Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[BDutch]

As Shadrach said, in nature the young are driven off. Older or ill birds often die from this too. Because of the unnatural setting we place our charges in, we need to take on the role of nature itself.

You’ll forget the chicks that get killed in natural circumstances. I had more chick /juvenile losses by (suspect) predators than older chickens. Maybe this is a coincidence. But I seriously doubt the claim that older birds die from predation.

My losses by predators and disappearance of healthy chickens over the years:
3 chicks
2 juveniles
1 young hen (< 3)
2 older hens (3 - 6)
0 old hens (> 7)
Never had a visible sick chicken taken by a predator or lost in space.

Edit, looked up the age of the 2 older hens. They both became 6 yo.

 

[SimpleJenn]

Had to euthanize a sickly cockerel today, he had given up fighting so it was the only option left. When they are being killed for meat it doesn't hurt as much to do. Just an observation. If he had pulled through and made it to December he still would have been killed for his meat. On the other side, more space and resources for the remaining birds.
I think if I do meatbirds again next year I will invest in seperated housing.

 

[notabitail]

Had to euthanize a sickly cockerel today, he had given up fighting so it was the only option left. When they are being killed for meat it doesn't hurt as much to do. Just an observation. If he had pulled through and made it to December he still would have been killed for his meat. On the other side, more space and resources for the remaining birds.
I think if I do meatbirds again next year I will invest in seperated housing.

 

[fuzzi]

We, chicken keepers and I think people in general, have lost touch with the purpose of death through predation and maybe death in general. It's all fallen out of balance.
In our attempts to make life safe for the creatures we keep we often not only make matters worse but upset what should be a natural balance.
It's a complicated topic on which people, depending on their culture and their own sensibilities, often with no logic or rationality, have vastly different views.
As an example, I could not have managed attempting to keep free range chickens in Catalonia, with all my views of freedom to reproduce and freedom of movement without the aid of predators. It wouldn't have taken many hatchings before the population became completely unmanageable.
A further problem is the view that we own the lives of the creatures we keep and a threat to those lives, or the taking of those lives by others becomes a personal affront. There is nothing personal in natural predation. It's just other creatures trying to eat and survive much as we do.
Sometimes it's the view that we own lives and are responsible for them that compounds the problem. Lock creatures up in a prison for their own safety and our own peace of mind and have a predator break into that prison is often more devastating than having a predator pick off one or two free rangers.
It is a complicated topic which I try not to over simplify but predation is necessary if any sort of natural balance is to be maintained.
The above is part of the reason I don't do the sorry for your loss type posts.
The poster may in a few cases have lost a friend but mostly they've lost a possession. It's the dead creature that's lost something, their life and my empathy goes to their relatives.
Not very well expressed I'm sorry to write and not a view shared by most here.

I see it this way: I need to be a good steward for the domesticated animals for which I have responsibility. Their care and comfort is now my obligation, and their safety, too. And that's not just for my chickens. I don't allow my dog to run loose, either, for her safety and health.

 

[Shadrach]

Did they see you as a hippie, letting chickens roost in trees and lay eggs in your living room?

I have yet to meet anyone who sees me as a hippy.
Lots of the farms had chickens in the house. The ground floorof many of the old farmhouses was for the farm animals and the kitchen. Sleeping and living was done on the second floor.
Quite a few of the smallholdings had chickens living in the trees so my "expensive" coop building was seen as excentric and a waste of money by some.
Most considered me mad for taking a chicken to a vet, including the vet until she got to know me.

 

[Shadrach]

true, but (they live much more naturally than most other backyard chickens on BYC, and) they can be driven off, so the fact that the young aren't is significant. There are no fences here. Nothing keeps the birds in or out except their own volition.

Shad's 'tribes' were steered into smaller groups by his positioning apart of the coops and thus the creation of different tribal territories. RJF flocks apparently get to about 30 before they hive off.

For the sake of accuracy the first tribe split was unintentional. When I let the four bantams that had been permentaly cooped out to free range (there were two groups, Marans and bantams mixed and fully confined bantams) the free ranging bantams upped sticks and moved in with the previously fully contained bantams on their first day of freedom. After this I just built more coops and the rest including the cross breeds moved in of their own volition. According to some others bantam and full size is an easy split. I did do some territory manipulation by spacing the subsequent coops but I never coerced any chicken to live in any particular coop or with any particular breed. They sorted this out on their own.

From what I've read JF live in small groups, usually related. I would be interested in reading the study that states they split at 30 plus birds. Looking at my friends Fayoumi population it would be easy to assume that they were one large group; I even commented on this to my friend. He told me one needs to see their sleeping arrangements and mating partners to see the family structure. Much like the chickens I cared for in Catalonia, a casual observation during daylight hours might lead on to believe they were a single group, particulalry with the cross breeds.

 

[Shadrach]

To illustrate the young staying, I was reminded of and posted this this morning on another thread. It was taken in May. The dom is in the right middle and his younger lieutenants are at the sides.
View attachment 3974950
It's poor quality because it was a misty day and it was taken through a window. I didn't see the threat but assume a fox.

The bantam tribe in Catalonia often had two or three males in the tribe and they got along without major issues. The original Marans were interesting because at one point there were four males living together but only one of the males was full time escort for the hens. Major who had lost his favourite hen abdicated hen responsibility and became a wandering solo male. Oswald took over the hen duties. One of the other males got eaten because he would constantly challenge Major despite losing every fight. The other, George wandered off one day and was never seen again. Apparently he moved to a neighbouring farm, although I didn't get to find this out for some months.

 

[fuzzi]

One of the benefits I have received from having my flock is getting to know them as individuals. For me the best time to see it is when they roost.

My bantams are housed in a hoop coop, open to the air all around but covered in the back so they can roost in a dry location. Once they are past the vulnerable chick stage I mostly leave them to sort out the roosting arrangements. Didn't happen this evening.

My dh walked the dog, and reported a lot of noise coming from the coop. It's after dark, so I investigated. Martha had about 3' of roost to herself, wouldn't allow the pullets or Dominiques to come near. Hannah was on the ground, trying to get up on the roost after dark. Zacchaeus was making a lot of noise, upset. I inserted myself into the situation.

I moved Martha all the way to the left, then put Silas the 5 month old cockerel next to her, she wouldn't peck him, he's too big. Then I placed the Dominiques in the middle as buffers, pullets to either side. I picked up Hannah from the ground, put her next to head hen Rahab on the right. Hannah moved to the left and started pecking one of the pullets, who burrowed under a Dominique to escape. But I fixed Hannah. I spoke quietly to Zack, and placed him between Hannah and the pullets. You see, Hannah is the groupie, happiest snuggled next to a rooster. Hannah won't peck Rahab, either, so she's contained.

I'll be glad when the hens finish molting, and the pullets start laying, hopefully there will be less drama!

 

[no fly zone]

 

[Shadrach]

Two hours today in a persistant drizzle with the new volunteer. I didn't get around to taking any pictures. I think this is going to work out. The volunteer arrived and we went through a lot more stuff about chickens than was strictly necessary. They would like to keep their own chickens apparently.

I can't explain what a relief having someone stable and sensible with an interest in the birds is. I've stumbled to the field in healh conditions that make my actions plain stupid because I felt a) responsible and b) had absolutely no faith in C carrying out the most basic care and being lied to about what they had done.
I've got a day off tomorrow. The first proper day off since Fret went broody with Mow and Dig.