Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[pennyJo1960]

I have faith over time you will be able to see who is doomed .. I do know your are able to give them care till the end of those..

 

[NatJ]

I have a watch list comprising those hens I think are most at risk.
I've got it spectacularly wrong twice now.

For the two that were "spectacularly wrong," were they better or worse than you thought?

 

[Shadrach]

They might be awaiting their turn to serve as Christmas dinners?

Apparently not.
You may want to cover your ears for these pictures if you find bad language offensive.

 

[Shadrach]

For the two that were "spectacularly wrong," were they better or worse than you thought?

Much worse and I didn't see it. I'll be posting about them later on.

 

[BY Bob]

Fluffy butt taxView attachment 2908967

marvelous

 

[Shadrach]

The first loss was very early on and all I got to see of it was a small pile of feathers just outside the fence. C had found the hen inside the run fence when she went to feed them that morning.
It now seems likely that a stoat got through the fence and killed a hen and then tried to drag the hen back through the fence by her head.

The second loss.
My initial concern was to get the chickens out of the coop run, fed more and inspected and into the allotment run which you will be able to work out the boudries of as I post more pictures.
Eventually I got around to trying to clean the build up of bedding under the coop. One feather in particular caught my eye and when I bent down to pick it up I found it was attatched to a hen.
This what she looked like.

It isn't terribly clear from the pictures but her organs had been eaten. She was almost hollow inside that hole.
When a creature dies rigor mortis sets in and the creature goes stiff. If you kill and eat chickens you will know that in order to get a tasty chicken meal you need to wait for the rigor mortis to fade and the carcass to become supple again. Rigor Mortis had faded with this hen.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The first loss was very early on and all I got to see of it was a small pile of feathers just outside the fence. C had found the hen inside the run fence when she went to feed them that morning.
It now seems likely that a stoat got through the fence and killed a hen and then tried to drag the hen back through the fence by her head.

My initial concern was to get the chickens out of the coop run, fed more and inspected and into the allotment run which you will be able to work out the boudries of as I post more pictures.
Eventually I got around to trying to clean the build up of bedding under the coop. One feather in particular caught my eye and when I bent down to pick it up I found it was attatched to a hen.
This what she looked like.
View attachment 2909359View attachment 2909360
It isn't terribly clear from the pictures but her organs had been eaten. She was almost hollow inside that hole.
When a creature dies rigor mortis sets in and the creature goes stiff. If you kill and eat chickens you will know that in order to get a tasty chicken meal you need to wait for the rigor mortis to fade and the carcass to become supple again. Rigor Mortis had faded with this hen.

Was this the hen that you think the stoat got? Or a separate loss?

 

[Shadrach]

Was this the hen that you think the stoat got? Or a separate loss?

Sorry. You are right. It isn't clear. I'll edit. Thanks. It was the second loss.

 

[Shadrach]

This afternoon at the allotment.

 

[629864]

My tax