Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

Yup. I believed chickens were just stupid birds prior to owning some. Watching that first batch's behavior daily as they grew from little nuggets to adult chickens quickly changed my mind, especially Skeksis. She is definitely the smartest of all the chickens we have had, albeit that number is only a few dozen.

The more they get studied the smarter they get.

 

[Shadrach]

We had no major damages. I have been thru a few hurricanes, the worst being Hugo in 1989. I watched my walls move. We did have a lot of limbs down and my 10 foot tall bean trellises had to be repaired. My coop came thru with minimal damage, the tarp was already shabby. The chickens weren't too happy being penned in the coop for the day, but I didn't think they would do well in the wind. They already like to fly a little too much. At the moment, just keeping one rooster. Hopefully that will cut down on the fighting. At some point I may add a different breed, and I would need another coop/run for them. We have just over an acre, but I can't free range because of neighbors who let their dogs run loose.
I did take out some of the bad guys. One a week ago to see if I could still do it. It's been almost 40 years since I fully processed a chicken. I took out 3 more yesterday and will probably take the last 3 tomorrow.

Do you eat them and do they taste different to store bought chicken to you?
I don't know exactly when it happened but a long time ago I decided that I didn't like the taste of store bought chicken and much prefered the taste and texture of fully free range chicken.

 

[Shadrach]

but given the downward spiral human intelligence seems to be taking

We don't seem to be getting any smarter do we.

 

[Shadrach]

Thanks; that was an IKEA bunk bed once upon a time.

I may just make some kind of copy.

 

[Shadrach]

Just missed the rain again today. I should have taken the day off but really wanted to get out of the city and spend some time with the crew.
I've got the bottom beak roundish now but she has a fracture on the underside and it's very very slow progress. She's a very trusting hen as quite a few of them have become now.

Most are moulting but I'm seeing feather growth in what were bare areas on many of them.

About 3 hours out this afternoon.

Filled the gaps the coop side tags leave in the roof with flexible sealant. Quite a lot of water dripped through these.

 

[RoyalChick]

Just missed the rain again today. I should have taken the day off but really wanted to get out of the city and spend some time with the crew.
I've got the bottom beak roundish now but she has a fracture on the underside and it's very very slow progress. She's a very trusting hen as quite a few of them have become now.
View attachment 3293710
Most are moulting but I'm seeing feather growth in what were bare areas on many of them.
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About 3 hours out this afternoon.
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Filled the gaps the coop side tags leave in the roof with flexible sealant. Quite a lot of water dripped through these.
View attachment 3293713
View attachment 3293709

What are you observing about eating from the ones that are molting Shad? I am going through my usual anxiety with Maggie who seems to go on hunger strike (well regarding commercial food anyway) when she molts and she has lost a bit of weight.

 

[pennyJo1960]

At last photos are off the phone.

 

[Shadrach]

What are you observing about eating from the ones that are molting Shad? I am going through my usual anxiety with Maggie who seems to go on hunger strike (well regarding commercial food anyway) when she molts and she has lost a bit of weight.

4 of the Ex Battery hens are eating very little of the commerical feed.
1 Legbar has just started to eat more than she was.
Matilda is eating less.
Apart from the Legbar none are giving me cause for real concern.

The crops I've felt were not bulging, but far from empty. They had scrambled egg yesterday, 14 eggs between 19.
Two tins of Mackerel with chopped cabbage today in addition to the 17.5 protein commercial feed.

 

[Shadrach]

What are you observing about eating from the ones that are molting Shad? I am going through my usual anxiety with Maggie who seems to go on hunger strike (well regarding commercial food anyway) when she molts and she has lost a bit of weight.

Part of the feeding problem is they don't have feed all day and there is nothing left to forage in the run. With free rangers and coop and run kept chickens where the runs are rat proof this isn't a problem.

 

[BDutch]

Because the screen and keypad are too small.

Maybe the screen is just perfect for me after I went to bed. bc I’m shortsighted. I read perfectly at a distance of 20 cm after I took out my contact-lenses. And my fingers are probably a bit smallers than yours.

When you give it one more try you can use a special pen 🖊 to typ on a mobile phone.