Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

I don't know, really. I’m not sure there wouldn't be some forms of controls so as not to feed hens that don't lay, or lay unsellable eggs. But anyway I think most would not survive being egg bound or having trouble laying in such conditions.

I don't agree with saying that cages are banned because an enriched cage is a cage with 750 cm2 (0.8 sq ft) per hen (600 on the floor) instead of 550 (0.6 sq ft), with a nest, and a dustbath and a possibility to roost. I still call that a cage. As animal rights association point out an A4 sheet is 600 cm2.

French egg industry says in 2023 this is the case for 23% of layers, so that is almost 1 out of 4 ; they are refusing european sanitary advice to put an end to it.

A news item here today suggests the situation is not confined to France
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...nd-dirty-against-eu-ban-on-caged-farm-animals

Perhaps it's worse in the Netherlands BDutch, because you have a very assertive industrial farming sector there?

 

[Shadrach]

Just a chore till Christmas then?

No, not a chore really. Most days I don't mind doing it. That doesn't mean I like them, nor they me. I haven't liked quite a few of the creatures I've cared for over the years but I'll defend their right to proper care and if necessary put in the work and money to ensure they get it.
I detested the donkeys and sheep in Catalonia for eaxmples but I still cared for them. I haven't liked quite a few chickens I've cared for.

 

[Shadrach]

Roosters are like cavemen, in my experience, seriously. They might be gallant and brave when it comes to offering treats and protecting from predators, but when it comes to mating and showing "these women are MINE" they are quite uncivilized. Which is fine. They are what they are. But be prepared.

I'll tell you what. You get a time machine sorted out and I would take you places which would make you change your mind on every part of the above except, "in my experience."

Should you be able to manage a few days in the UK I could show you one rooster now who is nothing like you describe.

Cockerels, particularly a gang of them are a different story.

 

[BDutch]

A news item here today suggests the situation is not confined to France
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...nd-dirty-against-eu-ban-on-caged-farm-animals

Perhaps it's worse in the Netherlands BDutch, because you have a very assertive industrial farming sector there?

In the Netherlands there are just a few large chicken farms that have enriched caged hens. Here the gov. writes they are no longer allowed in 2025.

The eggs in the supermarket (not processed) are all from chickens that can walk around freely. Eggs from caged chickens are banned a long time ago after actions for animal welfare.

But in processed food (sauses, biscuits etc. ) the industry uses a lot of eggs from Ukraine and other countries were poorly caged chickens are still allowed. Another reason not to eat processed food.

 

[Shadrach]

I see. So the problem comes in when the cockerel(s) want to claim the hens as theirs. Would you think it'd be different if the cockerel has already claimed the hens?

A lot depends on the keeping circumstances and how everybody arrived and who was there when they arrived and how you manage the group.
For all but the most experienced keepers my advice if they keep their chickens contained is only keep one male and close the group. If a hen is allowed to sit and hatch and hatches more than one male then be prepared to eat or rehome the male hatchings.
I have had tribes work with three males and only four females at one point.
On the other hand I've had tribes where the senior rooster and the junior rooster just didn't get on.
I've had tribes where three roosters and two hens managed to live together.
If the keeper has a decent level of experience and understands tribe dynamics and rooster behaviour then many of the problems can be avoided. If on the other hand the keeper has lashed together picked their chickens like a kid in a sweet shop then problems are almost inevitable.
Good hens are quite capable of sorting a cockerel and a rooster out if the have the space and are of the same breed and/or of similar size. The idea that hens are poor defensless creatures at the mercy of a males rampaging sexual drive is complete and utter nonsense in my experience. I've seen hens batter the crap out of a cockerel and seen those less prone to violence manage to avoid male advances.
Do not get led astray by the whole dominance thing; it's absolute nonsense.

 

[fluffycrow]

A lot depends on the keeping circumstances and how everybody arrived and who was there when they arrived and how you manage the group.
For all but the most experienced keepers my advice if they keep their chickens contained is only keep one male and close the group. If a hen is allowed to sit and hatch and hatches more than one male then be prepared to eat or rehome the male hatchings.
I have had tribes work with three males and only four females at one point.
On the other hand I've had tribes where the senior rooster and the junior rooster just didn't get on.
I've had tribes where three roosters and two hens managed to live together.
If the keeper has a decent level of experience and understands tribe dynamics and rooster behaviour then many of the problems can be avoided. If on the other hand the keeper has lashed together picked their chickens like a kid in a sweet shop then problems are almost inevitable.
Good hens are quite capable of sorting a cockerel and a rooster out if the have the space and are of the same breed and/or of similar size. The idea that hens are poor defensless creatures at the mercy of a males rampaging sexual drive is complete and utter nonsense in my experience. I've seen hens batter the crap out of a cockerel and seen those less prone to violence manage to avoid male advances.
Do not get led astray by the whole dominance thing; it's absolute nonsense.

Don't worry, I will not be keeping any other male in there. I don't think I'd be too bad with keeping multiples (maybe I'm way more confident than I should be), I just don't like, or want to. I am well aware of the myth that hens are defenseless against males. I am convinced that the people who are spreading this myth have not witnessed a serious hen fight . Let's also not forget that Lady Gaga is smaller, and much less experienced than Cruella. If she wanted to, she could easily beat the crap out of him. But she likes him. She follows him, he follows her. Something that she didn't do as much with her previous male. Probably because he looks a lot more like her

 

[Shadrach]

At the risk of howls of protest...
There is a reason that male chickens tend to be, how can I put this, more magnifcent than their female counterparts; they have to attract the hens and that suggests at least an element of choice by the hens. Hens choose their males in more natural settings. A rooster needs hens that will follow him and let him mate with them on a regular basis if he is going to be successful in furthering his genes. Ambushing a hen and mating with her once, especially if she isn't prepared to partner with the rooster isn't likely to further his genes and even more importantly, the hen will try and avoid that male from then on.
Consent (however arrived at) is vital if the group is going to thrive.

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

This conversation reminded me of a picture I took awhile ago.
One of my pullets telling off one cockerel while the other cockerel just watches.

 

[fluffycrow]

At the risk of howls of protest...
There is a reason that male chickens tend to be, how can I put this, more magnifcent than their female counterparts; they have to attract the hens and that suggests at least an element of choice by the hens. Hens choose their males in more natural settings. A rooster needs hens that will follow him and let him mate with them on a regular basis if he is going to be successful in furthering his genes. Ambushing a hen and mating with her once, especially if she isn't prepared to partner with the rooster isn't likely to further his genes and even more importantly, the hen will try and avoid that male from then on.
Consent (however arrived at) is vital if the group is going to thrive.

I agree with this completely. One June morning while the Tsouloufati flock was free ranging near Big Red, be pushed so hard on his door he got out. A fight ensued, in which Big Red was most likely victorious. He proceeded to chase the hen closest to him and mate with her. If hens were only looking for the strongest male, logic says that at least one or two of Kolovos's hens should have joined Big Red. Well, none did and ever since that day no Tsouloufati hen goes near Big Red's pen. Males have to be doing a lot of this right in order to be considered good mating partners. Hens are not dumb, defenseless creatures. They are strong (and strong-willed) smart animals that are careful in their decision of male. After all, they want what's best for them and their offspring

 

[Shadrach]

In the Netherlands there are just a few large chicken farms that have enriched caged hens. Here the gov. writes they are no longer allowed in 2025.

The eggs in the supermarket (not processed) are all from chickens that can walk around freely. Eggs from caged chickens are banned a long time ago after actions for animal welfare.

But in processed food (sauses, biscuits etc. ) the industry uses a lot of eggs from Ukraine and other countries were poorly caged chickens are still allowed. Another reason not to eat processed food.

We have similar laws either enacted or waiting to reach statute here in the UK but over and over again some investigating reporter gets into one of these places and shows the reality. Just because the government and the commercial propoganda say such and such is so doesn't mean that is what iis going on in the real world. It's great you have some confidence in your goverment. I can't write I have any confidence in mine.