Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

they are enclosed within an electric fence. But they have a lot of space and don’t use all of it. They love this area with tall weeds and there are only a few bare patches.

I think that would count as free range in almost everyone's book!

This is a guide to what counts here at the moment. Note that access to the outside does not mean actually go outside. Many so called free range birds never leave the shed.
https://www.egginfo.co.uk/egg-facts-and-figures/production/free-range-egg

 

[RoyalChick]

I think that would count as free range in almost everyone's book!

I like to think it is a good compromise. I have a heavy predator load. A couple of years ago a fox raised nine kits behind the barn and a lot of them are still around. So the fence is really about giving the foxes pause.
Then the weeds and shrubs are hopefully protection from hawks. Neither is a guarantee, but hopefully they tip the odds in favor of the chickens.
If I have to go away overnight I do confine them in their Chicken Palace which is also very spacious as judged by the general space guidance I have read here. I have 7 in a coop and run sized for about 25. But even so, it is clear they just like to be able to go out and hang together under their favorite shrub.
I can’t prove it makes them happy, but sitting here watching them and listening to their quiet chatter it seems obvious that they are enjoying their afternoon!

Tax: jungle chickens chilling

 

[MaryJanet]

This article on cage eggs (where you can virtually tour a facility) states that 40% of eggs in sold Australia are from caged farms, 47% from free range. But that the demand for free range eggs has increased rapidly over the last 15 years.

So we're likely to see the narrative that caged hens are happier and healthier pushed more strongly as that sector of the industry loses market share.

Caged eggs are being gradually phased out through regulation https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2...pdated-cage-eggs-battery-phase-out-/101347756 . We are very slow compared to the EU and some other nations who have made this change already. But the point is that the debate is settled, although of course all sides of the argument will find its way to the public discourse until the transition is over.

For example, one side of the discourse concerns backyard produced eggs. As the cost of eggs rises due to the transition to a free range only market, there is a spike in backyard chicken keeping, see https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-28/backyard-chicken-demand-egg-prices-cost-of-living/102534778 however, there is no official oversight of chicken care in backyard environments. If someone decides to keep chickens in a cruel environment in a backyard, it won't be susceptible to welfare inspections. At least the caged egg producers working on a large scale undergo welfare inspections.

 

[Nomadicus]

I can look out the windows and see pieces of chickens in the shadows of the landscape. They have found the coolest spots to hangout today and we've been doing the same.

 

[MaryJanet]

In the comments and photos people have shared on this topic, I see that everyone has a different definition of "free range." So if I were a policy person (and thank gods I'm not), I would be breaking my head over trying to regulate such an amorphous definition. What would constitute free range under the law? How many square meters? How much time outside? How many birds per square meter? From what I've read about the free range sector, it can be as little as a few square feet per bird. That sounds more like an overcrowded prison yard to me.

I tend to look at things like this from the perspective of humans interacting with animals and nature. Is the interaction harmonious, or even trying, or does it show a clear motive of dominion and profit? A more philosophical standpoint. I can't even imagine trying to wrangle with it from a regulatory angle.

Finally got the compost and mulch in this garden bed is ready to plant in and now the chickens have taken over.

View attachment 3559905

The stocking density labelling on the boxes is an effective way to deal with the issue. See section 8 https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017L00474

Before I had chickens I bought eggs from an egg producer who stocks hens at 150 per hectare. Other producers stock hens at 1500 or even 10000 per hectare.

I'm mindful that Shad does not encourage chatting on his thread about ex-battery hens. So if I stop leaving posts on this topic, it's out of respect for his preferences.

 

[Nomadicus]

I have some TAX forms to prepare and they won't get done if I fall asleep in this chair wishing for rain.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

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

I'll raise you a video of a rooster grooming a hen. Love flows all directions here.

The hens decided to try out Stilton's canyon after the dirt dried more. Stilty has been known to preen schmutz off any hen (he's even cleaned a poopy booty on one of Merle's Girls through the fence), but he does have a special affinity for the chicken in the hole, Frida. Note that I only caught this going on near the end, so not much real grooming happening in the video.

Never fear, at least 5 hens have a regular habit of preening Stilton. Probably why his cheek muffs never get any bigger.

@TropicalChickies our Frida got her name the same as your Frida: a little mustache on her beak as a chick. I'm helpless against wordplay, so her full name is Frida Bakawlo

 

[Nomadicus]

Josephine and Napoleon Bonaparte - TAX

 

[Nomadicus]

More French Revolutionist - More TAX

 

[Sequel]

More French Revolutionist - More TAX
View attachment 3560419

Nice blue legs!!!