Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

They are rather nice tasting eggs, but on the small side.

Someone else I know with CCL complains about the small size of their eggs too. Don't Henry's genetics help there? (I don't know anything about Sussex eggs in general and Light S in particular.)

 

[Shadrach]

Someone else I know with CCL complains about the small size of their eggs too. Don't Henry's genetics help there? (I don't know anything about Sussex eggs in general and Light S in particular.)

Oddly, Carbon who was a Crested Cream Legbar laid eggs bigger than any of the current.
Matilda's eggs were standard.
I'm not complaining about the egg size.

 

[Perris]

Oddly, Carbon who was a Crested Cream Legbar laid eggs bigger than any of the current.
Matilda's eggs were standard.
I'm not complaining about the egg size.

Recipes usually specify medium or large eggs, which is why small eggs are disliked by some. You may find them harder to sell than standard sized ones for that reason.

 

[Shadrach]

Recipes usually specify medium or large eggs, which is why small eggs are disliked by some. You may find them harder to sell than standard sized ones for that reason.

I found this out with the Christmas Cake. It needed at least one more egg.
I've been selling what I've sold for £2.00.

 

[RoyalChick]

Recipes usually specify medium or large eggs, which is why small eggs are disliked by some. You may find them harder to sell than standard sized ones for that reason.

Although in fact substitutions are not that hard. Because of my Legbars I am used to small eggs and sometimes need to add an extra one if I am baking with mainly small eggs.

 

[BDutch]

My bantam Amrock eggs are about the same size (43- 46 g). The Dutch eggs were between 30 and 35 g. But they all stopped laying in autumn.

If the recipe says 1 egg, I use 2 eggs. Most recipes get better with more egg.

If it needs 2 eggs its easier, I simply use 3 small Amrock size eggs. And last summer I used 4 tiny Dutch eggs.

 

[tranquiliti]

My bantam Amrock eggs are about the same size (43- 46 g). The Dutch eggs were between 30 and 35 g. But they all stopped laying in autumn.

View attachment 4030403If the recipe says 1 egg, I use 2 eggs. Most recipes get better with more egg.

If it needs 2 eggs its easier, I simply use 3 small Amrock size eggs. And last summer I used 4 tiny Dutch eggs.

I’ve followed the same strategy with my 35-45g guinea eggs.

 

[Perris]

I've been selling what I've sold for £2.00.

here's a news story to watch https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/jan/17/round-egg-discovered-farm-devon-auction
one of mine sometimes lays what I would call a round egg!

 

[ManueB]

We ordered a bunch of heritage Sunflower seeds to grow for the chickens. They grow quite tall and will also provide shade.

BOSS are uncommon here, and sold only by foreign bird brands ; we are used to the striped variety.
I grew sunflowers three summers in a row. But, because of the strong winds, they needed individual support stakes, which was a bit of a pain when growing rows of them. And they also required so much water that we had to put them under the automatic watering for the vegetables, we can't just plant them along any fence.
Has that been an issue for anyone else ? The chickens loved them so I've gotten seeds again for this year, but I'm still not sure where and how I will grow them.

Sunflowers are a learned thing. Teenagers Gaston and Merle had to gather up courage to approach on their first encounter with the monster.

A month later they certainly knew how to tackle it.

In more spur news: After Merle ripped off the old spur shed by catching it on a fence, the new spur underneath looked blackish and porous, possibly weak because it was prematurely exposed.

It seemed to be strengthening, but a couple days ago, Merle broke a small piece of the new spur during morning hen hassling, and it bled so copiously he had to wear a leg wrap. Now it's fine again.

Long version with photos: When I saw the injury that morning, my thinking was, "Spurs break, roosters bleed, no big deal." I kept doing chores until Merle suddenly left breakfast to huddle in the corner, a puddle of blood forming around his foot.

Seeing that much blood and an uncharacteristically unhappy rooster, I dropped my "no big deal" attitude, yanked a tissue out of my pocket to put pressure on the spur, and rushed him to the house.

He stood on the kitchen counter on a stack of paper towels that turned red. If Merle weren't so tame – and our dogs, snoring 10' away on their beds, weren't so gloriously lazy – this wouldn't have turned out as well. DH was at work, so I was a 1-woman show keeping a rooster calm while reaching into cabinets for cornstarch and paper towels and oats to reward Merle.

I applied pressure, then dabbed cornstarch on the spur until the bleeding slowed. Back in the yard, Merle bled minimally for a couple hours and returned to regularly scheduled rooster business.
View attachment 4029177
View attachment 4029179

His comb and color stayed strong, but at lunchtime, I knew something was wrong when he left the hens and walked through the snow to meet me. The spur was bleeding about 10 drops a minute! He may have been occasionally tapping his good spur against the bad spur on accident, re-injuring it.

I checked the internet for creative ways to stop spur bleeding and was directed to a good BYC thread where experienced members commented. They echoed the "no big deal" approach, saying the less you do, the better, because exposure to air helps stop the bleeding. Just clean and spritz with Vetericyn, except in exceptional situations.

Ten drops/minute, hours post-injury, felt exceptional, so it was back to the kitchen counter, where I rinsed, spritzed, and padded the spur with a folded square of paper towel before wrapping it in a length of self-adhesive wrap.

To my relief, blood didn't seep through, and clever Merle left the bandage alone, so he was able to wear it overnight. I wouldn't normally leave it on that long, but weather has been almost solidly sub-freezing for 10 days. He needs his blood to stay warm. I didn't want to risk him bleeding all night.

Clever, handsome Merle in his wrap:
View attachment 4029176
View attachment 4029178
View attachment 4029181

The dressing was removed yesterday back in the kitchen, softened with warm water first so it didn't re-open the wound. Thankfully, no more blood.

We'll see if this happens again. Merle is all about foot problems.

Here's the new spur, re-exposed (and hen Hazel's bonny spur in the background. I've never seen her spurs shed, btw, but they don't grow much, either).
View attachment 4029180

Good job, and good Merle !
I had a similar issue when Théo lost his spur. It was easier to handle because he is tiny and it wasn't winter. I couldn't get the blood to stop flowing, even using cornstarch and applying pressure for 20 mn, he looked unwell, and it was rather stressful. It bled again the next day, and the day after he stopped limping and was fine. A week later, Gaston also lost a spur and I was very relieved that there was just normal bleeding and he didn't seem to notice.
I suppose that they have to break some deeper part than it is supposed to for it to bleed that much.

Recipes usually specify medium or large eggs, which is why small eggs are disliked by some. You may find them harder to sell than standard sized ones for that reason.

As cooking has become a hobby for many with specialised TV shows, internet blogs and sites, higher end shops, I see more often recipes giving the weight of the required eggs along with the number.

Personally, the first bantam eggs I got from Chipie, then from her hatch, were a revelation for breakfast. I love having a sunny side up egg early morning or for a pause at ten, but a standard egg is too big and I don't often want one, whereas as a 30-40g egg is perfect.
And I thought the small eggs here are usually better in taste and consistency, because the proportion of yolk to white is more important than in standard eggs.

I'm sure there would be a market for free-ranged small eggs if they were sold in supermarkets at a price proportional to their weight. Shadrach I'm sure you'll have no trouble selling yours if that is your wish.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

So far I've given the eggs I don't eat away. I really should get selling them sorted out. I know some people at the field will buy them. They are rather nice tasting eggs, but on the small side. I think Tull lays the nearest to a supermarket small size egg, the others are smaller.

It's a great idea. You can tell people their payment goes right back into the "mackerel & seeds fund" that helps make their eggs so exquisite. Or into the "keeper's handwarmer fund," which is also essential.

As for Mow, she's a strange hen, but then most of them are. She's relatively sane compared to Barking Bracket or even Dink. I'm just concerened that there is a problem that I could do something about. Most problems that one can't see or properly identify one can't do much about anyway. I have a strange feeling that it may be psychological, something often ovelooked when it comes to chickens. Strange when people accept other creatures have mental health problems.
Henry is nice to her. He fully accepts her status. She roosts where she wants, eats with whome she pleases and Henry has never tried to prevent her eating with him which cannot be said of Tull and Sylph and even Fret very occasionally. But, Henry doesn't treat her the smae as he does Tull and Sylph who he herds and guards and is very attentive to.

After reading this, the browser suggested I read this article next Creepy internet but a good enough read:
https://www.popsci.com/science/can-animals-have-mental-illness/

Maybe Mow's just odd hen out? The only hen of her brood and the only white hen?

Our Langshan Bebe started standing quietly after her best and last remaining Langshan friend Frida died last summer. I wouldn't call her "strange" but am worried she's depressed.

Have you seen Mow's type of behavior in other birds who lost their siblings?

Bebe's close with her broodermates, the Buff Brahmas, but they're blonde. They pair off to forage, and Bebe goes off alone, then ends up standing quietly, a sad little chicken statue in the yard. I've been searching for ways to alleviate her grief, including possibly integrating more Langshans with Stilton's Hens this year.

Recently Bebe accidentally ended up in the orchard with Merle's Girls, the Black Copper Marans, and came alive. She inserted herself in their duo and was a different bird for a while. Here she is mid-preen with Lorraine.

You can see Stilton's consternation about Bebe being on the wrong side of the gate. Thirty minutes later, Bebe asked to be let back in with Stilty; she doesn't seem to want to change coops, but she does chat with Lorraine and Plumb through the fence more now.