Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

Four hours today. 10C, grey with a tiny spot of rain in the last half hour.

Full coop cleanout.

Shortly after I had cleaned the coop out Fret went to lay an egg while the rest of us were on the allotment digging. When she had finished she gave the escort call and Henry did exactly what I had seen the roosters from the tribes in Catalonia do. He gave the I've heard you answer call and rushed back into the coop run to collect Fret and escorted her back to the rest of us.
Then Ella went to lay an egg. Henry took her to the coop this time and collected her when she called when she had finished.
It seems there is indeed a zone where Henry doesn't bother responding to the escort call bar calling back to let the hens know he's heard them. I'm also begining to wonder if there is a critical number of hens above which Henry doesn't respond. Four is a reasonable number for a rooster to carry out escort duties. If say 20 were on the allotments and going back to the coop to lay, would Henry respond and fetch each hen?

I finally got rid of the last of the plastic compost bins. I had to cut it out of the ground in effect. Something had been living under it at some point. I've got a damp, patially composted pile of grass to move tomorrow and the root network that hads grown underneath and around it. On the plus side the hens had slaters and worms to eat. That pickaxe type thing you can see lying on the ground is my tool of choice for hard stoney ground.

Henry has adopted the hens habit of spending a while on the roost bar in the coop extension before going to roost. I had a frame next to the entrance of a couple of the coops in Catalonia and the chickens there did much the same. They seem to like being able to perch off the ground close to the coop before going to roost. Henry has worked out he can make a clean jump to the bar at one end of the bar now.

Henry and Ella were first in this evening. I disturbed them checking under Ella's wings and she sought avoidance from any further interference in the corner of the coop. Fret is doing her usual try to wedge herself in no gap so she can be next to Henry.

 

[ManueB]

I'm also begining to wonder if there is a critical number of hens above which Henry doesn't respond

For one of my roosters, Théo, it also depends on which hen is calling.
I'm not sure if it's about personal preference or feeling that some hens need him more, but from what I've seen it's preference.
The other rooster runs everytime a hen calls. He's younger .

 

[TropicalChickies]

I believe the pickaxe thing is called a mattock. It's also one of my favorite tools for opening tight compacted clay soil like we have here on tropical land that was degraded by deforestation.

It's very good exercise swinging a mattock, but it's a lot of flexion (forward bending). A good recovery for the back is to lie flat on the stomach with the legs extended straight behind you and then extend the spinal muscles to lift your chest and legs away from the ground so you look like Superman flying. In yoga, this is called the locust position. Another good recovery is to do bridge poses.

Do 5 to 10 repetitions of each, holding each position for 1-2 deep breaths.

P.S. I taught yoga, pilates, and other movement therapies for 18 years before deciding to become a tropical agroforestry farmer and chicken keeper. I saw some threads here about stretching and backaches, so I'm replying to those as well. Of course, any exercise needs to be performed as part of a regular and thoughtful program. But these two positions below are an excellent and generally low-risk way to strengthen the spinal muscles and glutes and recover from forward bending movements that gardening requires

^locust pose

^bridge pose (the pelvis doesn't need to lift this high to do the exercise. This fellow is very bendy)

I finally got rid of the last of the plastic compost bins. I had to cut it out of the ground in effect. Something had been living under it at some point. I've got a damp, patially composted pile of grass to move tomorrow and the root network that hads grown underneath and around it. On the plus side the hens had slaters and worms to eat. That pickaxe type thing you can see lying on the ground is my tool of choice for hard stoney ground.

 

[bruceha2000]

slaters

wood louse or pill bug to us USA Americans

 

[RoyalChick]

wood louse or pill bug to us USA Americans

I imagine they are rather like popcorn for the chickens. A nice crunchy snack. Mine go bonkers for them!

 

[Sequel]

wood louse or pill bug to us USA Americans

I looked it up too!

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

Temperature is in the 80s.

Have a great day!

 

[TropicalChickies]

Hi folks,

I'm looking for some practical advice for my new pullet Rusty -- especially from anyone whose dealt with dry coughing or rescues from a dust-infested run.

Rusty's been living on my farm for one week. She's eight months old. I adopted her from a neighbor in the village a few km away whom I generally trust to have healthy chickens (she's only sold me healthy pullets so far).

^Rusty

I'm aware of the risks of not keeping a closed flock, but I really needed some good company for my handsome cockerel Lucio (5 months). Lucio was brutally bullied by the hen who hatched him when her mothering instinct stopped. My two younger hens are both brooding, and poor Lucio only had my 2 older hens to hang out with. The senior ladies kindly tolerated him but had zero interest in letting an awkward juvenile mate with them. He was timid, not crowing, and cowed, but I sensed in him the makings of a sensible and gallant rooster if he were given a little space and his own girls. So I brought in Rusty and Dusty to keep him company.

As soon as Lucio saw Rusty, they bonded. They are now inseparable. He prepares the dust bath for her, brings her treats constantly, and anxiously awaits just outside the nesting area an unobtrusive short distance away for her to lay her egg each day. He is now happy, protective, and has a gentlemanly bearing for one so young.

So it's very important to me, for Lucio's sake as well, to keep Rusty healthy.

^Lucio and Rusty. Los inseperables.

Rusty has what I would describe as a tickle in her throat and a light, intermittent cough. I've seen more serious respiratory infections -- the original group of chickens I bought 4 years ago from a different (not trustworthy) neighbor were inadvertent rescues... 3 out of the 5 had a bad respiratory infection, 2 of them turned blue and died within 10 days of arrival. I managed to help the others survive with supportive care. So I've seen and heard those symptoms (the bubbly, gurgly, rasping breathing, the fluid leaking from the eyes, the loud squeaking sneezing) and Rusty is not anywhere near that point.

The neighbor who sold her to me swears none of her flock is sick. And the other pullet who came with Rusty, is fine.

Rusty's eggs are perfect. Hard shell, perfect shape, orange yolk, thick albumen. Her poop is normal. So I can reasonably rule out Infectious Bronchitis. Her crop feels and works fine as well.

But her voice has a hoarse sound (think Bettie Davis) and she coughs with a light, dry sound several times throughout the day.

I have reason to suspect she has some dust in her airways. The picture below shows where Rusty was kept before she came to my farm.

As you can see, the wood and bamboo in this pen is covered with green stuff. This is basically some dusty mossy growth that sticks to and grows on any untreated wood surface in a rainforest. It's the first step of decomposition. It's also shit for your respiratory system to breathe it. It will definitely give you a dry cough and a tickly throat if it's in the air in a confined space. It's why I don't use wood or wood shavings in my coop or chicken areas.

My neighbor told me she only keeps the layers in this pen. Dusty isn't laying yet, so she wasn't in here, and Rusty was only kept in this pen for about a month as she recently came into lay.

So, if Rusty was breathing air with this "green dust" in it, it wasn't for long.

(Please, if you are someone lucky enough to have access to a vet who treats chickens, please don't roll your eyes at my amateur diagnoses... If I gave a vet a chicken, he'd think I was trying to pay for him to fix my cow. Chickens are not considered valuable enough animals to warrant medical care here).

Anyway, I'll cut the storytelling and get to the point. Does anyone have experience with chickens who have Rusty's mild but concerning symptoms? Is there any supportive care I can offer to soothe her throat? (I'm not above antibiotics or antifungals when absolutely necessary, but my instinct is they are not needed here).

I've been wetting the feed with a "tea" made with ginger, turmeric, and mint we have here on the farm for the past two days. I've also been giving her a bit of sweet potato soaked in olive oil the past two days (that seems to be helping a bit). Am I fretting too much? Will good fresh air all day and a dust free/mold free coop sort this out?

^Rusty and Lucio in paradise.

Btw, for anyone in a tropical climate or damp place where molds and mildews flourish on wood surfaces, you might be interested in my coop. I built it from "earth bags" -- 25 lb grain sacks stuffed with clay soil and tamped into "bricks." The outside is covered in natural clay and lime plaster and the inside I cover in wipe-able shade cloth. It ends up looking like a "cob house" except it's much faster to build. And you don't need any carpentry skill! The only wood is the roosts which I wipe with linseed oil often. The floor is a doubled heavy tarp covered with a thick layer of sand mixed well with lime and dried rice hulls. Every day, I skim the poop off the surface of the floor mixture, put it in the compost, and give the floor a stir. Every ten days or so, I add some fresh sand, lime, and rice hulls. It also really helps keep the mites and sticktight fleas away. (These pics were taken before the final roof went on)

 

[Molpet]

The outside is covered in natural clay and lime plaster

Interesting, but how does it not dissolve?
I know adobe in the desert works, but it's dry

 

[TropicalChickies]

Interesting, but how does it not dissolve?
I know adobe in the desert works, but it's dry

Oh we put a big polyplastic roof over it! I took this pic just before my partner Juan put the roof on. Two downpours in the rainforest would melt the exterior plaster. The earth bags themselves though could withstand rain. Our human house is built the same way.