Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[fluffycrow]

So sorry for your loss @MrsNorthie . Sending many hugs your way

 

[Shadrach]

So does the time of year they are hatched, have an all-around impact on their health and hardiness?

I think for the more feral keeping arrangements it makes a lot of difference.
For a permenantly contained group it should make very little, if any difference.
I found broody season did break out around spring; these were mostly ranging chickens so out of coop nests needed cover and reasonably easy access to food and water, which I provided anyway. Because of the climate the broody season often extended into November.
Fret at the allotments was pushing her luck a bit with such a late sit. However, she struck lucky and only had one cold night and a lot of warm sunny days in which to show the chicks the ropes. By the time winter does arrive Dig and Mow will have had a good start in life, well fed, plenty of excercise, a very patient and persevering mother and housed in a clean and comfortable coop. They've had time to learn a great deal about what is good and what isn't on the allotments.
I think it would have been a lot harder for Fret and the chicks if she hatched at the end of this month and reared them over the winter. A really simple thing like the temperature has a major impact because the chicks get cold more quickly and return under mum to keep warm. Mum is still when the chicks are under her. That means she isn't hunting for food for them and the chicks aren't learning anything where they are. There is less to forage in winter so mum needs to work harder to feed her chicks. I had some mother hens that would not let their chicks eat commercial feed or take anything from my hand. The determination by some mothers to provide for their chicks is impressive.

Brooder reared chicks (?) The poor creatures don't even know if it's night or day let alone what spring looks and feels like.

 

[Shadrach]

Do you think Henry's legs will be smooth when he's finished moulting?

No unfortunately.
Chickens seem to have genetic predisposition to certain health problems. From what I've seen Scaly Leg Mite is one such. I had a couple of roosters that had chronic SLM. The science, or at least some of it tells us SLM is very contagious and will spread throughout the flock and the bird with SLM should be isolated.
Hmmm. how come for years these roosters have been sharing a coop with their tribe with SLM out of a horror film and no one else shows even the remotest sign of having a SLM problem.
Henry picks up SLM like I pick up chicken shit. It's relentless. It's a lot better than it was and hopefully will mprove further. None of the other chickens had it apart from his daughter Matilda. Wait and see if Henry has passed this on.

 

[Shadrach]

Rain in the morning and mostly dryish in the afternoon.
I watched Carbon a lot this afternoon: no sign of balance issues.

Carbon's rear end.

Fret's rear end. I don't remember seeing quite that fluffy before. Not sure how she does it. She is only just getting back to doing some self feeding.

Lots of rear ends.

Henry prefers not to bend over when Carbon is close by because she pulls his quills out and eats them.

Waiting for a shower to pass over.

Shelter spot with the overgrown fruit bush patch on one side and the run fence on the other.

Keeping an eye on the youngsters.

Dig digging.

A quick bit of tree hugging before going to roost.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good evening one and all!

Temperature is in the 60s and cloudy with a light rain.

Have a great day!

 

[MrsNorthie]

I think for the more feral keeping arrangements it makes a lot of difference.
For a permenantly contained group it should make very little, if any difference.
I found broody season did break out around spring; these were mostly ranging chickens so out of coop nests needed cover and reasonably easy access to food and water, which I provided anyway. Because of the climate the broody season often extended into November.
Fret at the allotments was pushing her luck a bit with such a late sit. However, she struck lucky and only had one cold night and a lot of warm sunny days in which to show the chicks the ropes. By the time winter does arrive Dig and Mow will have had a good start in life, well fed, plenty of excercise, a very patient and persevering mother and housed in a clean and comfortable coop. They've had time to learn a great deal about what is good and what isn't on the allotments.
I think it would have been a lot harder for Fret and the chicks if she hatched at the end of this month and reared them over the winter. A really simple thing like the temperature has a major impact because the chicks get cold more quickly and return under mum to keep warm. Mum is still when the chicks are under her. That means she isn't hunting for food for them and the chicks aren't learning anything where they are. There is less to forage in winter so mum needs to work harder to feed her chicks. I had some mother hens that would not let their chicks eat commercial feed or take anything from my hand. The determination by some mothers to provide for their chicks is impressive.

Brooder reared chicks (?) The poor creatures don't even know if it's night or day let alone what spring looks and feels like.

Fret has done an awesome job! (she has had great support from you and Henry) She is a prime example of the power of maternal instinct. The allotment environment offers a great environment for foraging activities. With winter coming and foraging options being severely limited, will you supplement that activity by scattering treats/feed around for them to find? We are going to use poly tunnels to keep the garden going, through the winter and we are looking into raising meal worms and possibly crickets so they can have fresh food to forage (I realize that this is quite a bit easier here, as we will still have mostly sunny days all winter long and rarely drops below freezing.).

I am going to discourage the ladies from sitting until late April. So far their broody spells are short lived, but I imagine the instinct will increase as they approach their 1st birthday. It is normally in the 60's and 70's (15-21) here then and with some smaller coops, for that very purpose, they should be able to keep quite warm at night if the temps drop a little.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

Temperature is in the 60s.

Have a great day!

 

[Leatherworker]

In April 2021 I returned to the UK having spent the last ten years living with and studying various groups of chickens on a small holding In Catalonia Spain.

Some of you may have read some of my posts and seen pictures of what I call The Tribes, in my house and free ranging on the land. I’ve written a number of articles here on BYC based on my observations of these tribes and there is an as yet unpublished book that deals with the lives of these chickens and what I have learned from a decade of observing them and the experience of helping out with the care of free range chickens on my uncles farm in my youth.

I had decided even before leaving Catalonia that should I have to leave the tribes and my home what I would like to do was look after ex battery chickens and rescues given the opportunity. That opportunity arose in September of this year 2021.

A family member, knowing how much I miss the Tribes, mentioned that she though she knew where there were some chickens and one evening when out walking we visited the site. There was a rather old and partially illegible sign on the notice board at the entrance to the site asking for someone who would be prepared to help looking after the chickens. I contacted the person concerned and this thread is in part a record of the subsequent events.

The sign.
View attachment 2906940

Following. Your tribes rooster article meant so much to me, I have to see what other nuggets you will have to share. Your experience is unmatched.

 

[Molpet]

I've got a 3 year old hen looking poorly too. Unless she sees me looking at her. Not laying and I think she just got done molting. I loose birds every spring and fall when the temps go up and down repeatedly.

Well today she was penguin walking and I figured I better try to help her or put her down. I ended up doing both at the same time, unintentionally. She was one of the calmer hens and I though a soaking would help. I carried her like an american football into the house and ran warm water over her bum. I was leaning over the basement sink holding her against me. She quit struggling and I shortly figure out I was holding a dead bird. Pre covid I would have opened her up and seen what all was wrong. She seemed egg bound but her comb wasn't red and no one in that coop had laid in a month due to molt.


And this is why I don't usually try to physically help a bird.

 

[ManueB]

Well today she was penguin walking and I figured I better try to help her or put her down. I ended up doing both at the same time, unintentionally. She was one of the calmer hens and I though a soaking would help. I carried her like an american football into the house and ran warm water over her bum. I was leaning over the basement sink holding her against me. She quit struggling and I shortly figure out I was holding a dead bird. Pre covid I would have opened her up and seen what all was wrong. She seemed egg bound but her comb wasn't red and no one in that coop had laid in a month due to molt.


And this is why I don't usually try to physically help a bird.

Oh no, i’m sorry for your loss. It's a sad experience loosing her when you were trying to help.
And it's certainly something to think about when you read all those posts saying to give a bath for eggbound hens.

Often I chicken out of physically helping skittish chickens, because i’m afraid to cause more harm than good .

I suppose in her case the outcome would have been the same anyway, if she was unwell to the point that just carrying her and running water tipped her to the other side.