Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

My little chirapa (frizzle) Dusty won't give up now. She's only 9 months old and only laid two clutches of eggs so far. This is her second broody spell. She snapped out of the first one after only one day on a hard wood floor, but this time she's really determined. She's not sitting on anything and I've destroyed her "nest" twice, she keeps going back to the same spot, which is in a really bad spot -- our workshop -- with sharp tools around.

I should have jotted down the day she went broody, but mistakenly figured she would have abandoned the idea by now. I've been swamped with things to do and can't recall for the life of me when she started. Now she's barely eating and when I take her off the nest to eat, she just sits there in a trance and then cackles like a demon and runs back to the nest. I have to syringe her water or she won't get any. Yesterday I put her in the dust bath under a big basket and she just sat there, not bathing. I don't have a freezer so putting an ice pack under her is out.

The chicks and mums are in the coop now so next time I swear I can give her some eggs and space in the broody wing (which I'm improving dramatically).

Please if anyone has some helpful advice, I'm all ears.
View attachment 3557369
Wannabe Teen Mom, Dusty

I've been fortunate I guess. I've rarely had to resort to any more than confiscating the eggs and destroying the nest. Most did go back to the nest the next day and sit for a while but any that were still sitting at roost time I used to put in the coop, on a roost bar overnight making sure the nest boxes in the coop were empty of bedding. If the other hens in the tribe had to go and lay in a new nest somewhere it didn't last for long.
The few that were stubborn I brought into my house. The floor was a solid slab of concrete and that's where they stayed during the day and at night I used to put them back on the roost bar in their tribes coop.

 

[Shadrach]

Got the report on Skeksis today. The bacteria responsible was E. Coli. They also called yesterday to say her meds were ready.

E. Coli is dangerous. Antibiotics do not always sort it out. It transmits vertically and horizontally. It's a major killer, or was, in commercial batteries.
There is no way you could have discovered that this was what you were dealing with without an experienced vet. Many vets don't even test for it.
Feel sad for Skeksis's death but do not feel guilty by thinking you could have done more sooner.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I can care for Ex Battery hens because of the experiences mentioned above and still make emotional attachments to/with them. For many people the combined horror of knowing the lives Ex Battery hens had and finding they die just when one thinks they are begining to enjoy their horribly short lives is just too heart rending to manage.
This is in part why I believe caring for Ex Battery hens is what I should be doing, because I can.
I would love a tribe of Light Sussex or Dorkings but they don't need what I hope I can give to the Ex Battery hens day after day, arrivals after arrivals and death after death.

Know thyself. The complex emotional capacity you're describing is why I didn't drive to Charlotte to pick up ex-battery hens this spring. I went as far as pricing a coop and predator proofing for 2 dozen of them in a new chicken area on one of our fields, but after soul searching decided to donate to the rescue instead.

Veterinary resources are abysmal in our area, and at present I feel too inexperienced to handle issues ex-batts are prone to. That kind of roller coaster could drain my emotional well for other significant parts of life, including the VIP already living here with us (Very Important Poultry).

Tax is VIP Stilton in the dustbath. I went searching after hearing unusually loud cooing and found him all alone in a canyon he'd dug in the shade. He was probably calling the group over so he didn't have to get up to look after them. Hot summer day.

As soon as I knelt down, the hens joined us. Stilton stopped making loud burble noises after they settled down in the bushes around him. Happy rooster. Not sure how he got his wing to bend up like that. Yoga rooster.

 

[Sequel]

Know thyself. The complex emotional capacity you're describing is why I didn't drive to Charlotte to pick up ex-battery hens this spring. I went as far as pricing a coop and predator proofing for 2 dozen of them in a new chicken area on one of our fields, but after soul searching decided to donate to the rescue instead.

Veterinary resources are abysmal in our area, and at present I feel too inexperienced to handle issues ex-batts are prone to. That kind of roller coaster could drain my emotional well for other significant parts of life, including the VIP already living here with us (Very Important Poultry).

Tax is VIP Stilton in the dustbath. I went searching after hearing unusually loud cooing and found him all alone in a canyon he'd dug in the shade. He was probably calling the group over so he didn't have to get up to look after them. Hot summer day.

As soon as I knelt down, the hens joined us. Stilton stopped making loud burble noises after they settled down in the bushes around him. Happy rooster. Not sure how he got his wing to bend up like that. Yoga rooster.

He made that look so good I’m thinking about sitting in a hole myself! Very nice video!

 

[fuzzi]

Yep, and plant some parsnips and rutabaga while you're at it! They are also fall crops and go well with brussel sprouts

Turnips! Carrots!

 

[no fly zone]

E. Coli is dangerous. Antibiotics do not always sort it out. It transmits vertically and horizontally. It's a major killer, or was, in commercial batteries.
There is no way you could have discovered that this was what you were dealing with without an experienced vet. Many vets don't even test for it.
Feel sad for Skeksis's death but do not feel guilty by thinking you could have done more sooner.

I cannot help it. She brought so much joy to my life.

 

[Shadrach]

Three hours today. Cloudy and cooler. It should have rained but didn't.
Fret's slow moult is causing problems. The sitting, the red mite, the loss of her best friend Lima and the moult in a short period of time all I dare say contribute to what should be a rapid weight gain after sitting. She didn't lose a lot of weight, but then again there isn't a lot of her. She's off the pelleted commercial feed but fortunatley she is eating the mash I've been providing in the afternoons with the extra rooster booster. Ideally I would be there all day and have the mash available all day, plus anything else she'll eat.

Anyway, some good news is the plot holder who is mapping out the plots so we all know exactly whose plot is whose and can provide proof in the event of another one of C's stupid tantrums got a friend with a drone to take some pictures. The plot holder has labled all the plots (Not in this picture) and produced copies for everyone. Next is finding a treasurer who is capable of keeping a record of payments and donations which have mysteriously been spent according to C, but nobody knows on what.

The plots. Chickens on the left just out of the picture on this shot. Geese at top center. Allotment entrance far right two thirds down not in picture.

 

[Sally PB]

Which plot is yours?

 

[fuzzi]

Three hours today. Cloudy and cooler. It should have rained but didn't.
Fret's slow moult is causing problems. The sitting, the red mite, the loss of her best friend Lima and the moult in a short period of time all I dare say contribute to what should be a rapid weight gain after sitting. She didn't lose a lot of weight, but then again there isn't a lot of her. She's off the pelleted commercial feed but fortunatley she is eating the mash I've been providing in the afternoons with the extra rooster booster. Ideally I would be there all day and have the mash available all day, plus anything else she'll eat.

Anyway, some good news is the plot holder who is mapping out the plots so we all know exactly whose plot is whose and can provide proof in the event of another one of C's stupid tantrums got a friend with a drone to take some pictures. The plot holder has labled all the plots (Not in this picture) and produced copies for everyone. Next is finding a treasurer who is capable of keeping a record of payments and donations which have mysteriously been spent according to C, but nobody knows on what.

View attachment 3558058View attachment 3558059View attachment 3558060View attachment 3558061View attachment 3558057View attachment 3558055

The plots. Chickens on the left just out of the picture on this shot. Geese at top center. Allotment entrance far right two thirds down not in picture.
View attachment 3558056

Good.

Hopefully C won't be difficult about others taking initiative.

 

[Shadrach]

Know thyself. The complex emotional capacity you're describing is why I didn't drive to Charlotte to pick up ex-battery hens this spring. I went as far as pricing a coop and predator proofing for 2 dozen of them in a new chicken area on one of our fields, but after soul searching decided to donate to the rescue instead.

Veterinary resources are abysmal in our area, and at present I feel too inexperienced to handle issues ex-batts are prone to. That kind of roller coaster could drain my emotional well for other significant parts of life, including the VIP already living here with us (Very Important Poultry).

Tax is VIP Stilton in the dustbath. I went searching after hearing unusually loud cooing and found him all alone in a canyon he'd dug in the shade. He was probably calling the group over so he didn't have to get up to look after them. Hot summer day.

As soon as I knelt down, the hens joined us. Stilton stopped making loud burble noises after they settled down in the bushes around him. Happy rooster. Not sure how he got his wing to bend up like that. Yoga rooster.

Lovely video. Tell Stilton he needs to sort his hens out and get them over to goom him in the bath.