Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[no fly zone]

It's an Ayam Cemani. Got it from a friend for free because it was aggressive. Even though I have had chickens for about 15 years he is the reason I fell into the chicken rabbit hole. Only now I realise how many different genetic oddities, like his fibromelanosis, are out there.

First one i ever saw was back in 2016

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

Not in this case. This is what it is supposed to look like (this is the continuation that runs on the south side of our beech hedge)
View attachment 4105392
so it's not a big slope, and you can see perhaps the bracken coming through and a veritable wall of bramble from the ditch to the top of the concrete posts that hold the modern livestock wire fence on the other side of the ditch. During the summer this bank will be covered a few feet high in bracken, brambles and nettles.

Indeed, and there are some standards within the bit that is hedge. Any tree on the bank has grown while the hedge/bank/ditch was neglected, and is at most just 20 years old. If you look back at the photo, there's a thick strong standard trunk about a quarter in from the right, and a young one has been left on left of the picture. Saplings in between at appropriate spots were cut off at about 3-4 feet, to act as living posts to hold the laid stems in place. If they are left to grow, I'm not sure if they would count as coppiced or pollarded in formal terms. At any event, I was trying to follow the tradition long since embodied in the hedge as I uncovered it. Most local traditions have a raison d'etre, even if we don't now know what it was.

Not in this case. This is what it is supposed to look like (this is the continuation that runs on the south side of our beech hedge)
View attachment 4105392
so it's not a big slope, and you can see perhaps the bracken coming through and a veritable wall of bramble from the ditch to the top of the concrete posts that hold the modern livestock wire fence on the other side of the ditch. During the summer this bank will be covered a few feet high in bracken, brambles and nettles.

Indeed, and there are some standards within the bit that is hedge. Any tree on the bank has grown while the hedge/bank/ditch was neglected, and is at most just 20 years old. If you look back at the photo, there's a thick strong standard trunk about a quarter in from the right, and a young one has been left on left of the picture. Saplings in between at appropriate spots were cut off at about 3-4 feet, to act as living posts to hold the laid stems in place. If they are left to grow, I'm not sure if they would count as coppiced or pollarded in formal terms. At any event, I was trying to follow the tradition long since embodied in the hedge as I uncovered it. Most local traditions have a raison d'etre, even if we don't now know what it was.

Coppard? https://efht.org.uk/ancient-trees-in-epping-forest-pollards-coppices-coppards/

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

Besides, we all love the pictures!

Speaking of corn...
View attachment 4105397

Put mine on a stick, keeps it clean & fun watching them compensate for the swing as it’s pecked

 

[Mother of Chaos]

En garde!

 

[BDutch]

Most of those for sale in UK supermarkets were picked when the first hint of colour appeared and are then ripened in sheds with precision gassing. They look fine, but taste of little, and don't have the nutrients of a tomato that ripened in the field. But they are impossible to transport far, or for long, so don't suit modern supply chains.

They also deteriorate in flavour and nutrient value in a fridge; ideally they should be stored above 10 degrees C to keep their chemical compounds intact.

Are Mutti really worth the cost? They are about twice the price of standard tinned tomatoes I'm familiar with. The good news for all tinned tomatoes (and tomato paste) is that since they are not picked until they have ripened in the field, and are then processed immediately, and the processing makes the lycoprene more bioavailable, they are both more flavourful and more nutritious than fresh tomatoes, surprisingly.

I've not heard of any of the varieties you mention, but I don't have a greenhouse, so tomato growing options are very limited here.

Cheap tomato puree has very often downsides.

‘Italian’ purees in UK supermarkets likely to contain Chinese forced-labour tomatoes
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crezlw4y152o

Tax: my red and ripe Katrientje who makes noises for 2.

 

[fluffycrow]

That a fig tree?

(Assuming you mean the plant at the very front) No, I believe it’s mallow. What kind, I’m not sure.

The chickens don’t like eating it. Possibly the newest leaves, and only if there’s not much else around

 

[Shadrach]

Are Mutti really worth the cost?

You wrote a few posts back that you don't like bland food. Well, there's a cook who sells a range of branded goods in one of the UK supermarkets with the slogan taste the difference and I can't in the few I've tried. I did feel the burn in my wallet at the prices though.

I like my food and like you I don't like bland. I can taste the difference between the Mutti tomato products and the regular supermarket stuff. You can buy a pack of six four hundred gram tins for around five pounds at the internet shop I better not mention in case BDutch has a melt down.

 

[MrsNorthie]

Chickens have new digs. We still have some beatification to do and additional roosts to put in, but it is, sturdier (stood up to Helene and a tornado), easier to clean, better air flow, and more than double the room.

I left the wood chips for them to spread as they see fit. We are going to hardware cloth in the front section so in the heat of the summer, we can raise the big over-head garage style door so they get the through breeze, but still have security.

We are going to run lumber siding in the space between the 4x4's for security and aesthetics.

Baby tax: A local farm raises CCLs so we couldn't resist adding a few punk rockers to the fluffy butt brigade. With over double the coop space and double the ranging space (with plans to expand further.) It seems like we could add a few more ladies. (but we are DONE for a while..)

 

[Shadrach]

That won't be possible since the branches are not close to groundlevel at all. I do have a lot of saplings so maybe in the next few years it will be possible. Luckily willow grows relatively fast and how it grows is quite easy to manipulate.


I don't exactly know what you mean by this. Are you suggesting I lay a few big tree trunks for cover?

I do have a wooden fence on one side that I may be able to work with. As in as long as it keeps being a barrier for both chickens and sheep it is allowed to be as overgrown as can be. Although stuff like brambles is not great since they get stuck onto the sheep wool because of the thorns.

There are many techniques for laying a hedge. Easiest if starting from scratch is to plant the saplings in a row and bend every other (cutting it half way through at the bend point if necessary) and tie that to the base of the next sapling. To grow a more robust hedge one plants two rows of of the saplings half a metre apart and in the second row one bends and fixes opposite to the first row.

 

[notabitail]

You wrote a few posts back that you don't like bland food. Well, there's a cook who sells a range of branded goods in one of the UK supermarkets with the slogan taste the difference and I can't in the few I've tried. I did feel the burn in my wallet at the prices though.

I like my food and like you I don't like bland. I can taste the difference between the Mutti tomato products and the regular supermarket stuff. You can buy a pack of six four hundred gram tins for around five pounds at the internet shop I better not mention in case BDutch has a melt down.

Your wallet tastes the difference.