Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[notabitail]

You've got the idea. I don't object to much as long as it's about chickens. In the last three and a half years I've only had to bomb four people off the thread. View attachment 4097430

Tax will be paid.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

HAHA My Buffs get very flighty not as much now as they are a little more mature, but when they were under a year old, they would go on flight maneuvers, quite frequently. They still go off flapping around occasionally and they can get quite stroppy every now and again.

What tickled me is that while squawking in the coop, she sounded downright angry!

 

[Shadrach]

I'm hoping for a cockerel from the hatching eggs when the time comes. Your friend has Sussexes - is that a breed you'd consider? I mention it because it would carry on Henry's tradition and the Sussex cockerel rehomed from my place was a gentleman, and continues to be a gentleman in his new home.

I am considering some Light Sussex eggs from my friend and possibly Creasted Cream Legbar eggs from the place I got the last lot. I'm also hoping that by having one of the hens hatch these eggs some of the new male in the group problems will be avoided.

 

[notabitail]

I saw a discussion on here about mourning chickens and didn't have the time to reply then.

I had 7 chooks, and 2 of them have died. The first, Abigail, was a heat related death. I knew the chickens knew, I had no idea what was wrong until I saw her dead in the coop. I pulled her out, and I could tell the rest were upset. Abigail was #3 in the pecking order they had, as far as I could tell, with Felicitas being #2. For pretty much a entire week, and occasionally after that, Felicitas would sit on the perch, yelling and calling for Abigail. It made me very sad. The other chickens acted down for a while, and eventually came back to normal. Felicitas still does the yelling every so often, and she's never done that before Abigail died as far as I remember.

The second one, In Albis the Dominique, was lower. I haven't been able to sort out the pecking order since Abigail died, but I could tell she moved up after that. She was vicious about food, and that was the biggest change after she died. The first thing I noticed was that Agathae, her second-place partner in crime beside her Dominique sister Dominica was quite concerned, along with Dominica. Agathae is more used to being handled, and she was the one who came in looking for her a few times. I did notice Dominica being down as well for about a week, along with the other hens letting me get a bit closer and spending a bit more time than normal.

Since I had a whole extra year of experience, I did notice some big changes, especially in Josephine, the lead hen, and Dominica, In Ablis' sister. Josephine became bold with food. She started to smack the others to get to it. She had never acted like that up until then. Dominica also became more bold, since her sister was no longer pushing her out of the way. Agathae too became more handle-able, and I suppose it has to do with the food thing as well. In Albis essentially bullied the others away from food, so I was surprised but not. It did take them a couple weeks to start being bold with food, but I did notice by that time they were a lot less sad about her death.

My sister has one hen whose best friend died. That hen was very depressed and from what I remember would not eat until my sister gave her food and is now quite attached to her.

 

[MaryJanet]

I am considering some Light Sussex eggs from my friend and possibly Creasted Cream Legbar eggs from the place I got the last lot. I'm also hoping that by having one of the hens hatch these eggs some of the new male in the group problems will be avoided.

At least he wouldn't have an awful rooster to learn bad habits from. No doubt the hens would assist a young cockerel in developing sensible behaviour if they needed to.

 

[Perris]

Three hours today. Warmish at 14C with light rain arriving around 7pm. Dusk at 8.15 pm at the field now.
A sad day. It is now quite apparent that the hens are missing Henry. I think the fact that Henry isn't coming back has sunk in all round. Sylph jumped onto my lap this afternoon and tried to tell me something, then settled on my lap for a few mintues and I felt tears running down my cheek.
Fret is all over the place. She's been very vocal recently, She's part broody, part trying to be head hen. The restriction to the extended run between the chicken run and the goose run isn't helping although it may prove to be a good thing in the long run.
If I went to the coop run to get or do something the hens followed. When I went outside the run to work on the fence, the hens followed so they were opposite me on the other side of the fence. When I moved a bit more of the rubbish (scrap wood and fence mesh) from the plile that can be seen in one of the pictures below, the hens followed. Fret has taken over Henry's role of telling me it's treat time. She pecked my trousers today, something she's never done in the past. Tull and Mow are becoming closer and Fret and Sylph the same.

For those of you who aren't clear about what the extended run is, the picture posted by BDutch of the field layout earlier in the thread shows the area. If one clicks on the picture and expands it one can see a thin red line drawn around the the chicken coop run, the extended run and the goose run. That's the area I will be working on and that's the area the new fence lines are going to encompass. I plan to clear out the ground in the large wire cage that can be seen in many of the pictures I've posted and transplant some of the fruit bushes from my plot into it. I'm going to make a small vegetable plot between the coop run and the wire cage, a small compost bin somewhere in there and a small raised bed for the herb plants that have done well on my plot. The smaller of the two goose coops on their sides in the pictures I'm going to salvage and turn into a shelter for the chickens placed somewhere in the run. The goose run will once the fencing is finished will no longer open into the chicken run but into the field instead.
I'm going to replant the rosemary bush from my herb plot in this area somewhere. It has grown well and will give at least some cover in the run.
I'm on the lookout for other bushes that will survive transplanting to provide further cover and shade.
I'm already knackered and I haven't finished the new front fence yet! However, I have plans and I'm coping with the work and this arrangement will suit me better than the old vegetable plot which while it has been very productive these last couple of years, isn't really what I'm interested in. Most of what I've grown got given away because I don't have any practical means of storing the produce.
Looking at Perris's garden I think I caan with some management make an area that will support the current residents and maybe three more chickens if I decide to get some hatching eggs for one of the hens when they are broody at some point.
Overall I'm looking foreward to the challenge and the work will help improve my fitness level and It will be work for me and the chickens rather than for the rest of the group which I'm getting very pissed off with doing. They can clean up their own crap from here on. or not as is more likely.
Two people from the houses that back onto the field have offered to help. One has a decent petrol brush cutter and has offered to cut the worst area at the far end of the extended run which the chickens don't venture into often.
View attachment 4097368View attachment 4097369View attachment 4097370View attachment 4097371View attachment 4097372

View showing the wire cage.
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Posts set on the new fence line.
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I found this a very touching account of how you are all adjusting to Henry's absence. And uplifting on your thoughts about possible future developments.

If, because of the rules about what can and cannot be grown at the field, you need to choose edibles, you might find the literature on 'food forests' useful for perennials / bush / shrub / small tree selection. If memory serves correct, there are 7 recognized layers, the bottom 4 of which are all chicken-friendly. The most important, both in general and for the chickens in particular, is the one underground.

If I can help in any way, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

After the recent passing of one of the senior hens, I wasn’t expecting, or at the very least, hoping there to be another death in the groups for some time.

On Wednesday, I found Kolovos in terrible condition. His comb was pale and droopy, he was not standing, eyes shut and generally unresponsive. Looked him over for potential injuries, large scabs, and fluids coming out of his mouth, beak or eyes, anything I could have missed the past few days, as I had not seen the chickens on Tuesday. Nothing. He was just shutting down. Completely unresponsive to food and water. Sure enough, by Thursday he was gone. I can’t say what killed him. Possibly something internal that was going on long before it was noticeable. Maybe it was me who killed him (indirectly), by continuing to keep them on a commercial feed diet.

He was never particularly fond of me, as I’ve written many times before on this thread and many more. Still, I respected him very much. He was the rooster that accomplished a lot of the firsts on this property. He and his girls were the ones to teach me what a proper, (semi) well-structured group looks like, as well as all the natural behaviours that accompany it. He was for the most part, excellent with his hens. The first time I’d clearly seen hens picking their male. I could go on and on about what Kolovos had brought to his group, and this property. Most importantly though, I am saddened beyond words that he won’t get to continue his wonderful journey; gone before reaching five years old, much too soon.

I can’t imagine what his hens are going through. They seem completely normal, but I haven’t heard a peep in days; I think that says enough.

I have no clue what the future holds for the Tsouloufati group now. Any future plans or hopes I had (not smart on my part, I know), all included Kolovos. He has left behind quite the legacy, many daughters and granddaughters, and two sons and/or grandsons. It remains to be seen if any of them step up to claim the spot left by their (grand)sire. They’ve got big shoes to fill, and I don’t think the senior hens, which are very much bonded and loyal to Kolovos, will give them said spot easily.

View attachment 4097263One of my favourite photos of him, durst bathing with his hens. The ISA brown in the photo was the previous matriarch, who died almost two years ago at a normal (for an ISA brown) age. The other two are still doing good; hen on the right is the current head hen. Not sure if someone will attempt to take her rank, now that she does not have Kolovos for support

 

[Perris]

Found a useful site on food forest layers (though their added 8th fungal layer is superfluous and redundant; funga are part of the underground layer already), with photos of real plants instead of the puerile AI cartoons that so many sites seem to have these days (will the infantilization of visual culture ever end?)
https://grocycle.com/food-forest-layers/

 

[Perris]

Does anyone here know if it is possible for a blue-egg layer to lay a white egg? I ask because yesterday I got a white egg that I think was laid by Maria, who has mostly got her mojo back but not yet resumed matriarch duties, but more relevantly is an Araucana, and who through all her life with me has laid pale blue eggs. I saw her go into and out of the relevant coop, and accept a mating, and shake herself afterwards, so all the signs are there. And yet, ...

She's now at least 8 (acquired as a POL, supposedly, but I was a newby then, so any age bird could have been passed off to me as POL ), and if she laid it, it would be her first egg of this year. So I'm wondering if maybe her oocyan gene stopped working, perhaps as a result of her recent illness (whatever that was), or just old age, or it's just a shell gland glitch? She's the only obvious candidate to have laid it. As I understand it, the blue colour is not just a surface layer applied at the end like brown, the biliverdin is deposited as the shell is formed, so it goes right through the shell (and her eggs are actually blue-er on the inside than on the outside of the shell). But this could still be described as a shell gland glitch I imagine...? Obviously I'll keep an eye out for her next egg, but given her age, that may not be anytime soon

 

[BDutch]

Sorry for the loss of Kolovis @fluffycrow , it must be especially hard after loosing you head hen very recently.

It’s great to see al your work and that you are thinking ahead @Shadrach.

It's the contributors that make the thread, not me. I just set the basic rules and rarely have to intervene. I post about chickens most days and this helps keep the thread on track.

The first sentence is a laugh, and you know it. You even explain why in the following two. And you forgot to mention the education, the drama and the flow that makes it interesting to follow for many years now.

I’m curious for all developments this spring. The fence, the garden and most of all future flock changes.
I suppose it’s best to get a few unrelated eggs for your future flock. Mixing Henry’s and Fret genes with something new from another healthy flock (without SLM).

It’s a pity my coop and run are complete now. No room for new hatchlings. So Im eager to read the stories of other flocks who have broodies in more or less natural circumstances.

Obviously I'll keep an eye out for her next egg, but given her age, that may not be anytime soon

My experience: when the oldies start to lay in spring they keep on doing so until they are broody or they get ready for an early winter break.

I don’t know much about color changes after a winter break. My Dutch laid the same white (light creamy) eggs every year. But I have noticed my bantam RIR lays different eggs this year. The eggs are sort of speckled, a lighter brown with whitish spots. And the egg I get today can be slightly different from the one she gave me two days ago.