Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[MaryJanet]

Shade and cool maybe even damp soil I think. I'm thinking of the feral chickens in Tasmania and the local dusky moor hens but I think technically those aren't chickens.

 

[BY Bob]

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 find I write exceptionally well when with them and can read and comprehend as well. Conference calls are no good because I'm too distracted watching the ladies antics. Not to say I haven't done calls with the ladies when I knew they would be boring ahead time.

I have not since the hawks because the run does not lend itself to any work right now.

 

[MaryJanet]

I do. I find I write exceptionally well when with them and can read and comprehend as well. Conference calls are no good because I'm too distracted watching the ladies antics. Not to say I haven't done calls with the ladies when I knew they would be boring ahead time.

I have not since the hawks because the run does not lend itself to any work right now.

I'll need to have a think about how best to set up a work space. It would most definitely be outside of the OHSW&IM guidelines.

 

[Shadrach]

I/we are almost always going to run into this brick wall, on this site at least when the welfare of the chicken becomes the primary focus because of the inevitable conclusion that the ideal chicken keeping conditions are not what lots of people who keep chickens have.
It's taken a long time to move from the recomended one square foot per bird advice that was around when I was a teenager to the four square foot currently suggested. As/if chickens get considered less of a product and more of a creature of worth it would seem the logical conclusion would be the best amount of room for a chicken is as much room as they will use.
I've shown in earlier picture exactly what the reality of a 6 metre by 6 metre run looks like in reality. That run, according to the current recomendations is more than adequate for the 21 chickens that were living in it.
I asked early in this thread. Do people think that is enough.
Later I've posted pictures of the chickens in a much much larger enclosure and it seems that people apart from me think that's a lot better.

This kind of progression applies to all aspects of chicken keeping from diet to topology.

 

[Ribh]

There is a very fair test for how cold is too cold.
Those of you with those creepy furry things that travel around on the back of witches broomstick could try seeing what "the cat" thinks of living outside, deprived of it's place by the fire. After all, cats have all that lovley fur to keep them warm and I'm sure they've been bred to be cold hardy.

I think it's the Russian Blue or mabe the Russian Forest cat loves deep snow. They are a big cat though & very well insulated.

 

[Ribh]

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 have to agree with this, though I don't see the extreme cold some of you guys do. Extreme heat & I see signs of distress in most of my girls, especially the bigger ladies.

 

[BY Bob]

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.

Let's leave humans out of it for the moment as we have messed with the chicken.

Let me try this approach. What you seem to be saying is that chickens are designed to be living within a specific temperature zone and that are not capable of and have not adapted to live outside of that zone.

I say you are selling them short. Many birds live in climates worse than mine. Why couldn't chickens adapt like those birds have? What's to say that a Buckeye hen, supposedly a cold hardy breed, would like it in Florida and would not prefer the cooler temperatures of the mid-western US? Could they not have developed different feathers to better deal with the cold that would cause trouble for them in higher temps?

Let's circle back to an animal you dislike, the cat.

Genetic analysis has demonstrated that the DNA of modern-day domestic cats throughout the world is almost identical to that of Felis sylvestris lybica, clearly showing that it is this species that gave rise to our domestic cats.

Felis sylvestris lybica still survives today and is a solitary nocturnal hunter with a similar appearance to domestic tabby cats, although a somewhat lighter (more sandy-coloured) coat. Individuals of this species are well dispersed across the savanna with large territories due to the relatively sparse availability of rodent prey.

The savanna is hardly a cool place. In fact it probably falls in line with your temperature guidelines for chickens. Yet this cat, designed for the climate of the savanna, has given rise to variants of cats that now live wild in the forests of Norway and Maine. Those are hardly savanna like environments.

I say again, isn't it possible that the lowly chicken has achieved the same? Perhaps these chickens in colder climates are able to adapt to the world in which they live.

Do you not know someone who is trying to repopulate the native chickens of Finland? If there ever were chickens that were native to Finland then surely you can concede that it is possible. Finland is hardly a jungle environment.

 

[Perris]

Do you not know someone who is trying to repopulate the native chickens of Finland? If there ever were chickens that were native to Finland then surely you can concede that it is possible. Finland is hardly a jungle environment.

Good point. And Swedish Flowers are another landrace breed from that region - though the southern part of Sweden has weather more like the UK than Finland I think.

 

[MaryJanet]

Good point. And Swedish Flowers are another landrace breed from that region - though the southern part of Sweden has weather more like the UK than Finland I think.

Appenzeller Spitzhaubens too I think. Although they're from Switzerland.

 

[Perris]

A propos fitness for environment in cold parts, I note my SFH Venka's camouflage is like the snow leopard's, while Sven's works better among dead leaves and grasses