Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[pennyJo1960]

Been a long time since I went onto my arse in the mud chasing pullet.

This the tops I put on the feeders hardware cloth to floor under the PVC
feeder is 4 inches so top is 6.

 

[Shadrach]

Well, it's true of my old husband for a fact. Of course, he probably thinks his old wife is getting cranky too.

I've been fortunate. Most of women I've known at any stage in my life have identified me as being grumpy, stubborn and occasionally foul mouthed and have agreed with me early in the relationship that I was probably better suited to the shed than in refined company and left me out there.

 

[MaryJanet]

Hi folks,

A frizzy Asiatic-looking all black pullet (8 mos) just joined my jungle tribe and I'm a bit curious as to what breed(s) she might be.

View attachment 3479832
^This is Dusty. Her plumage is completely black with a green/blue beetle sheen. Her feet are blue-black as well.

(I posted over in the "What Breed or Gender" forum, but given the circumstances of my flock and the many people I see on this thread with an interest in keeping chickens as chickens (as creatures of nature), I thought some folks here might have interesting input.

A little background on my chooks: We live in a very rural area of Ecuador, South America. Most people here (including us) farm sugar cane, bananas, cocoa beans and other "tropical crops." The climate is subtropical rainforest and the landscape a mix of humid jungle and farmed land. Practically everyone here keeps chickens, and while the gamecock keepers are particular about the breeding stock, no one else is, so all of the farmyard chickens running around the little villages are mixes of various domesticated breeds and interesting landrace varieties. The people call the mixtures "criollas" -- same thing people of mixed indigenous and Spanish descent are called.

The locals here call Dusty a "Chirapa" -- an indigenous Kichwa word for "tatters" or a "Rizada" -- meaning "frizzy" in Spanish.


View attachment 3479835
At home in the jungle.


For example, here's another one of Dusty with her pal Rusty. Rusty looks a lot like a Rhode Island Red, but she's very petite. Her eggs are cream colored with a bluish tint. Her feet are bluish as well.
View attachment 3479836

I looked up all the breeds of black chickens and Dusty looks most like a Cochin, but she's also very petite, so maybe a bantam Cochin? They are eating very well in our farm, fed rations 2x a day and free roam all day for forage, so I suspect they will fill out.

So I'm asking just out of curiosity -- I'm pretty certain Dusty isn't a "pure" anything, but does anyone want to guess her possible origins?

View attachment 3479837
Anyway, I think she's the most adorable ugly little hen ever.

My first thought was Australorp crossed with some other breed, but that doesn't count for much because "Australorp" is my first thought most days

 

[BDutch]

LYes! The most beautiful crow ever!

Well, maybe I don’t agree on this one. Because the Dutch I bought last year from a young girl who couldnt keep the beauty on the right, was named Kraai. The Dutch name for Crow.

I bought Kraai for almost nothing because I got free food and articles with her.

More Kraai, now on the left:

 

[Shadrach]

Cold at 4C, wet and grey. A couple of hours at the allotments today. I had adult stuff to do unfortunatley so the really interesting stuff got held up.

Despite the drizzle we all got out. Not a great deal of enthusiasm for the supplied food but they ate it in the hope that more interesting fare would be forthcoming later.

Chickens hunting for prey....sorry, foraging in the compost heap.

Henry on guard as the hens ate.

He even dug up a few grubs for them; well mostly for Lima who moans at him if he doesn't put some effort in.

Onto the great predators patch who is apparently so good at predating that they have to grow stuff in the ground that doesn't run away.

Lima insisting that to be a predator one has to endure some discomforts and that includes a few drops of rain.

Carbon. "That's enough of that if there are no treats left,"

Us on the roost bar.

It's alright for them, I've got to get home yet!

 

[BDutch]

How do you find her personality in comparison to the standard size RIR?
Just curious. I had some standard rhode island hens, in the past, who didn't get along well with my more gentle hens.

I never had normal sized chickens. Only bantams. Mostly Dutch. But the bantam RIRs fit(ted) in well. They are rather flighty compared to my Dutch but not at all aggressive to the other chickens or to humans. The cockerel I had was a sweethart.

 

[Shadrach]

I never had normal sized chickens. Only bantams. Mostly Dutch. But the bantam RIRs fit(ted) in well. They are rather flighty compared to my Dutch but not at all aggressive to the other chickens or to humans. The cockerel I had was a sweethart.

The bantams in Catalonia were a pretty mellow bunch and seemed to be better at their social arrangements than the cross breeds and the Marans. They weren't particularly human friendly; not in an aggressive manner, just not that interested.

 

[kcan2]

Onto the great predators patch who is apparently so good at predating that they have to grow stuff in the ground that doesn't run away.

Anyone who has witnessed the fate of a frog at the mercy of a chicken or two might agree that the foraging/predation habits of the chicken have a tendency to be more ruthless than helpless. The pre-digested frog would agree, anyhow.

 

[no fly zone]

Anyone who has witnessed the fate of a frog at the mercy of a chicken or two might agree that the foraging/predation habits of the chicken have a tendency to be more ruthless than helpless. The pre-digested frog would agree, anyhow.

My trio of naked neck hens would come up onto the back deck for the sole purpose of hunting anoles.

 

[Molpet]

Anyone who has witnessed the fate of a frog at the mercy of a chicken or two might agree that the foraging/predation habits of the chicken have a tendency to be more ruthless than helpless. The pre-digested frog would agree, anyhow.

I seen a young robin that couldn't fly hopping around the poultry yard a couple years ago.... next thing I know a 8 wks cockerel is beating it up. A few siblings seen and they tore it apart alive.... the next time I took the robin out of the poultry yard.