Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

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.
View attachment 3666728 View attachment 3666729

Love it and seen many similar events. Most hens that didn't fancy their chances in a straight up scrap, ran. The more experienced went straight up the nearest tree. Not even the dumbest cockerel is going to try to mate a hen up a tree.

 

[fuzzi]

Rahab was not impressed with Samuel's early attempts to crow

(they were about 14 weeks old)

 

[Shadrach]

Four hours today. It stayed dry but was quite windy for much of the morning.
Henry has started to take a more active role in the chicks education: don't try to eat before me and move out of my space are the current lessons. Fret is still mothering the juveniles. They are hardly chicks now. Until today the male juvenile has on occasions tried to boss his sister about. She reared up on him today and boy did he look shocked. They're fine but it was funny to watch. He went off and sulked with mum for a while and the female went and sat beside Henry.

One nd a bit taill feathers left. Carbon is not a happy hen. She's producing very runny poop currently. I think I'll worm her.

Despite eating very little of the commercial feed she's had a bulging crop when I've checked her over the past week. I know where sho got the stuff to fill it today. I weeded and dug a bit of my new shared plot and every fork turn Carbon was in there grabbing something. It got to the point where she was standing on the fork as I lifted the clods of earth out. Not helpfull really.

The sweary boys.

Carbon and pullet starting to get on better. Carbon lunges at the cockerel from time to time and he runs.

Brother and sister roost side by side most nights now.

 

[BDutch]

It's great you have some confidence in your goverment. I can't write I have any confidence in mine.

In our gov. a little at the most. Did many things right and more things wrong. They messed up a lot of good social services for the last two decades. Forgot that the environment needs protection. They have been governing our country as if if was a factory that needs to make a profit. The large companies have too many ‘friendly’ connections with ministers. And it seems that keeping friends in the top of banking and industry is most important of all.

Back to chickens/animal welfare. Our country has a strong lobby for farmers too on one side, but another one on animal welfare on the other side of the spectrum. We even have a political party for animal protection.

½ tax; Black moulting. Shes the worst of all hens now.

 

[TropicalChickies]

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.

SHRA

This was my further response to BDutch, after reflecting on the distinction between cockerel and rooster

"Well, I should have specified "cockerels and young roosters are like cavemen" -- and by "that's fine" I should have said "that's fine because it will probably change as they get older." I believe rooster mating gets more civilized and consent-based as they mature. I don't think it's possible to predict how an adult rooster will "turn out" based on his raging hormonal teen years. The prevailing discussion on roosters on BYC seem to conclude that an unruly cockerel is a "bad seed" who will surely grow into an even worse rooster. But again, based on limited experience, this has not been the case here. Nor do I think their behavior is genetically determined, at least not entirely. I'll go against the grain and venture that circumstances are more important.

For example, Lucio, my senior male (now 11 mos old), was a very quiet, non-aggressive, even subservient cockerel until he got to be about 8 months old. The senior hens, especially boss lady Cleo, kept him in check. Then Cleo died and and the other two senior hens, Tina and Patucha, went broody and hatched chicks. Maybe age and hormones were also factors, but I think the absence of matriarchal authority contributed to the more cocky and domineering attitude he developed at 8 months. To my point, now that senior hen Tina has weaned her second brood and is back to being with the flock, Lucio is more humble and so busy attending to her needs, the Food Lady can go about her business without him chasing me or acting ridiculously if I so much get within twenty feet of "his" space.

Numbers also play a role in creating a gang mentality, I believe. The three young cockerels emboldened each other. And they were in competition for only a half dozen hens who were all spoken for. The two I rehomed, Segundo and Solo, both calmed down considerably when they we split up and moved to new places where they got their own hens. Tobias, the cockerel I kept who was the most tranquil of the trio, will chase a hen occasionally, but more often tries to use treats to score a crouch.

I just don't think the way cockerel behaves at 5 months is a true indicator of how he will behave at 5 years. Or even 2 years."

 

[Perris]

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.

by coincidence, this appeared in the news this morning
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...ged-hens-imported-to-uk-in-staggering-numbers
the key country being Poland, which is in the EU. Clearly the legislation on this varies a lot by country across the EU.

 

[Perris]

and seen those less prone to violence manage to avoid male advances

Quenell's one of those. She neatly sidesteps them without getting into a fluster, or even breaking into a run. She would make a very good rugby player.

And she's the one with the biggest, puffiest crest, so you'd (I'm looking at you, Shad ) assume she was at a disadvantage, both from the vision and the grab perspectives. But no. She just skips aside and trots on her merry way.

 

[BDutch]

Clearly the legislation on this varies a lot by country across the EU.

The legislations can differ a little but every country has to apply the EU-rules.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/uk/legal-content/summary/protection-of-laying-hens.html

What is happening a lot, is that imported food from ‘who knows where’ is packed and relabelled in an EU country.
Example : concentrated tomato paste in cans. The tin says it comes from Italy. But most tomato paste comes from China. Until a year ago most tomatoes came from the province where Uighur’s are forced to labour. But recently new laws in the US and EU makes this more difficult to import from Xingjian today. The traders probably have found new ways by now to buy cheap products made with modern slaves from elsewhere. .

Spoiler

Source: NRC under a paywall, but these kind of info is everywhere on the internet if you do a search.
Canning Chinese puree in Italy, displaying a red-white-green flag and then selling it in Europe: that is allowed. Only for the domestic Italian market must the origin of the ingredients be stated on a can of tomatoes - Italy laid this down by law in 2017. But the EU only requires the address of a 'responsible person' to be stated on the label - often the importer. The fact that tomato paste is “produced in Italy” means nothing other than that the stuff was canned there.

Source used by the Volkskrant media to write an article:
https://jamestown.org/program/unemp...n-xinjiangs-coercive-labor-placement-systems/

Off-chickens tax:

 

[Perris]

The legislations can differ a little but every country has to apply the EU-rules.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/uk/legal-content/summary/protection-of-laying-hens.html

What is happening a lot, is that imported food from ‘who knows where’ is packed and relabelled in an EU country.
Example : concentrated tomato paste in cans. The tin says it comes from Italy. But most tomato paste comes from China. Until a year ago most tomatoes came from the province where Uighur’s are forced to labour. But recently new laws in the US and EU makes this more difficult to import from Xingjian today. The traders probably have found new ways by now to buy cheap products made with modern slaves from elsewhere. .

Spoiler

Source: NRC under a paywall, but these kind of info is everywhere on the internet if you do a search.
Canning Chinese puree in Italy, displaying a red-white-green flag and then selling it in Europe: that is allowed. Only for the domestic Italian market must the origin of the ingredients be stated on a can of tomatoes - Italy laid this down by law in 2017. But the EU only requires the address of a 'responsible person' to be stated on the label - often the importer. The fact that tomato paste is “produced in Italy” means nothing other than that the stuff was canned there.

Source used by the Volkskrant media to write an article:
https://jamestown.org/program/unemp...n-xinjiangs-coercive-labor-placement-systems/

Off-chickens tax: View attachment 3666919

ah yes; 2 familiar problems there:
1. who, if anyone, enforces the laws, (often no-one; the EUs' tussles with Poland and Hungary, for example, are well known) and
2. labelling rules have more holes than substance, and the more complex they are, the more space they create for interpretation and avoidance (like tax laws). I learned years ago that for a balsamic vinegar to be labelled 'of' or 'from' Modena, it only needed to be bottled there, and that the real stuff is completely priced out of the market in most places by cheaper fakes because people think they're buying the real thing when they're not.

 

[Perris]

Despite eating very little of the commercial feed she's had a bulging crop when I've checked her over the past week. I know where sho got the stuff to fill it today. I weeded and dug a bit of my new shared plot and every fork turn Carbon was in there grabbing something.

she needs more protein to replace those shed feathers and she knows where to find it!

It got to the point where she was standing on the fork as I lifted the clods of earth out. Not helpfull really.

but you're being very helpful to her

They are hardly chicks now.

do you think the male will grow to Henry's size? They both look like they'll grow bigger than Fret.

Brother and sister roost side by side most nights now.

Do you think it is coincidence that the females are facing the walls while the males are facing each other?