Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

That's very educational for me as egg binding is one of my fears. Well done Shad. That's a very dry looking egg. Ouch! Did the second egg come out shelless or did it break?
Hopefully you have set her going in the right direction. I hope everything starts running smoothly now.

I'm looking forward to more poop photos.

It came out shell less. They often do because the first egg is blocking up the shelling department.

 

[Shadrach]

Matilda seems none the worse for yesterdays experiences.

 

[Shadrach]

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Great to hear about Matilda. I was admittedly a little nervous

 

[Solanacae]

So muddy here today. It’s warm enough that the snow is melting a bit, but also it keeps on slushing (rain/snow mixture) so it’s even more wet. My Sultans with their extra feathers everywhere are especially muddy. They’re happy because it’s a little warmer than the 0 degree Fahrenheit nights we had in between this storm system and the last one.

Cannonball is back to laying again. She was the first of my pullets to lay last year and had a long, hard molt. Her first egg was a couple days ago and was in the nest box like one would expect. Today, either she didn’t want to leave the sheltered area of the run to head over to the coop or wasn’t paying attention to her body because I found a muddy egg just outside the covered area getting rained on.

The juveniles are getting big enough that they can’t snuggle under Caramel, and I don’t think she lets them under her wing anymore. The past couple nights I noticed that they were by her side on the coop floor instead of under her.

1. Last spring’s pullets going for the scratch I tossed out. I didn’t get a good picture of the muddy culture hocks on the Sultans, unfortunately, but you can see muddy feet.

2. Four eggs on the day Cannonball started laying - you can see a more normally colored egg from Fuzzy too. Solid, and a pretty dark brown. Cannonball’s is the darker green one.

3. Cannonball walking through the snow to get to where I had tossed a little scratch. The juveniles are with mama Caramel under the tarp along with Saoirse. Desdemona is on the right.

 

[micstrachan]

Here's one little guy ready to see his girlfriend

So precious!!!

 

[micstrachan]

Henry checking the Sick Note team.
View attachment 2949068
Of course where Henry goes some of the others follow. The Ex Battery hens have got the idea now that Henry may have found something worth eating.
View attachment 2949069

Well done, Henry! Wow, Shad, his rooster skills seem to be improving!

 

[Perris]

this looks interesting: https://tamariskfarm.co.uk/wp/pastured-eggs/
Beyond the sales pitch, and assuming compliance with trading and advertizing standards, it demonstrates small scale sustainable production without any inputs from off farm. And they ferment their home grown cereal and seed feed.

 

[Perris]

And some tax for the last: family bath time (though the chick's not in yet)

 

[Shadrach]

Great to hear about Matilda. I was admittedly a little nervous

Nervous?! I've got a touch like a midwife.
The time to worry is if the egg breaks. While it's not the end of the world it does complicate things somewhat.