Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

I guess he must have asked a lot of chickens whether or not they would prefer to be on a tropical Island sipping fortified Nutridrench and eating crab meat with the local fruit and veg instead of sheltering from a gale in minus twenty centigrade temperatures eating a vegan diet and no space to run around.:D
Let's discuss for a moment excessive temperatures. I feel these are way more dangerous to my tribe than the cold. I see way more stress from them when the temp approaches and exceeds 100°F. I am way more concerned about heat killing them than cold. To me they seem way more adaptable to cold weather.
 
Did they come out in that?
How? I would have had to dig tunnels for them. It was 42" deep. It took over an hour to dig my way to them.
They didn't seem to mind being locked in the coop/run combo for an extended period.
 
I have mentioned before, lots, what a massive difference having a rooster makes. The hens will try to congregate near their rooster.
If you went and sat under the bush I expect the hens would join you there. I think a lot of the close to house behaviour people see is hens trying to be close to whoever/whatever they perceive as their rooster.
Hmmmm I'll try that and see what happens.
 
"I'm telling you, it was green when I went to roost"
Chickens in Snow.jpeg
 
Even though nobody squats for me any more (it was Dotty that led that rebellion) I am still clearly the rooster from a protection point of view.
As some of you know, the Chicken Palace is large (I think Shad thinks it is too large) and the Princesses have a choice of predator secure coop, covered run, and open pasture runs.
In addition I have a fenced area where they can sort of free-range but only when I supervise. This open area is also quite large and I have noticed they always choose to forage near where I have decided to sit. It is actually an easy way to get them to go onto new ground simply by moving my chair.
This has puzzled me because though the area is large it is not so large that they cannot see me from every point in the yard, but they are clearly more relaxed if they are within about 5-6' of me.
I feel honored to be able to perform this duty for them.
Do you work in the free range area? I'm not comfortable working outside, mainly because I can't see the screen, but there are times of the day when it might be possible, but I doubt my focus would be as good among the hens.
 
Do you work in the free range area? I'm not comfortable working outside, mainly because I can't see the screen, but there are times of the day when it might be possible, but I doubt my focus would be as good among the hens.
I do. I do conference calls and some reading. I find it harder to write though I handle e-mail on my phone OK.
But remember I am in count-down to retirement so I also feel entirely justified in sitting there just because I enjoy it.
 
Let's discuss for a moment excessive temperatures. I feel these are way more dangerous to my tribe than the cold. I see way more stress from them when the temp approaches and exceeds 100°F. I am way more concerned about heat killing them than cold. To me they seem way more adaptable to cold weather.
I'm so glad the chat about the weather has turned from cold to hot. Today's forecast is 37°C (98°F) so once the night chill has left the air, I'll be starting the misting system in the chickens' big run.
 
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Let's discuss for a moment excessive temperatures. I feel these are way more dangerous to my tribe than the cold. I see way more stress from them when the temp approaches and exceeds 100°F. I am way more concerned about heat killing them than cold. To me they seem way more adaptable to cold weather.
Okay, lets have a go at that. Excessive, goes to both extremes.
We can make a reasonable assesment of what is a comfortable temperature range for a chicken by looking at the environment they originated from and the environment they have etsablished feral populations.
It seems from the data that roughly 20 centigrade to 35 centigrade is the range in which chickens thrive.
At 41 centigrade the chicken can no longer transfer heat to their environment. They cope by finding shade. There are feral chicken populations that experience temperatures of 45 centigrade and they still cope by finding shade.
This doesn't mean they are comfortable. It just means they're not falling over dead.
What do chickens do at the other extreme? Just because they don't drop dead doesn't mean they are comfortable.
 

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