Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[pennyJo1960]

I count 8 still there. Afternoon all X Batts hard pill to swallow for you.
Think C is putting on her good side to rid them.

 

[BDutch]

Pretty girls and still friends I see. Has Kraai settled down a bit or is she still a little trouble maker ?

She settled all right. But never really became one of the flock.
After the night in the pear tree with no leaves and lots of cold and rain she didn’t attempt to sleep outside . Neither has Janice who joined her on most occasions. One of the reasons to sleep outside is probably that they don’t like to sleep with the flock because there have been troubles before (pestering ) . The main bully is Black. They sleep apart from the others in the small coop quite a while now.

 

[BDutch]

Correct, hen raised chicks get the best life .... until he tires of them and kicks them to the curb. Then they have to make their way into the pecking order.

Why hatchery chicks? They are all female (with that one exception which I gave away). Hens are here to lay eggs. AND DD1 wouldn't eat an egg if it COULD turn into a chicken. Of course she is now living 600 miles south in Virginia so that isn't an issue any more. But DD2 and DW wouldn't care to eat any cockerels raised here. They are OK with eating ones raised elsewhere though. And DD2 thinks chicken (or anything that "tastes like bird" is acceptable only once a month at most anyway.

And I can have lots of different breeds. Make for a more interesting flock and easier to tell them apart.

I don’t understand your DD1. A fertilised egg is just as good to eat as a unfertilised one.

I do understand that you like to have different breeds. But I find it strange that so many people in the US choose to buy hatchery chicks and let them send through the mail.
I’m glad we don’t even have this possibility here in Europe. But I can only speak for myself, because here its easier to buy eggs, chicks and chickens here. Distances are never a problem.

I wonder.
Do people know what happens in the hatcheries? Like how the chicks are subjected to a nasty examination for gender selection. And that the chicks in a small box in the dark without feed have a poor start. Especially if the mail takes more than 2 days to arrive.

 

[BDutch]

10. Four more went this afternoon and I was there to meet the new keepers. Apparently they've been keeping chickens for years. I didn't quite understand but either their back garden is the run or they have a run the size of the allotment run I let the chickens into. They didn't care if the hens laid eggs and mother and grandmother say they love their chickens which is a term of affection I haven't heard used for the chickens at the allotments. They may be back for one more tomorrow.

It looks like @BDutch was right and the food on display and coop clean by C was for the benefit of the people who came for the chickens. And there was me hoping perhaps C had seen the light.

Sounds okay where the chickens go!

Don’t have high hopes that C will change. Personally I don’t expect C seeing ever the light concerning chickens and good manners .

 

[Perris]

how are the remainder reacting to the sudden departure of some of their number intermittently? They must be wondering what's occurring.

 

[Perris]

this morning I collected the 1,000th egg laid here this year I'm not aiming for high production, but it feels like something of a milestone.

 

[RoyalChick]

this morning I collected the 1,000th egg laid here this year I'm not aiming for high production, but it feels like something of a milestone.

Congratulations (I think). Definitely a milestone and a reason to say thank you to the hens who contributed!

Edited to add a picture of Bernadette who is now just over nine months old and has shown no interest in laying an egg. I am clearly not going for high production! Bernie - can you take a hint and learn from Perris’s fine chickens?

 

[Perris]

Bernadette who is now just over nine months old and has shown no interest in laying an egg

she's gorgeous! what is she?
I had to wait 11 months for Eve to start! And she's not been a great layer since (she's 4 now), maxing about 140 one year, but she does also raise chicks every year, so we're both happy.

 

[RoyalChick]

she's gorgeous! what is she?
I had to wait 11 months for Eve to start! And she's not been a great layer since (she's 4 now), maxing about 140 one year, but she does also raise chicks every year, so we're both happy.

Sorry for the long response - I love her and think she is very pretty so I like showing her off! She is huge and very feisty.
As a chick she had a vitamin B2 deficiency and became paralysed but eventually with supplements and lots of physical therapy (including a plastic boot) she made a full recovery.
I am not good with breeds, so take everything I say with a big pinch of salt! The chap I got her from breeds Welbars and she is one of those. As far as I can tell they are just like Welsummers. He said she will likely lay a spotted egg. I am not convinced she is going to lay any kind of egg - she seems to have plenty of other things to do with her time!


Here is the thread on her lameness if you are interested: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/3-week-old-chick-with-a-bad-leg-any-advice-please.1519956/

And here she is showing off her very long and now perfectly functioning gams!

 

[BDutch]

What a beautiful pose :

She certainly is a lucky lady with you as caretaker!

And don’t be surprised she will lay her first egg at the end of winter or very early spring.
I had many pullets laying their first eggs in February.