Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[HiEverybirdy]

If Henry's legs looked like that I would be delighted.
A strange thing. The older males get the worse their legs look.
He might have a mite or two but I can't see anything there that a daily wipe down at roost time with Vasaline and Iodine mixture shouldn't sort out.
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Thanks, that's helpful. He despises having his legs touched but, as I learned today, can be bribed with YouTubes of hens on the cellphone. Problem solved.

Henry's legs might look rough, but we should all wish for buns so perky.

 

[sourland]

A strange thing. The older males get the worse their legs look.

True of both man and bird.

 

[BDutch]

@Shadrach: “ I think this might work. Depends a bit on who decides to walk on it. I've put U shaped ground pins in around the edges as well as the wooden pegs.

What the heck is this for?
(I think I mist a few posts. )

And tax for missing the meaning of this empty pond covered with netting.
Ini mini and Kraai both curious why I opened up the door to the roosting area.

 

[Iluveggers]

So one of my pullets is broody (again). She is 10 months old. I gave in and gave her 5 fertile eggs from the farm after I made a new nest on the floor and she stayed on the fake eggs for 48 hours. Will see if she follows through. I don’t want to break her again. Last time it was in the negatives and she broke without a cage, just blocked the nests at night & put her on the roost bar at dark. She was much more determined this time, when I moved her to the roost at dark I found her sitting in the corner of the coop in the morning. Fingers crossed…

 

[BDutch]

So one of my pullets is broody (again). She is 10 months old. I gave in and gave her 5 fertile eggs from the farm after I made a new nest on the floor and she stayed on the fake eggs for 48 hours. Will see if she follows through. I don’t want to break her again. Last time it was in the negatives and she broke without a cage, just blocked the nests at night & put her on the roost bar at dark. She was much more determined this time, when I moved her to the roost at dark I found her sitting in the corner of the coop in the morning. Fingers crossed…

Good luck!
I ordered six fake small eggs (2 rubber and 4 chalk) for the near future, wanting to do about the same for one of my bantams.
They sell the chalk bantam size eggs for Easter decoration (to paint) now. I read a comment that these are great to use as fake eggs too. The bouncing rubber eggs always disappear in the hands of children who love to help getting eggs or feed the chickens.
I used pingpong balls too. But the chickens throw these out too often. They are probably not heavy enough to use as good fake eggs.

Sorry Black. I’m going to stop this. I want to wait a few more weeks - another month to give fertilised eggs to a broody.

 

[Perris]

I used pingpong balls too. But the chickens throw these out too often. They are probably not heavy enough to use as good fake eggs.

golf balls have a bit more weight and are harder to push out

The bouncing rubber eggs

I've used them successfully for years, but this year for the first time I've had someone (probably just one, but I didn't catch whoever it was in the act) pecking them really hard, and repeatedly, doing a serious amount of damage to the surface, to the extent that I worried they'd do it with a real egg and start the egg-eating habit, so I took out the rubber eggs. Fortunately no-one's doing it with real eggs. Maybe I have a super-smart pullet who recognized them as imposters' eggs and determined to destroy them

 

[ManueB]

Almost warm today at 12C. Still raining, just nothing like as much.
They haven't been out on the allotment for a couple of days for any length of time so they haven't been at the rhubarb. Poop is back to normal.

Henry demonstrating his inability to herd the hens. Ella didn't join the others at the compost heap so Henry came to find her and stayed with her. Henry went back and I herded Ella over to join them.
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The feed tray is empty most days now by the time I get there. C doesn't feed them in the mornings any more. I leave about 250 grams there over night. They are hungry when I arrive, but far from desperate. I put pellets in the round tray and the majority in the coop extension tray.
View attachment 3434718


I think this might work. Depends a bit on who decides to walk on it. I've put U shaped ground pins in around the edges as well as the wooden pegs.
View attachment 3434720

View attachment 3434717

Herding hens is a difficult job. I don't think it's just Henry that doesn't manage.
My rooster Gaston that has only known free ranging and is adored by his three small pullets has trouble keeping them together.
When he finds one that has strayed apart, he charges her and mates her roughly as soon as contact is made. Is this typical rooster behaviour?

What the heck is this for?
(I think I mist a few posts. )

I think it is meant to stop the chicken and geese drinking from the dirty stagnant water.

And tax for missing the meaning of this empty pond covered with netting.
Ini mini and Kraai both curious why I opened up the door to the roosting area.
View attachment 3434959

They are both really beautiful. Ini Mini looks in great shape.
She has curled nails just like Chipie. Probably because they are a bit long.

So one of my pullets is broody (again). She is 10 months old. I gave in and gave her 5 fertile eggs from the farm after I made a new nest on the floor and she stayed on the fake eggs for 48 hours. Will see if she follows through. I don’t want to break her again. Last time it was in the negatives and she broke without a cage, just blocked the nests at night & put her on the roost bar at dark. She was much more determined this time, when I moved her to the roost at dark I found her sitting in the corner of the coop in the morning. Fingers crossed…

I have a question for all those who do hatching at this time of year. Do you just let the broody warm the chicks, or do you keep them in a brooder with some form of additional heat ? Is it reasonable to leave the chicks in an outdoor setting with a broody when temps can still be freezing at night ?

Also, I have another very basic question for those of you used to hatching from your own flock. Some months ago I posted this photo of a pretty roo from the village. I found out he belongs to some extended family of my partner (which was rather likely as I think he has some far related link to everyone born here). I've watched the rooster a bit and I like his behaviour. He has a good size, but the pullets he is with are smaller and sleek shaped. I'm thinking of asking them for eggs to hatch. Would there be more chance for the chicks be somewhere in between, or closer in body shape to the roo or the pullets, or is completely random ?
We would prefer bigger hens than the last ones we hatched, that turned out to be cross bantams...they are difficult to contain when we need to.

 

[Shadrach]

What the heck is this for?
(I think I mist a few posts. )

And tax for missing the meaning of this empty pond covered with netting.
Ini mini and Kraai both curious why I opened up the door to the roosting area.
View attachment 3434959

It's an attempt to comply in part with the DEFRA guidlines on the prevention of bird flu. All sources of water should be kept under cover to prevent wild birds from drinking from water the poultry might drink from.

 

[Shadrach]

golf balls have a bit more weight and are harder to push out

I've used them successfully for years, but this year for the first time I've had someone (probably just one, but I didn't catch whoever it was in the act) pecking them really hard, and repeatedly, doing a serious amount of damage to the surface, to the extent that I worried they'd do it with a real egg and start the egg-eating habit, so I took out the rubber eggs. Fortunately no-one's doing it with real eggs. Maybe I have a super-smart pullet who recognized them as imposters' eggs and determined to destroy them

I treid the fake egg deception. I guess the hens weren't fooled because without fail they either bombed them out of the nest or pushed them to the nest edges.

 

[Perris]

Also, I have another very basic question for those of you used to hatching from your own flock. Some months ago I posted this photo of a pretty roo from the village. I found out he belongs to some extended family of my partner (which was rather likely as I think he has some far related link to everyone born here). I've watched the rooster a bit and I like his behaviour. He has a good size, but the pullets he is with are smaller and sleek shaped. I'm thinking of asking them for eggs to hatch. Would there be more chance for the chicks be somewhere in between, or closer in body shape to the roo or the pullets, or is completely random ?
We would prefer bigger hens than the last ones we hatched, that turned out to be cross bantams

It's not random; chicken genetics is very complicated, and in my experience quite unpredictable. Chickens have a lot more genes than us (I recently found out that apples do too!) and though their genome has been mapped, there's still a way to go to understand what all the bits do.

I haven't seen an obvious pattern develop, so the best I can offer is my own experience (and I don't have any bantams). My smallest hen has usually produced smallish pullets, though larger than her, but last year's (Hafod) is actually smaller and slighter than her, while her son from last year (Killay) is as big as his sire (and all the other boys here). Meanwhile the largest hen has produced offspring smaller than herself. So the tendency is to the mean here.