Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[HiEverybirdy]

After Peck won a snake in a game of keep-away...

...she decided to go after bigger game.

The Speckled Sussex are voracious foragers. Poor snake. I'll often attempt a speedy rescue of their snakes, varmints, and salamanders, but by the time I noticed Peck had this one, she and Starla were already playing tug-a-war with it.

 

[ChaosMom]

Tax

I’m pretty sure that watching chickens chicken is the best therapy ever

 

[no fly zone]

Chippy just hatched out two healthy chicks from a pair of eggs she was sitting on for 3 weeks. Hope to get pics soon.

 

[Shadrach]

I was always skeptical about chickens eating grass but they definitely do. I have different types and the kinds that die back in the winter are not coming up yet. But there are clumps that stay green all year and those were being diligently trimmed yesterday.
Soon there will be things that wriggle and those always get priority attention.
Also yesterday they were apparently gorging in bare earth. I assume there are tiny things, maybe insect eggs, maybe seeds, maybe fungal spores, that I can’t see.
Soon the Artemesia will be coming up and i always think that their love of that may be self medicating, though i have grown to appreciate it too and am not consciously worrying about worms for myself.
Tax picture: Sylvie stuffing herself in apparently barren earth.
View attachment 4073003

Interesting when one considers the protein content range of various grasses and also that the fat content of many varieties is above the fat content of commercial feed.

 

[Shadrach]

Absolutely. Have I posted this here before? In any case it won't hurt to repost for those who missed it when this nutrition journey started all those years ago...
https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/animals/dairy/Whats_in_Grass_Todays_Farm_May2014.pdf
They definitely prefer some varieties over others (there are some 10,000 species of grass). And they like the flowers a lot (some pollen is very nutritious apparently), so if you can live with an area of long grass, old school meadow style mowing routine, they will benefit from that too.

I'm sure there's lots there that is too small or well camouflaged for my eyes to see. I've definitely seen some of them eat some funga and mycelium. They also get minerals by eating earth.

Tax: Zimmet selecting the flowers of perennial rye grass
View attachment 4073024
I used to assume they were eating the grass seeds until I looked more carefully and realized that it was actually the newly opening flowers they were stripping from the stem. If I'd thought about it a bit harder I'd have realized it was too early in the year for the grass to have set seed

I'm reasonably convinced that the heavy moulting hens in Catalonia headed for the walnut trees because of a group of mycelium that lived around the roots. Mora and Where both found Stag Beetles worth the struggle when they moulted but they didn't bother with them when feathered.
The one nut all the field lot will eat in preference to any other nut is walnut, which has the highest methionine content.

 

[Shadrach]

This is encouraging!

I’m hoping to make a virtue of necessity and attach various planters to the HEC HWC and frame of the run to introduce a bit of color as well as edible flowers and leaves.

Fingers crossed for nasturtiums

Edit for the hourly Autocorrupt

If I may, a word of caution about planters and bushes/shrubs/plants next to a run fence. One really needs to be able to inspect the fence at regular intervals and it's unlikely to get done properly if there are things leaning against or growing up the fence.
The other point is a planter, or anything that reduces the single jump distance from the ground to the top of the fence may work as a leg up for foxes in particular but I'm sure other creatures would make use of it if it's there.
Keep a tleast one side of the fence absolutely clear if you can. A small hole that a rat can go through is with very little work, a hole a weasel/mink/stoat can go through. These creatures eat rats and are prone ot investigating rat tunnels.

 

[Perris]

when one considers the protein content range of various grasses and also that the fat content of many varieties is above the fat content of commercial feed

not to mention the protein and fat content of many insects, which is higher again, sometimes much higher...

I really don't think commercial feed makes a good benchmark. The condition and life span of spent hens raised exclusively on it proves that.

 

[Shadrach]

Chippy just hatched out two healthy chicks from a pair of eggs she was sitting on for 3 weeks. Hope to get pics soon.

I meant to mention that you can change the title free ranging to something more personal when one has a PFM. You could have the names of your favourite chicken for example. When I canged mine to Roosterist it stayed as Roosterist even though I didn't renew my PFM.

 

[Shadrach]

I really don't think commercial feed makes a good benchmark. The condition and life span of spent hens raised exclusively on it proves that.

Unfortunately commercial feed is the benchmark, like it or not.
If one hopes to change peoples view on feed and to look on feeds other than commercial feed as good as or better than commercial feed, then the nutrient content and availability of the alternatives is one way to go about it.
A better quality feed may prove to be a way to improve the heath of contained chickens although it's not a substitue for ranging and foraging on diverse vegitation.

 

[BDutch]

A better quality feed may prove to be a way to improve the heath of contained chickens although it's not a substitue for ranging and foraging on diverse vegitation.

I think the feed my chickens get must be okay even without walnuts, sardines and whatever you give as treats.

Mine get organic chicken feed ( grains - layer pellets and chick crumble) in combination with what they find in the garden and all kind of left overs. The occasional mealworms are the only expensive special treat I gove a few times a week.

Just veggies and pasta without
cheese. :