Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[L-plate chicken mum]

Bub-bub shed the top of his spur this morning so currently has one short & one long! Apologies for bad photo, not easy to get it in focus under all his butt fluff (bless him he has short legs) when he’s drying his foot feathers, warming his feet & covering me in dander whilst standing on the vantage point of my knee . Think the other won’t be far behind.

Spur tip with 1 pence coin for scale

I wouldn’t have found the shed spur tip if he hadn’t started picking it up & dropping it & I wouldn’t have been unworried by how long they were getting if not for this thread as before I had no idea they did this

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

It's also a great source of cover for the chickens, as showcased by Kolovos and his girls in this photoView attachment 3974026

That’s a mighty fine comb!

 

[fuzzi]

I was up all night (shingles) Finally felt like sleeping at 6.30am and slept through, on and off until 2pm which of course made me late getting to the field. We got an hour out.
View attachment 3973835View attachment 3973836

The accusatory stares..."Where have you been all day?"

Hope you feel better soon.

 

[SimpleJenn]

My little Biscuit bird (named by my toddler) has a very odd face. She's always had these reverse eyebrows since she hatched, anyone know anything about it?

 

[Shadrach]

The accusatory stares..."Where have you been all day?"

Hope you feel better soon.

Oh they know; when I'm late, when I'm stressed, who I like on the field and who I don't.

 

[fluffycrow]

That’s a mighty fine comb!

Thanks! He seems to pass it on to most of his children

. You might remember this problematic cockerel from earlier in the year.

It's a trait I really like about him. I've argued with a few people on whether or not the surface area of the comb plays a role in keeping them cool in the summer heat. I will only say that in the almost four years I've had him, I've seen him pant once, when it was over 42°C. My pea combed birds on the other hand pant as soon as we get into the high 20's to low 30's

 

[notabitail]

Today Empress Josephine displayed another sign of being intelligent. Usually, when I let those things out of their coop, I grab her and stick her on the scale. She was overweight for a while. Well, with this molt she has lost a good amount of that fat.

Today she did not want to be weighed.

I bent down to pick that thing up.

I see wings go over me.

I feel feet on my back for a second.

I feel them leave, and I hear that bird land.

I could hear the silent snark coming from her.

I got played by a chicken.

But that's not all. When I was putting them away, I managed to catch her. She was mad. She stared me in the eye. I managed to weigh her. Four pounds. Much better. If only I had a pound for every time I weighed her.

Empress Josephine went into the coop, and promised she'd outsmart me yet again.

 

[Shadrach]

We managed a couple of hours today. Dry and chilly at 9C.
My apprentice starts tomorrow. We will have a practice run tomorrow and on Tuesday I'm having a day off; the first apart from sick days for about six months.
I've got everything crossed hoping they will like the chickens and not get many problems. They are the only person so far that has shown they want to do the job, rather than, I suppose I should help out kind of attitude. They are easy walking distance local and work from home so getting to the field and back shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Shadrach]

On the feed topic...

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26566879_Food_and_Feeding_Habits_of_Red_Junglefowl

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I'm so sorry;

If it's any consolation, the rest will have learned from it to temper curiosity with more caution.

It is consolation, and it's true. Not only did Peck stop flying over the fence a few days after Starla's disappearance; all the chickens have been quicker to find cover lately.

DH always said Peck and Starla would be eaten if I didn't clip their wings. I made a conscious decision to let them have the joy, agency, and predator defense of flight. I don't think that was wrong. Just wish I'd been more diligent in making sure their joy didn't lead to so much sorrow.