Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[RoyalChick]

Damp but not raining as such, 10C, grey and uninspiring.
C had been. More mixed seeds. There were quite a few pellets left over from what I left last night.
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That small pile of rocks is what I dug out of the area where the chickens are grabbing the bugs that were under the stones.
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It's a bit of a mess under the tufts of grass. I've dug up fine bird mesh and rocks and geo textile cloth mainly. I thought this stuff, apart from the rocks which have just been dumped there was meant to stay on the surface.

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I've undone quite a few screws on the old coop. My hope is to take it out in sections rather than smash it to bits and spend the next few hours hunting for srews, nails etc.
This is the nest box roof joint. It was teeming with bugs. The other joints I've brocken open are much the same. The coop is alive with bugs! One would have to submerge the entire coop in permethrin to get them all.

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Are they yummy chicken-snack bugs?

 

[Perris]

I've come across some recent (2021-2) facts and figures for an industrial egg farm/factory, the sort of place whence rescue hens come, and thought they might interest readers of this thread.

Number of HGV lorry-loads of feed in, per week 13
Number of tractor loads of poo out, per week 20
Number of HGV lorry-loads of eggs out, per week 14 (transporting about 2,500,000 eggs)
Number of hens (in cages) about 400,000

This sort of business is going out of business here because supermarkets increasingly want and stock only free-range or barn eggs.

 

[Shadrach]

 

[Perris]

feeling wistful? or am I taking the lyrics too seriously?

 

[ManueB]

In the meantime I do believe it’s a good advice to feed chickens what is healthy for them in confinement. But what is healthy for an individual chicken? It means you need to give ( ex)-bats different feed than roosters , heritage breeds and roosters.
In other words: impossible!

If you have a flock with all kind of chickens you probably shouldn’t give them 90% layer, without choice to eat what nature supplies in a green environment.

Anyway. After 8,5 years keeping chickens I don’t believe its best to give 90% layer to my flock with now 4 old Dutch who haven’t layed an egg since October. 90% layer probably isn’t a must either for the 2 bantams laying since the start of January again.
My believe is that optimised feed is important for factory farmers and people who want to make a profit.
My back yard chickens that free range, can eat

• Every day :

Always available organic/vegan layer with 15-17% proteins and 0,35-0,4% Ca + a handful scratch + oyster and grit + whatever they find in the run with good soil with lots of organic material in it from autumn leaves and chipped wood

• Some days/often:

whatever they find free ranging in the garden + leftovers ( the yummie and healthy ones) + some old fruit + crushed eggshells + a few mealworms + songbird seeds (still hoping for the chickens to sing like a sparrow or a nightingale).

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2 broodies in February
And Kraai didn’t even lay an egg this year.
What optimised feed do they need?

Edited typo and minor change

I love your bantams. They have strong personalities and just seem to do whatever they want !

Writing about chicken food reminded me I hadn't cooked any real food for them in a while. My partner brought back some time ago cans of cooked lentils for the hens, so I put some eggs with it with the whole wheat semolina we eat. Then I had the idea of looking at the protein content and that was a surprise: the lentils was only 6% (on dry matter) whereas the semolina was 16%. Not what I expected ! I added an egg .

Also, one thing I wonder about is what you always read that chickens don't have taste and that texture matters most to them. That's really contradictory with what I've noticed. Although clearly like @Perris mentioned they all dislike the powdery texture (even of the fishmeal), they have clear individual preferences which don't fit with that idea. For example Chipie is the only chicken in my flock who loves banana, but she doesn't eat apples, whereas most of my chickens like apples, and Léa is completely addicted to them. Some food are liked or despised by all but for some there really seems to be a matter of taste. I don't think it's just because of the nutrients - that doesn't explain a behaviour like jumping on your food tray to pick at the apple !

I've undone quite a few screws on the old coop. My hope is to take it out in sections rather than smash it to bits and spend the next few hours hunting for srews, nails etc.

We have been undoing nailed steel tiles and thinking that never again would we use nail instead of screw . I have a big round magnet on a string to collect old metal but unfortunately here it's a never ending quest.

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Nice song, I didn't know the band. I like the bass line and the guitar has a Ben Harper feeling.
Edit : add Gaston as tax and ask who's the rooster on the photo ?

 

[Perris]

they have clear individual preferences

there really seems to be a matter of taste. I don't think it's just because of the nutrients

this is my experience and thinking too. Of course taste and nutritional needs are not exclusive; I believe that what we call cravings - especially when for something unusual or temporary - are our instincts' way of getting us to eat what we need. Pica is the extreme example of course!

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good afternoon one and all!

73 mostly sunny 72% humidity feels like 72 rain 0%.

I take my chickens sardines, tuna, salmon, watermelon, and other vegetables for treats.

Have a great day!

 

[Perris]

I take my chickens sardines, tuna, salmon, watermelon, and other vegetables for treats.

your birds are very lucky! Gourmet buffet @Ladies-Eight !

 

[Ladies-Eight]

your birds are very lucky! Gourmet buffet @Ladies-Eight !

Of course they don't get it daily.

I found the sardines for $1.07 a can and the tuna for two dollars and change.

They will eat it off a fork.

 

[Molpet]

Of course they don't get it daily.

I found the sardines for $1.07 a can and the tuna for two dollars and change.

They will eat it off a fork.

do you have an aldi near by?