Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

Blue and Pip had to be culled. Blue tore up the egg thief's leg pretty good and he and PIP were fighting everyone and bullying Squeak, making him very nervous, not letting him eat.

Squeak is a super sweet and attentive rooster, every treat you give him is immediately offered to the girls, he is not aggressive in his attempts to mate, so we made the decision to isolate Blue and Pip to see how the dynamic worked, and everything really chilled and is just peaceful.

I agonized over this for weeks and spent hours observing, but I know that we came to the right decision, the girls are far more relaxed, the boys are all getting along*. Squeaky has become Spuds number 2.

*Goldie and Spud still hate each other, but Goldie is a great rooster too, so he is getting his own coop and girls and maybe one of the spare cockerels, his son.

We are keeping 2 of the boys that hatched this year. I am pretty sure that this little cockerel is Spuds Son, and he has his awesome disposition:

View attachment 4020893
Spud Tater
View attachment 4020894

The pullets that we hatched this year are properly sassy, they bully roosters. LOL They get along really well, but they don't take any grabbing. Spud is proving to be a better dominant, than Blue and they are splitting off during the day each with their own little group of girls, but the girls all rotate.

The turkeys are growing. I actually have a lot of fun playing follow the leader with them, I take off running flapping my arms and making turkey sounds, they mimic, and follow, around the giant pampas, around the coop then around the jungle gym. I still do not handle them except to clip their flight feathers, on one wing and general health check, but they are super social, and curious.
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The chickens and turkeys lay on either side of the fence and socialize with each other.
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It would be nice if, when we finish fencing off the property, they could all just roam freely, but after seeing 5 of the toms, decide they wanted to gang up on the 6th, it would not be good. They are bloody minded, I put the bullied lad in the coop for a few hours to separate him, hoping they would forget, but nope.

So between all of bird activity, hurricane cleanup, and my dad, it has been a bit nuts.

I think it's very difficult to keep multiple males in even partial confinement. Dawn till dusk ranging on a large enough property can work and so can full free ranging. I read quite a few posts where they've said they haven't had any problems keeping multiple rooster and then you find out the age of the roosters.
The roughly six month stage when they work out they're going to be roosters is often enough for many people. One may get a few months of peace if they get past the above stage and a senior is established. The next stage is the stage I've found most difficult to deal with and that seems to happen around eighteen monthhs to two years old, when they start to seriously challenge the senior rooster. There are some very hard choices to made here. You've watched the male grow up and he's survived. The hens quite like him but the senior rooster won't share and the fights start.
When there have been more than one junior rooster I've had them gang up on the senior, one rooster called Major fought three fully grown roosters in a single fight to keep his place. One rooster, despite being beaten by Major wouldn't let the matter go. He got eaten. Sad, because he wasn't a bad rooster. What do you do.

 

[Shadrach]

Bub-bub shed 1/2 of both spurs this year at the end of October about 3 weeks apart
View attachment 4021067

Both had the narrowing / bulge halfway along before he shed them. The remaining part of the spur was a little jagged so he had a pedicure to smooth the ends!
View attachment 4021071

They weren’t hollow, more like the ends just fell off having sort of separated them from the nearer half somehow…

I think you may be right about the ring mark being a sign that the spur is about to shed its casing.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I hope that you are feeling better soon. I read that making a tea out of ginger and lemon can help boost the immune system, I don't know how true it is, but it doesn't hurt. I also think ginger is beneficial for settling a dodgy stomach.

I started having some a couple of times a week. I boil it for 15 minutes then let it soak/steep for an hour. You can mix it with something else for taste, I have added it to hot tea, but it is tasty on on its own, maybe a little spicy from the ginger, but I like that.

I remember, as a young child, if I had nausea, my great grandmother would give me ginger-ale and always Canada Dry, which I found out, is actually still made with real ginger-extract.(still too much sugar to be healthy as an every day drink.)

Good suggestion. Ginger is awesome. Have you tried growing it? It's easy to grow and a nice looking plant. Very tasty right out of the garden.

Tax: Stilton and Raisin on selfie mode. They're watching themselves on the phone screen here Stilton looks like Sam Eagle from the Muppets.

 

[Molpet]

The next stage is the stage I've found most difficult to deal with and that seems to happen around eighteen monthhs to two years old, when they start to seriously challenge the senior rooster

Yes I just found a senior rooster with torn comb, a possible broken foot a couple days ago. He was the one that originally escaped freezer camp the first spring after I had covid. He was a good boy with the older roosters and the hens so I decided it was too much effort to chase him down back in 2021. So he will be 5, which is old for one of my meat mutts
Not sure but I seen an almost 2yr spare rooster from a different coop fighting with a different senior rooster in a another coop. I seen him by this coop too.
Anyway it's too cold for freezer camp so I put the injured in the coop without a rooster. He has been able to roost with hens on either side. He spends the day laying in the sun. Not too hopeful for a useful recovery. But I'll see how recovered and if he's in obvious pain come spring.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Bub-bub shed 1/2 of both spurs this year at the end of October about 3 weeks apart
View attachment 4021067

Both had the narrowing / bulge halfway along before he shed them. The remaining part of the spur was a little jagged so he had a pedicure to smooth the ends!
View attachment 4021071

They weren’t hollow, more like the ends just fell off having sort of separated them from the nearer half somehow…

How is brave Bub-bub? Did his tail grow all the way back after the fox encounter in spring?

 

[Shadrach]

I had a visitor at the field this afternoon, not one of my favourite people.
We had a bit of an incident. We were both sat down and Henry was hovering with Sylph and Tull, so I started to hand feed them their treats. Much to my horror and disbelief this person tried to grab Tull. They didn't get her but Henry saw the whole thing and gave a hackle flash and started pecking at the gound. That means fight and I quickly ushered this person away. I asked what the **** they thought they were doing. The respnse was, "not very friendly your chickens are they."

10C degrees warmer than yesterday and a lot of rain during the night and morning.
Too windy for the chickens to spend much time away from shelter.

Henry gave the roosting call and a coupel of the hens followed him up to the coop. Henry had got on the ramp and when the hens left he got down and went out to round them up with very little success. I could almost hear him saying he just wanted to go to bed now rather than stand guard while the hens nibbled on a bit of grass.

 

[fuzzi]

That's true. A family friend is dealing with complications after catching norovirus on vacation at Thanksgiving. I caught noro 13 years ago and can't recommend it. Debilitating.

This is luckily much more mild. Low-grade fever, constant punched-in-the-gut feeling, and I don't want to eat or get off the couch. People in town have been calling it the "3-day flu."

DH didn't catch it and is happy to take care of the chickens, but I love chicken time It's not too bad being out with them if I layer up sufficiently and buff myself up with a bunch of hot tea first.

Getting up, moving around, and getting some fresh air may be beneficial, just don't push yourself.

 

[fuzzi]

I had a visitor at the field this afternoon, not one of my favourite people.
We had a bit of an incident. We were both sat down and Henry was hovering with Sylph and Tull, so I started to hand feed them their treats. Much to my horror and disbelief this person tried to grab Tull. They didn't get her but Henry saw the whole thing and gave a hackle flash and started pecking at the gound. That means fight and I quickly ushered this person away. I asked what the **** they thought they were doing. The respnse was, "not very friendly your chickens are they."View attachment 4021239

10C degrees warmer than yesterday and a lot of rain during the night and morning.
Too windy for the chickens to spend much time away from shelter.
View attachment 4021241

Henry gave the roosting call and a coupel of the hens followed him up to the coop. Henry had got on the ramp and when the hens left he got down and went out to round them up with very little success. I could almost hear him saying he just wanted to go to bed now rather than stand guard while the hens nibbled on a bit of grass.
View attachment 4021242View attachment 4021243View attachment 4021244View attachment 4021245

I bet they wouldn't think Henry's spurs would be friendly, either.

El Stupido.

Good for Henry!

 

[Molpet]

Much to my horror and disbelief this person tried to grab Tull. They didn't get her

Not too chicken smart are they

 

[MROO]

I think it's very difficult to keep multiple males in even partial confinement. Dawn till dusk ranging on a large enough property can work and so can full free ranging. I read quite a few posts where they've said they haven't had any problems keeping multiple rooster and then you find out the age of the roosters.
The roughly six month stage when they work out they're going to be roosters is often enough for many people. One may get a few months of peace if they get past the above stage and a senior is established. The next stage is the stage I've found most difficult to deal with and that seems to happen around eighteen monthhs to two years old, when they start to seriously challenge the senior rooster. There are some very hard choices to made here. You've watched the male grow up and he's survived. The hens quite like him but the senior rooster won't share and the fights start.
When there have been more than one junior rooster I've had them gang up on the senior, one rooster called Major fought three fully grown roosters in a single fight to keep his place. One rooster, despite being beaten by Major wouldn't let the matter go. He got eaten. Sad, because he wasn't a bad rooster. What do you do.

I count myself very lucky in the "Rooster Department." Mine have nearly always gotten along. It helps that they're Nankin bantams, a very docile breed to begin with, so I've had that advantage. I also only hatch every other year or so, so I'm rarely overrun with cockerels. When I do get more than a handful, I keep a bachelor group.

I've noticed that "The Boys" generally get along better when their ages are spread out. My best (& longest lasting) bachelor flock housed nine males, ranging from six months to six years old, with only three (the youngest) the same age. I've since lost a few of the older boys, shared some breeding stock with 4Hers just starting out, rehomed one spoiled pet and lost one to a fox. The remaining two are now my flockmaster and his "lieutenant."

Despite the lack of eggs, bachelor flocks are, by far, my favorites. I truly miss the antics and eye candy of The Frat-Boys. I thought I was "done," but I'm thinking about one more hatch, this Spring.
Please, somebody, STOP ME!