Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Solanacae]

Whoops, almost forgot my off topic tax

1. Saoirse
2. Peanut

 

[LozzyR]

There is a big animal's charity here in uk that just killed a six month old healthy puppy because they assumed no one would want it, it was an adorable friendly little staffy that was begging for a cuddle
They used him for training purposes.

Why these heartless people are allowed near defenceless animals is beyond me let alone actually earning a living of effectively murdering these creatures

He was probably not considered adequate marketing material, in the same way they’re not interested in actually rescuing battery hens, and turning a blind eye to practices such as shredding.

 

[Perris]

should we try to keep chickens in these out of comfort conditions.

I'd say yes, because then there is a better chance that more will be able to adapt to whatever cataclysm comes along next, either to the jungle fowl's natural habitat or to all of us (thinking mass extinction event here). Flexibility and adaptability and a good dollop of luck seem to have been involved in most survival stories, and the more widely scattered a species is, and the more niches it can occupy, the better its chances. Or am I out of date with evolutionary thinking?

 

[Perris]

Shad, I think you are forgetting that this is a forum where at least once a month, knowledgeable members have to debunk the belief that you can tell the sex of an unhatched chick by swinging a nail on a thread above the egg. Or that pointy eggs hatch into cockerels and round ones into pullets. My science professors would despair.

Again in lieu of tax I have a pic I stole from Feather Site. This is what my hens looked like: show stock black bantam cochins. I wonder how long it would have taken their progeny to revert to wild type, since I can hardly think of a chicken further from a jungle fowl. I think they would have been picked off by predators first, but at least they were broody and didn't lay that many eggs per year.

What they looked like:
View attachment 2928442

"Real" chicken (jungle fowl)
View attachment 2928443

My partridge penedesenca pullets look very, very like those jungle fowl. If the eggs aren't dark brown when they start laying, I think 'reversion to wild type' might have been the way this 'rare breed' was 'recovered'!

 

[Ribh]

Due to unforseen circumstances the girls & I had to move.
Their new home has no proper coop but there is lawn & an established garden they are busy wrecking.
No~one has been removing the dropped palm branches so there are big piles of them around the yard. Ha'penny tried to sit twice by burrowing right into them. Sorry no pictures. I had to physically dig her out both times. She was not impressed.
She then made a nest here.
I collected more than 20 eggs from this nest as her sisters joined her.
Judging by the shape & colour of the eggs all the senior hens were laying here: 2 Campines; 2 BRs; a FavorelleX & an Aracauna.

Beatha, my Aracauna, laid there today.​

My Favorelle X, Luna.​

Apart from the BRs none of the birds who use this nest are considered particularly broody breeds.
It is highly favoured on hot days.​

 

[MaryJanet]

Due to unforseen circumstances the girls & I had to move.
Their new home has no proper coop but there is lawn & an established garden they are busy wrecking.
No~one has been removing the dropped palm branches so there are big piles of them around the yard. Ha'penny tried to sit twice by burrowing right into them. Sorry no pictures. I had to physically dig her out both times. She was not impressed.
She then made a nest here.
I collected more than 20 eggs from this nest as her sisters joined her.
Judging by the shape & colour of the eggs all the senior hens were laying here: 2 Campines; 2 BRs; a FavorelleX & an Aracauna.

View attachment 2928869
Beatha, my Aracauna, laid there today.​

View attachment 2928867

My Favorelle X, Luna.​

View attachment 2928868

Apart from the BRs none of the birds who use this nest are considered particularly broody breeds.
It is highly favoured on hot days.​

It looks like a safe spot to me, is it?

 

[Perris]

I must owe some tax by now. So I offer Dorothy +1. She didn't get the memo about RIR's being non-broody

 

[Ribh]

It looks like a safe spot to me, is it?

It's not too bad.
It's in the middle of a multi~stemed small palm & any hen in there is pretty well hidden.
Ha'penny's 1st one was absolutely brilliant. It took me hours to find it, even after eliminating other possibilities. I knew where it had to be [unless she'd jumped the fence & gate crashed someone else's yard] but she had tunneled into the middle & was completely hidden from view. And you know what broodies are like. She went absolutely still & silent ~ even after I finally spotted her. All the squwarking took place when I lifted her off the nest. It's only real flaw was there wasn't a good escape route.​

 

[MaryJanet]

I must owe some tax by now. So I offer Dorothy +1. She didn't get the memo about RIR's being non-broody
View attachment 2928871

So sweet!

 

[MaryJanet]

It's not too bad.
It's in the middle of a multi~stemed small palm & any hen in there is pretty well hidden.
Ha'penny's 1st one was absolutely brilliant. It took me hours to find it, even after eliminating other possibilities. I knew where it had to be [unless she'd jumped the fence & gate crashed someone else's yard] but she had tunneled into the middle & was completely hidden from view. And you know what broodies are like. She went absolutely still & silent ~ even after I finally spotted her. All the squwarking took place when I lifted her off the nest. It's only real flaw was there wasn't a good escape route.​

for the hours spent looking. I think I recall that day. But good on her for being safe.