Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

tax for tax's sake : three of this year's youngsters, Amadeo, Fforest and Frida

 

[ManueB]

he's gorgeous, even when molting! from this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/brown-leghorns-pics-info-and-resources.625966/ they might seem ideal for your circumstances

Thank you so much, I'll read it this afternoon, as it's too warm to do anything outside from two to five .
We're not in a hurry, I would prefer to wait to know whether we can keep the two roosters or not, and how many of our ex-batts make it through winter.

It turns out one of the breeder I had an eye on because they seem correct and not too far from us has created a leghorn club last year (there wasn't any in France) so I will probably ask them for more information, if we decide to get some. I still have qualms with high production breeds.

 

[BDutch]

I've never seen a tool like that. Looks interesting. We are about 80' above sea level and half our property is sand. The other half is clay. Drainage is good for our area, although I live in the middle between 3 swamps.

That is about twice as high as where I live. No swamps around here. There was a large swamp in the past nearby. Probably several smaller ones too. Dutch were already good in making canals in the middle ages. So it has been drained way back in time.
We have a long history with waterworks here. Like shortening the Rhine river in 1530 in Arnhem (our provincial capital), stopping the inconvenient meandering of the river to make sure that the city gets toll from passing boats. From about 1000-1650 the Dutch made dikes around the river and ribs in the river to stop the floods and ever changing delta finding it’s own way. From about 1500 onwards, the Dutch also started to make polders, dewatered with windmills to start with, but nowadays they use electric pumps of course.

The tool to dig holes for poles is stil available in the shops for gardeners. The design is probably ancient too.

 

[GregnLety]

The more they get studied the smarter they get.

That describes my father after I left home and joined the army. I suddenly realized that he was a genius

 

[GregnLety]

Good morning

Been occupied with changing jobs, went back to the oilfield. Kids are coming over tomorrow so I'll be cooking ribs and briskets today. But I'll catch up on here throughout the day. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend

Most of mine are still molting but are looking better. Still feeding feather fixer primarily and a little scratch grains as treats. Current count is 28 hens and 11 roosters.

 

[Iluveggers]

Thank you so much, I'll read it this afternoon, as it's too warm to do anything outside from two to five .
We're not in a hurry, I would prefer to wait to know whether we can keep the two roosters or not, and how many of our ex-batts make it through winter.

It turns out one of the breeder I had an eye on because they seem correct and not too far from us has created a leghorn club last year (there wasn't any in France) so I will probably ask them for more information, if we decide to get some. I still have qualms with high production breeds.

I really enjoy our Welsummer! She is smart, non-flighty, and has great camouflage feathering. If you decide to go the non-production route, that is!

Been occupied with changing jobs, went back to the oilfield.

Congratulations on a new job, and good luck!



Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

[Molpet]

How long since you had Covid?

Almost 2 years
End of November 2020.
I would say it's Old age, but I'm improving

 

[Solanacae]

What an incredible story! That must have been a lot of wonderful moments, and some stress too. Did they all brood in the same nest ? And will it not get cold where you are before they get their adult feathers ? Will you be able to keep either of the cockerels ? I love the part about the silkie rooster sneaking into the ameraucana pen It seems like the breeder mustn't have been too careful about breeding to standards !

I’m not entirely sure she was aware the Silkie rooster got in. After I asked her about it, she talked to her husband and it was then that she found out that the Silkie had gotten into the pen. Her husband didn’t think anything of it at the time, because the intended rooster was keeping him away from the hens. The Silkie obviously mounted at least a couple on the sly, though. I’m not sure what her setup is for breeding pens, or how easy it was for the Silkie to get in. I do know she usually lets the whole flock free range together and then separates them out for 6+ weeks to ensure she’s getting the genetics she wants.

I won’t be able to keep any cockerels, unfortunately. The city ordinances say I can have 10 chickens but no roosters. I moved in with 10 chickens . . . my back fence neighbor has chickens and she says no one in this neighborhood really cares much how many chickens you have but you will be reported if you’ve got a rooster crowing and making a racket. So unless I have one that hardly makes a sound, I’ll try to rehome (which is unlikely I’ll be successful as most places near here have even more restrictive limitations in keeping chickens) or they will become soup. I’m not looking forward to the second option, but I refuse to be like some people who just go and dump their unwanted chickens up a dirt road in the mountains somewhere.

I have three that have not started their molt yet - my two ISA Browns and my lead hen, which is a Marans. The others are in varying degrees of looking like porcupines. We have had a couple of hard freezes this past week, but a long Indian summer prior to that and most trees have green leaves still. Quite unusual weather - my kids were picking strawberries in October!

I have had hens molt with snow on the ground and they have been fine, albeit grouchy. I’m feeding 20% protein feed to try and help them along as much as I can, plus some mealworms every few days. Fuzzy (my head hen) has molted late the past two years and this year that pattern will hold true again. She has yet to show any signs of molting. Cannonball has been my first hen to molt every year as well - has anyone else noticed in their flocks that some consistently molt earlier and some molt later?

 

[BDutch]

The weather is beautiful today. Another extreme warm day (record broken). Not everything about climate change is bad.

The chickens enjoying some scratch an mealworms. I poored a lot of leaves into the run today.

 

[Perris]

anyone else noticed in their flocks that some consistently molt earlier and some molt later?

yes, and also some are fast, some slow. Generally the best layers (which here means 'most consistent'; none lay lots by production breed standards) molt fast and late.