Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Molpet]

fish trimmings

were you thinking of fermenting the fish? the commercial turkey feed that has fish, smells bad when fermented ... don't ask how I know.

 

[MrsNorthie]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

The hurricane at a cat 4 is about to make land fall around Cedar Key on the Gulf.

Temperature is in the 70s.

Have a great day!

Hunker down and stay safe! Where we are (Upstate SC) we are just getting some much needed rain and cooler temps. So far, we are not even in the tornado-watch zone.

 

[TropicalChickies]

I followed Perris's thread on the shortfalls of commercial feed with interest. I have always fed some commercial feed, but also haven't worried about what percentages of what the chickens have eaten. I had some reservations about my ability to provide sufficient quantities of the necessary nutrients for the Ex Battery hens at the allotments. With so many hens at one point it was difficult to monitor any health effects of their diet, or even the basics like egg shell strength given the eggs looked very similar. Since the death of Lima I have fed less and less commercial feed and a much wider variety of seeds, nuts and whole grains. The chickens preference for the alternative foodstuffs is obvious. I intend to move on to a fermented mash similar to Perris's but containing more methionine provided by walnuts and a higher protein nut than the usual peanut butter adding almonds instead. I have given up trying to find a suitable dried fish meal but I may do as someone I know does and that is to get a local fishmonger to save fish trimmings for me.

Almonds and walnuts are insanely expensive here and there's no way I could afford to include them as a regular foodstuff. Flaxseed , on the other hand is locally produced and inexpensive and is very good for chickens in moderation, especially for yolk quality in layers, as it it is an excellent sources of Omega 3s. Peanuts are also locally produced and I add freshly ground peanuts to the adult mash in small quantities as peanuts have high amounts of lysine and I don't want to out-balance the methionine in the wheat and barley.
However, one thing I'm really looking forward to is we have breadnut and cempedek trees coming into production. They produce very large fruits (similar to jackfruit) with edible seeds that when boiled, taste like chestnuts and have a complete amino acid profile with 30% protein. I have an agroforestry colleague in Belize with a thriving flock -- he's been feeling them boiled breadnut seeds for over ten years, mixed with corn and plantain.

Since the chickens free range here (in the most accurate sense), and there's such a huge quantity and selection of insects, I'm not worried about their protein needs, though I do supply boiled peas or split pea meal in every meal, and scrambled eggs, sardines or beef tidbits once a week.

Dried eggshells and lime chips are out for the hens, free choice, and I do see them eating it.

Other than all of that I can and will provide as it becomes available, I leave it up to them.

My aim is give them the best diet possible without resorting to imported goods or foods that have to travel long distances. Budget is also crucial with more chickens, of course, unless one has unlimited resources, which I doubt anyone on this thread does! The more I can give them from the farm without compromising nutritional balance, the better.

 

[Perris]

I'm sure some form stronger bonds than others, much like people. I was glad in a way when Harold dropped dead before Bluespot who while a lovely hen was as hard as nails. Harold would have been inconsolable if Bluespot had died before him.
When Major's favourite hen died (just before I got to Catalonia) he gave up on forming any noticable bond with any hen and wandered from place to place while his junior, Oswald took over the hen care. It took some months before he formed a loose bond with Fat Bird, but generally he became a loner.

so would you disagree with Nicol here: "Adult birds (with the possible exception of broody hens) do not appear to form social bonds and therefore show no panic on separation from any particular individual" (p.72 Behavioural biology)? She does add that this is a very new area of research, so there's probably a great need for some empirical evidence from observant keepers.

 

[Molpet]

so would you disagree with Nicol here: "Adult birds (with the possible exception of broody hens) do not appear to form social bonds and therefore show no panic on separation from any particular individual" (p.72 Behavioural biology)? She does add that this is a very new area of research, so there's probably a great need for some empirical evidence from observant keepers.

I used to have breeding groups in the spring and move hens. Some would run up and down the fence together until I moved one in with the other or at the end of my hatching season. I would open up the divider fences they would go back to where they came from... sometimes a new friend would go with.

 

[Shadrach]

were you thinking of fermenting the fish? the commercial turkey feed that has fish, smells bad when fermented ... don't ask how I know.

No, I intended to add the fish after. I know what fermenting fish smells like from the Mink feed at my Uncles farm.

 

[fluffycrow]

I used to have breeding groups in the spring and move hens. Some would run up and down the fence together until I moved one in with the other or at the end of my hatching season. I would open up the divider fences they would go back to where they came from... sometimes a new friend would go with.

I've never really had hens feel sad that they're separated from their friends. They were mostly sad due to the loss of their male. Going up and down their pens, not eating much or taking care of themselves for some time. The first time I had a hen feel sad for another hen was with Koutsi, when she had to be separated from her friend. She would call to her for hours, but eventually they drifted apart

 

[Shadrach]

so would you disagree with Nicol here: "Adult birds (with the possible exception of broody hens) do not appear to form social bonds and therefore show no panic on separation from any particular individual" (p.72 Behavioural biology)? She does add that this is a very new area of research, so there's probably a great need for some empirical evidence from observant keepers.

I would disagree. I disagree with a lot of what she writes. Some of it is just plain wrong and provably so. What I like is she's trying and studying. I know chicken keepers who are streets ahead of Nicol in chicken behaviour knowledge. They just don't happen to be academics with research students and a university department.

Most academics particularly those who study other species behaviour may spend a few weeks in the field and not much longer in the labs on a particular field of study. Academics don't have any special insight on behaviour and a layperson often spends far more time on the subject and with the species in question.

 

[Shadrach]

so would you disagree with Nicol here: "Adult birds (with the possible exception of broody hens) do not appear to form social bonds and therefore show no panic on separation from any particular individual" (p.72 Behavioural biology)? She does add that this is a very new area of research, so there's probably a great need for some empirical evidence from observant keepers.

People reading and not understanding the limits to studies is an ongoing problem, even with well educated people.
Lab studies in particular have a set of very strict conditions. Many people don't bother reading the conditions or methodology. All studies should have in big bold lettering at the top, this is what we found under the conditions of the study and here are those conditions. The study is only relevant to exactly these conditions and any changes in the stated conditions are likely to yield a different result.

 

[Perris]

too right.