Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[notabitail]

Dominica discovered it but I think she's too big to fit right in it.

 

[notabitail]

Dominica decided the desk was too small.
So she took over my chair.

She then decided that wasn't good enough. I had to move her back outside after this.

I don't get why they don't want to use the nesting boxes.

 

[BDutch]

I'm about 5 months away from my first eggs! I have slowed way down on store bought eggs because they just aren't as good.

I wonder, how can people buy cheap eggs after reading and seeing stuff like this:

Tens of thousands of laying hens left to fend for themselves after stables were cleared out (video)

AnimalsToday | 26 02 2025 0 2 min 4732
Source : Animals today news. A Dutch animal rights organisation. Article translated from Dutch.

Every year, tens of thousands of laying hens are left to fend for themselves after the stables have been emptied. Without water or food, they die a slow death or die from rat poison. House of Animals reveals this with shocking undercover footage. Tens of thousands of laying hens face a gruesome fate after the stables are cleared out Tens of thousands of laying hens face a gruesome fate after the stables are cleared out | Photo: ©House of Animals House of Animals received dozens of reports about the situation in the 'emptied' laying hen houses, says Karen Soeters: “When 100,000 laying hens from a stable are brutally captured for slaughter after a year and a half, there are always chickens left behind, sometimes even thousands. Often because the truck is full or because it is too expensive to keep a catching team working.” . Below, watch the report that House of Animals made after a stable had been cleared out: (open the link and scroll down to the video).
They just tell ^^ and what you can see.
https://www.animalstoday.nl/tienduizenden-legkippen-wacht-gruwelijk-lot-na-uitruimen-stallen/
underneath the video there is more sad info. Use google translate if you want to know all of it.
——
What I don’t understand is how they got access. I can’t imagine a farmer opening his doors to let these people in his stables.

Tax from a happier hen in the chicken run.

 

[notabitail]

Sunbathing chicken with thermal camera.

 

[BDutch]

I don't get why they don't want to use the nesting boxes.

I suppose they like the warmth of your study or your company.

 

[notabitail]

I suppose they like the warmth of your study or your company.

Possibly. Or they think I'll eat lunch and they will be able to snag some.

 

[Shadrach]

I wonder, how can people buy cheap eggs after reading and seeing stuff like this:

Tens of thousands of laying hens left to fend for themselves after stables were cleared out (video)

AnimalsToday | 26 02 2025 0 2 min 4732
Source : Animals today news. A Dutch animal rights organisation. Article translated from Dutch.

Every year, tens of thousands of laying hens are left to fend for themselves after the stables have been emptied. Without water or food, they die a slow death or die from rat poison. House of Animals reveals this with shocking undercover footage. Tens of thousands of laying hens face a gruesome fate after the stables are cleared out Tens of thousands of laying hens face a gruesome fate after the stables are cleared out | Photo: ©House of Animals House of Animals received dozens of reports about the situation in the 'emptied' laying hen houses, says Karen Soeters: “When 100,000 laying hens from a stable are brutally captured for slaughter after a year and a half, there are always chickens left behind, sometimes even thousands. Often because the truck is full or because it is too expensive to keep a catching team working.” . Below, watch the report that House of Animals made after a stable had been cleared out: (open the link and scroll down to the video).
They just tell ^^ and what you can see.
https://www.animalstoday.nl/tienduizenden-legkippen-wacht-gruwelijk-lot-na-uitruimen-stallen/
underneath the video there is more sad info. Use google translate if you want to know all of it.
——
What I don’t understand is how they got access. I can’t imagine a farmer opening his doors to let these people in his stables.

Tax from a happier hen in the chicken run.
View attachment 4060549

I wonder, how can people buy cheap eggs after reading and seeing stuff like this:

Tens of thousands of laying hens left to fend for themselves after stables were cleared out (video)

AnimalsToday | 26 02 2025 0 2 min 4732
Source : Animals today news. A Dutch animal rights organisation. Article translated from Dutch.

Every year, tens of thousands of laying hens are left to fend for themselves after the stables have been emptied. Without water or food, they die a slow death or die from rat poison. House of Animals reveals this with shocking undercover footage. Tens of thousands of laying hens face a gruesome fate after the stables are cleared out Tens of thousands of laying hens face a gruesome fate after the stables are cleared out | Photo: ©House of Animals House of Animals received dozens of reports about the situation in the 'emptied' laying hen houses, says Karen Soeters: “When 100,000 laying hens from a stable are brutally captured for slaughter after a year and a half, there are always chickens left behind, sometimes even thousands. Often because the truck is full or because it is too expensive to keep a catching team working.” . Below, watch the report that House of Animals made after a stable had been cleared out: (open the link and scroll down to the video).
They just tell ^^ and what you can see.
https://www.animalstoday.nl/tienduizenden-legkippen-wacht-gruwelijk-lot-na-uitruimen-stallen/
underneath the video there is more sad info. Use google translate if you want to know all of it.
——
What I don’t understand is how they got access. I can’t imagine a farmer opening his doors to let these people in his stables.

Tax from a happier hen in the chicken run.
View attachment 4060549

What I find most horrifying is the value placed on a chickens life. One would have thought the commercial concerns would be interested in maximising their profits from these birds yet as the article points out, thousands are just abandoned because it costs more to collect and ship every bird.

 

[notabitail]

I do wish breeds were not bred to die. We have some cousins with those island reds and one of the old ones, around 3 years, is starting to have egg issues.

Sad thing is that they don't place as much value on a chicken as my family.

 

[fuzzi]

Or a couple of omelettes. I made an onion mushroom omelette yesterday.

I made an omelette tonight for supper, with sliced black olives and mushrooms and Gouda cheese. Yum.

 

[Shadrach]

Just putting this out there for discussion, or not, as people wish: My roo : hen ratio is about 1 : 3 (7 males, 20 females) and I collected the 250th egg of 2025 yesterday.

It hadn't sunk in that you now have 20 females.
As for the ratios, it's another of those strange beliefs that the correct ratio is ten to one. I suppose if one was in the business of selling fertile eggs then something like ten to one gives the minimum males to ensure egg fertility. I'm not even sure that the ratio works given how the males will favour some hens over others.
Can't go far wrong with one to one. A lot of species do well like this.
Watching Henry now, I think he would be happy with two hens. The pullets Tull and Sylph take up a lot of his energy.
In multiple male keeping conditions I found the "spare" hens, those not the senior roosters favourites looked for the maturing cockerels with the intention of becoming their favourites. It's how new tribes started in Catalonia and on my uncles farm.
At the free range farm I worked at it was impossible to say how the hens split, if they did. There wasn't then an option for seperate housing for any tribe making and no time for me to pay enough attention to see relationships. 500 chickens is a lot to keep ones eye on.
I think four to one is the optimal ratio for ranging chickens. As is always the case, a lot depends on the keeping circumstances.
My friend with the Light Sussexes in the next county keeps four to one and has three tribes now; that's him at maximum capacity so he's eating males and females just to keep the population manageable.