Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Solanacae]

Oooooh! I have a Desdemona too.

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She’s beautiful! Or at least her backside is.

 

[Shadrach]

She’s beautiful! Or at least her backside is.

Sometimes that's all you need.

 

[Shadrach]

Yes, I agree. The area I live in doesn’t allow roosters, though the local ordinances do allow for more chickens than most of the surrounding areas. (My neighbors liked my rooster, so I don’t think it would have been a problem had I not had an issue with how the rooster had started acting towards my kids.) I think that’s part of the reason why the backyard chickens movement has resulted in so many mixed flocks, honestly. A lot of areas don’t allow roosters, so people turn to feed stores, hatcheries, or breeders for their birds. That allows them quite a few options and if you can’t breed the birds you like the look of, you might as well have fun picking out an assortment. That’s how I felt, anyway.
I’m glad I’ve been able to find a good breeder with an assortment of breeds to choose from. Just like sourcing my meat from local farmers instead of going to the grocery store, I’m much more comfortable knowing the quality of life that the breeding stock has. Supporting those farmers by buying their meat (and supporting local slaughterhouses/butchers that process the meat for me, and it’s only slightly more expensive than the grocery store), or my chicken lady by paying a few dollars extra for a healthy chick is worth it to me. I also know that she practices good biosecurity, and that’s about as good as I can hope to get.

I've been very lucky I know. I've always cared for mixed sex flocks.
I've never really understood the blanket ban on roosters when people can have dogs that bark all day, cats that yowl at night. Maybe the same rules that apply to environmental noise limits should be enough.

 

[Shadrach]

I really like the look of the Red Sex Links. It's something about their head shape.

 

[Solanacae]

I've been very lucky I know. I've always cared for mixed sex flocks.
I've never really understood the blanket ban on roosters when people can have dogs that bark all day, cats that yowl at night. Maybe the same rules that apply to environmental noise limits should be enough.

My dogs easily make more of a racket than my rooster did, and they’re not the loudest in the neighborhood. When I was attending meetings for proposed adjustments to the chicken ordinance, one fellow came to speak against some of the proposals because, in his words, he bought a house in the city limits because didn’t want to live next to a farm. And there were plenty of loopholes in the old ordinance that justified his concern. There were a few that shows up to argue against the rooster ban, but I always saw it as a loosing battle. I was was happy that the argument that several people (myself included) were making in favor of increasing the number of allowed chickens was supported by the community council. So while I think the rooster bans are silly, I do recognize that plenty of people don’t want ‘farm sounds’ especially when they’ve had negative experiences with neighbors who don’t take good care of the animals they have.

 

[Shadrach]

Found a couple. Freya my sisters Swedish Flower Hen.

 

[Perris]

she's lovely; how old is she?

 

[Ribh]

Yes, I agree. The area I live in doesn’t allow roosters, though the local ordinances do allow for more chickens than most of the surrounding areas. (My neighbors liked my rooster, so I don’t think it would have been a problem had I not had an issue with how the rooster had started acting towards my kids.) I think that’s part of the reason why the backyard chickens movement has resulted in so many mixed flocks, honestly. A lot of areas don’t allow roosters, so people turn to feed stores, hatcheries, or breeders for their birds. That allows them quite a few options and if you can’t breed the birds you like the look of, you might as well have fun picking out an assortment. That’s how I felt, anyway.
I’m glad I’ve been able to find a good breeder with an assortment of breeds to choose from. Just like sourcing my meat from local farmers instead of going to the grocery store, I’m much more comfortable knowing the quality of life that the breeding stock has. Supporting those farmers by buying their meat (and supporting local slaughterhouses/butchers that process the meat for me, and it’s only slightly more expensive than the grocery store), or my chicken lady by paying a few dollars extra for a healthy chick is worth it to me. I also know that she practices good biosecurity, and that’s about as good as I can hope to get.

This is very true. My flock of choice would be Campines but they are rare & hard to get here. I'm lucky to have had as many as I have. The large hatcheries have very limited choices & tend to go for high production & breeds I am leery of, like the RIRs. That means if I want chickens I have to choose from what is available~& That means I can't always even get a pair of any breed. I have a frizzled D'Uccle & a porcelain because that's what was available but I got 4 Japs ~ & the Vorwerks, which are a *never again* breed for me. So licorice allsorts for me!

 

[Ribh]

She’s beautiful! Or at least her backside is.

She is a lovely little hen. Very friendly & chatty. I've fallen in love with Japs. They are an outstanding chicken in my book.

 

[MaryJanet]

She is a lovely little hen. Very friendly & chatty. I've fallen in love with Japs. They are an outstanding chicken in my book.

Your enthusiasm for them is contagious... Although they're not at the top of my shortlist just yet.