Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[RoyalChick]

I think you would be right when they have muddy feet which is likely to be the case here in winter. I'm making a few changes regarding feeding and watering. The hard plastic washing up bowl it seems I bought only a few months ago has a split in it.
I'm going to try these. One for feed and one for water. 5 litres for water should be plenty for five to ten chickens given I change the water daily. The washing up bowl holds far too much and is too tall.
https://www.tanks-direct.co.uk/5-litre-black-gorilla-tub/p5759

Those look like the black rubber feed bowls that are quite common here. In the picture I posted a couple of posts up you can see the underside of a very large one. I have them on top of the tree stumps I use for me to sit on so they remain poop free.
The small version - about the size of what you showed - is much more useful for actually feeding and watering the chickens!

 

[no fly zone]

Six hours today. Mostly sunny.
Lima is struggling. She ate a little(wholemeal bread soaked in kefir with an egg white cooked and chopped) and drank a lot. I got some Ibuprofene into her and some Rooster Booster. She spent most of the afternoon by or under my chair. I stayed with them all until 10.45pm. We all sat on the extension roost bar until it had got properly dark. Lima managed to get on to the roost bar in the coop without help.

I washed out the inside of the coop and used a borrowed cooking blow torch to do the roost bars and supports. That should be it for the mite problem. I should have my own blowtorch by the weekend.

I've found something suitable to replace the wooden roost bars.
https://www.kedel.co.uk/battens/RG0...MI2oHylNTM_wIVi9LtCh330wKFEAQYBSABEgJR9PD_BwE

I'll round off the top edges a bit more when it arrives.
Heavy going today. Not much else I can write. Hopefully Lima will get a decent nights miteless sleep and make it to see another day.

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Hope Lima picks up soon.

 

[Perris]

I've found something suitable to replace the wooden roost bars.

The oldest of the Green Frog/Nestera coops that I have has two of these. (Since getting more I have wondered why they changed to wood just for the roosts; I'm still none the wiser after this discussion.)

I'll round off the top edges a bit more when it arrives

Leave it square where it sits in the holders for a better tighter fit

I had wondered how slippery it might be. I can probably fix that with slots along the length if necessary or even a butile sheet fixed over the top

It isn't slippery. My flock has no issues with them at all, wet or dry, summer or winter.
Any slots or covering material you add will provide hiding places for mites and recesses that are harder to clean than the surface it arrives with.

It may not be an issue.

it isn't here either.

 

[Perris]

I'm making a few changes regarding feeding and watering.

charity shops often have something in the kitchen section in ceramic or pyrex or stainless steel that is of the right size and that works well.

 

[Shadrach]

charity shops often have something in the kitchen section in ceramic or pyrex or stainless steel that is of the right size and that works well.

Done the charity shops. The only things I could find were too tall or too fragile.
Use to be able to buy terracota lasagna dishes in Spain for a few Euros which were the right kind of depth and heavy enough not to be tipped over.
Also used to be able to buy terracota drinkers which were great for keeping water cool. The only thing I've found here in the UK is this and I'm still waiting to hear how many litres it holds.

http://farmerdixon.co.uk/viewproduct.asp?id=15

 

[Perris]

The trouble with charity shops is you have to keep an eye on them because the stock is constantly turning over and always haphazard.

Use to be able to buy terracota lasagna dishes in Spain for a few Euros which were the right kind of depth and heavy enough not to be tipped over.

this is exactly what I managed to pick up for £1 each on one of my lucky visits to a charity shop. Works perfectly. That ceramic poultry drinker looks great but is very expensive.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

Temperature is in the 70s and partly cloudy.

Lots of LOVE for lima and Skeksis.

Have a great day!

 

[no fly zone]

 

[TropicalChickies]

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Her color looks better!

 

[TropicalChickies]

Segundo, Stripe, and Prima (from left to right). Mama Tina's brood at nearly 8 weeks. Looks like two little roos and a hen.
Prima was the chick who hatched two days before the others and Tina initially ignored in favor of the unhatched eggs. My neighbor kept Prima under a brooder light and took care of her until the others hatched. Tina accepted her right away and now Prima is healthy and strong. She is more gentle and stays closer to mama than the Segundo and Stripe, who are already mock fighting and very adventurous.

At any rate, I'm glad my neighbor said that Prima was worth a try to save because now she's just fine and the only future hen. As fascinating and stunning roosters are, it is nice to think that I will perhaps get some eggs out of the bargain (which I vaguely recall being one of the reasons I got into this chicken keeping business in the first place )