis are so common they should be assumed in every flock, even if no symptoms present, and avian TB is another apparently common and barely discussed endemic killer. I don't normally discuss illness or death on BYC because the same handful of causes to do with crops and diets or coccidiosis just get repeated by well meaning people, and which may help novice chicken-keepers but not me. Llyn died last week, and Phoenix last month. Is it coincidence that they were all males, or is there something that impacts males more than females? Llyn also wasted away; Phoenix appears to have had a heart/circulation issue, as trigger if not bullet.

I take some comfort from knowing that Ida had a good, if short, life, and that he's the first loss of this year's hatches; we don't usually get this far without casualties.

RIP beautiful Ida, here with his family back in August

 

[BDutch]

…
Also, I think the wind bothers the chicken even if it's warm. We often have warm winds in the afternoon between 3pm to 6, it is the case now with temperatures between 20 to 24 (68 to 75) and the chickens take shelter and huddle together.

I have an extension were my chickens sleep with an extreme amount of ventilation. Its open on the south side but wind blocked by the old coop. Open on the east side except where they roost. When it’s getting cold , I close this off with a big piece of perspex. But I haven’t done this yet.

Normally my chickens prefer to sleep in the airy extension. Sometimes they prefer other places like a tree (more wind) or the tiny old coop (no wind).
Last night, one moulting chicken (Katrientje my bantam RIR) was sleeping in the old coop. Maybe she preferred the old coop because it’s warmer and not windy at all.

IMO its nice my chickens have a choice where to sleep, and one of the advantages of still having the old prefab. BTW I don’t want them to sleep in a tree because of possible nightly predators.

One of my plans for today is to make the coop ready for winter and attach the piece of perspex to the extension again.

Remind me never to come over for coffee at your place .

I do surprise my children sometimes with requests when they just come for a visit. And my request go to my husband too (of course), who hangs around on most days anyway. He helped a lot with the coop and run over the years.

Because there is enough help from them I don’t need friends or other relatives to help. So if you are in town, you can come over for coffee without having to fear to contribute to a job that needs to be done.

My husband an I helped my daughter + partner a lot for over a year now. Still working on the remake of their old house they bought last year. With a new kitchen (opened up to the living room). A new bathroom in a normal sized room for such purpose. And getting it from G-label (draughty, badly isolated) to A+ label with mostly biobased isolation and natural finishing materials. It still looks shabby and unfinished in most rooms. I guess 75% of the work has been done now. Plan is to finish next year, with a probably a few exceptions. Next year they hopefully start helping us with several jobs that need to be done at/in our house.

 

[BDutch]

@Perris , sorry for you’re losses in such a short time.

For many years I had no losses at all either. Last year I had two losses within a month or two. 5 in a larger time frame of 2 years. I never tried necropsy .
My guesses:
1 Pino - buzzard
2 Graaf Tel - internal egg infection
3 Tammy - fox for sure
4 Koekie - sudden death, maybe a stroke or hearth attack
5 Kwekky - disappeared, maybe attacked by a big young cat that strangely appeared for a few days in a row.

I use the app Animal to keep track of the chickens I have:

and had:

P.S. Anymal is available in English too.
https://any-mal.com/eng/

 

[RoyalChick]

Ida died yesterday I did a necropsy to try to find out why, but I'm none the wiser, except to learn that she was an immature he, and there was no swelling, inflammation, lesions, or tumours inside or outside, at least any that were visible to me. I guess I've eliminated the dreaded AI, and ulcerative or necrotic enteritis as a possible cause in this case, so that's something. He was 4 1/2 months old, on the verge of maturity, and has been wasting away for at least a month. This has happened in years past; apparently the stress of the transition from chickhood to adulthood can trigger underlying issues and conditions, but what are those issues and conditions?

All reliable sources say Marek's and mycoplasmosis are so common they should be assumed in every flock, even if no symptoms present, and avian TB is another apparently common and barely discussed endemic killer. I don't normally discuss illness or death on BYC because the same handful of causes to do with crops and diets or coccidiosis just get repeated by well meaning people, and which may help novice chicken-keepers but not me. Llyn died last week, and Phoenix last month. Is it coincidence that they were all males, or is there something that impacts males more than females? Llyn also wasted away; Phoenix appears to have had a heart/circulation issue, as trigger if not bullet.

I take some comfort from knowing that Ida had a good, if short, life, and that he's the first loss of this year's hatches; we don't usually get this far without casualties.

RIP beautiful Ida, here with his family back in August
View attachment 3292870

Sorry you lost him - but indeed he had a good life.
I find the lack of a known cause, or even a strongly hypothesized cause, makes me quite anxious.
Hopefully it was a one off sort of thing.

 

[ManueB]

Ida died yesterday I did a necropsy to try to find out why, but I'm none the wiser, except to learn that she was an immature he, and there was no swelling, inflammation, lesions, or tumours inside or outside, at least any that were visible to me. I guess I've eliminated the dreaded AI, and ulcerative or necrotic enteritis as a possible cause in this case, so that's something. He was 4 1/2 months old, on the verge of maturity, and has been wasting away for at least a month. This has happened in years past; apparently the stress of the transition from chickhood to adulthood can trigger underlying issues and conditions, but what are those issues and conditions?

All reliable sources say Marek's and mycoplasmosis are so common they should be assumed in every flock, even if no symptoms present, and avian TB is another apparently common and barely discussed endemic killer. I don't normally discuss illness or death on BYC because the same handful of causes to do with crops and diets or coccidiosis just get repeated by well meaning people, and which may help novice chicken-keepers but not me. Llyn died last week, and Phoenix last month. Is it coincidence that they were all males, or is there something that impacts males more than females? Llyn also wasted away; Phoenix appears to have had a heart/circulation issue, as trigger if not bullet.

I take some comfort from knowing that Ida had a good, if short, life, and that he's the first loss of this year's hatches; we don't usually get this far without casualties.

RIP beautiful Ida, here with his family back in August
View attachment 3292870

I'm sorry for Ida and for Llyn. It's hard loosing them so close apart.
Would you consider a blood / PCR test ? Especially if you are still planning to rehome some of them ?
They had a dream life, even if Ida's was short, compared to most backyard chickens .

 

[Shadrach]

Finally caught up again! Been repairing from the hurricane and building a new run so I can have my backyard again. @Shadrach I wanted to thank you for all the insight you have given into chicken behavior. I purchased straight run Buff Orpingtons this spring and ended up with 19 total. Eight of which were roosters. They have been a holy terror for the most part. The poor pullets couldn't get a minute's peace and kept flying over the fence to free range on the property. I knew I wasn't keeping all the roos, so I leg banded all of them and began taking notes on behavior. Some were total asses. Attacking the hens and even me. Bullying everyone. Hogging the feed, etc. I noted which ones were calmer and less aggressive.

One day I noticed a hen on the back porch, scratching around in my peat moss. I had the porch screened off with cheap plastic and she had managed to get in. She sat down in the peat moss and acted like she was nesting. While watching her, I noticed a rooster staying nearby. When I would move towards the hen, he would follow and make noises at me. LOL

The next day he followed her onto the porch and when other roosters showed interest in what the hen was doing, he led them off to an area away from the hen. He did this every day. On the third or fourth day, she layed an egg! I saw him mate her several times. He was not rough and she seemed fine with it. Unlike the non stop attempted rape with the other roosters.

Watching this roo, I saw that he watched over 'his' hen, but I also saw other hens gravitating towards him. He and his hen always roosted together, but about a week ago he started having additional hens. I leg banded them the same color as him so I could monitor what was happening.

He stands guard over the hens while they are eating and I have seen him tidbit for them. Today I saw him break up a fuss between two hens. For a hatchery rooster, he certainly seems to know what his job is all about. And performs it well. I have yet to see any other rooster mate a hen. Looks like the hens made the decision for me. However, without reading your information here over the last 6 months, I would not have known what I was seeing or how to interpret the behavior. So, thank you for educating me (and many others I'm sure) on how chickens interact.

PS, please excuse the ratty tarp. We will be moving the coop Tuesday and I have a brand new, shiny silver one to replace it.

I’m pleased you’ve been able to observe the behaviour but mostly I’m pleased you’ve written about it.

Reporting you’ve seen it is worth more than any thanks.

There’s a lot going on there. It doesn’t seem like the behaviour of a stupid creature and the further one considers what is happening the more complex and more intelligent the behaviour seems.

This is what I want people to understand. Chickens are extraordinarily intelligent social creatures.

I had an interesting conversation with someone who keeps chickens and has done for many years. This person is what most would describe as an attentive, knowledgeable, caring keeper and we’ve had some discussions about the similarities in the behaviours we’ve observed.

I’ve written about “the last step” a number of times on this forum that humans find almost impossible to take and that is to consider the chicken as an equally intelligent species with a different set of skills. This friend and I usually get to this point in our conversations and to this persons credit, they readily admit they cannot take this final step because the moment they truly acknowledge this, they could no longer keep chickens.