Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[townchicks]

29/03.
Two hours. Chilly but dry.
Not a good day. Henry has taken a turn for the worse. Tull, Mow and Sylph are early stage broody. Just not in the mood to write much more.
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So sorry. The circle of life is closing, yet it still goes on in his offspring. There will be sadness, but thank you for bringing us the story of this beautiful rooster and his family. Selfishly, I hope you can continue with this thread, but if it is time to hand over the reins of their care after Henry is gone, that's ok too, and understandable.

 

[townchicks]

Pinecone & Laserbeak's son
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You're killing me with the cuteness here. Love the name, it's perfect.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

In honor of Shadrach and Henry, I’m sitting in the run with the girls (pretending to do homework.) I already think I could recognize Shad’s knees anywhere.

Back of the Nestera off to let the breeze blow through:

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Tax: the siege of Fort Forsythia continues

 

[BDutch]

My chickens want to pay some respect to Henry.

Hopefully he feels better again tomorrow.

 

[MrsNorthie]

Henry has taken a turn for the worse.Just not in the mood to write much more

I am so sorry! Just be with him as much as you can. Words are never enough, but I think everyone here understands.

 

[Shadrach]

Some words of truth rarely written taken from a reply by IgorsMistress on the topic of feather picking and getting along.

"Every chicken has a different personality. Just like people, personalities clash and when you’ve got them locked up where they can’t ever escape, you have problems like people in prison. It’s just the way it goes."

 

[Shadrach]

So sorry. The circle of life is closing, yet it still goes on in his offspring. There will be sadness, but thank you for bringing us the story of this beautiful rooster and his family. Selfishly, I hope you can continue with this thread, but if it is time to hand over the reins of their care after Henry is gone, that's ok too, and understandable.

One hopes for a quick and pain free death for those who one cares about. I'm sure it's obvious to all who have read this thread, or posts elsewhere that I love cockerels and roosters. I love the hens to, but there is just something about the males, be they friendly or not that takes a special place in my affections.
For me a mixed sex multigenerational tribe, or several, is what chicken keeping is really about. I'm now facing the prospect of only having a few hens, something I have only been interested in with Ex Battery hens and even then, in the right circumstances, I would try to introduce a rooster at some point.
I don't think I'm going to be able to do that with Fret, Mow, Tull and Sylph.
Henry has always been there for them, before I even started at the field. He's dad and the hens adore him. I have too much respect for the hens to try and lever in some strange male, so it's caring for the hens that Henry cannot from here on. Very big shoes to fill that is.

 

[Shadrach]

A warm and sunny two and a half hours.

Yesterday Henry stumbled and fell. I got there quickly, he was gaspingfor breath a toxic looking liquid dribbling from his mouth. At first I thought it was crop contents but once I opened his mouth it was evident that the liquid was coming from his trachea. I gently massaged his trachea and some more gunk squeezed out after which he breathed more freely.

He did come out of the run after I gave his tail a tap; he dozes a lot, and he did do a very small amount of picky foraging with Sylph who has been very attentive to Henry these last few days.
He ate a small amount of the regular feed today, maybe a quarter of a cubic inch, but ate soft cooked brown rice with some vitamins soaked in a couple of chopped prawns and squeezed into a couple of blueberries his metacam dose for the night.
He isn't following or leading the hens anymore. Mostly he stood in the sun or close by my chaor where the hens have been dust bathing. He has his head under his wing for a while when the hens were bathing so he's dozing.

Apparently he was out of the coop this morning and I assume he stays out all day.

 

[RoyalChick]

A warm and sunny two and a half hours.

Yesterday Henry stumbled and fell. I got there quickly, he was gaspingfor breath a toxic looking liquid dribbling from his mouth. At first I thought it was crop contents but once I opened his mouth it was evident that the liquid was coming from his trachea. I gently massaged his trachea and some more gunk squeezed out after which he breathed more freely.

He did come out of the run after I gave his tail a tap; he dozes a lot, and he did do a very small amount of picky foraging with Sylph who has been very attentive to Henry these last few days.
He ate a small amount of the regular feed today, maybe a quarter of a cubic inch, but ate soft cooked brown rice with some vitamins soaked in a couple of chopped prawns and squeezed into a couple of blueberries his metacam dose for the night.
He isn't following or leading the hens anymore. Mostly he stood in the sun or close by my chaor where the hens have been dust bathing. He has his head under his wing for a while when the hens were bathing so he's dozing.

Apparently he was out of the coop this morning and I assume he stays out all day.

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Poor old codger.