Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

It gets a little wet in a corner sometimes, but it has not been a problem, even for broodies, hatching eggs or chicks. I think my hatch and survival rates speak for themselves there. Nests in the wild are on the ground (chickens' nests), and the ground can be damp too. I think it's a non-issue.

No apologies necessary. I am happy to answer any sensible question.

Still waiting on some literature on that (unsupported assertion, by anyone, will not cut it I'm afraid; I want proper published studies).... And now I'm remembering a vet show where a young lad was advised to take his silkie with mycoplasmosis into the shower to breathe steam/ moist air... (it recovered). And that dust (created by an excessively dry environment) is an irritant to the lungs, and presumably to air sacs too. What is the best humidity level for chickens? Anybody read anything on that?

I've never experienced that. Some on the floor and some on the walls has not caused any respiratory problems for any chicken here.

I agree. Excessively dry coop interiors are more of a health hazard than high humidity. It was a problem with the first iteration of the coop I posted picture of in Catalonia.

 

[Shadrach]

Obviously that's not an issue if you're keeping the floor under the roosting space as bare plastic and cleaning it daily.

This is what I do.

 

[Shadrach]

Are you giving her anything special to eat or to help through this moult?

I am, but it's probably unnecessary. Chickens have been coping with moulting long before sites such as BYC recommend feeding higher protein feed. We don't really understand exactly what goes on regard food preferences when chickens moult.
She (Sylph) hasn't eaten any of the regular feed I supply while I've been at the field. She may have eaten something from the overnight bowls I leave in the coop so they get some breakfast.
While not a scientific study this poll suggests that chickens going off their regular diet is common.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...off-their-usual-feed-when-they-moult.1498056/

She was out in the field for two and a half hours today and did do some foraging. I felt her crop this evening at roost time and while far from full, it wasn't empty. She ate some wholemeal cooked pasta, a small amount of a really tasty mature cheddar and a few small pieces of cooked pork I took to the field.

 

[Shadrach]

I think I started to comment on:

And got distracted while typing. you are right, I did not get the point.
Most prefab coops are not what the chickens and caretakers need/want.

The ‘great’ ideas of the manufacturers in general are;
- The people who buy coops only have bantams. &
- Chickens don’t sweat.
- Chickens like it if they can’t fall down from a roost.
- Chickens like it to lay their eggs on roost hight (not below).
- The chicken keepers like to buy a new coop every 3 years
- People are rarely over 1.10 m/ 4 ft tall.

- Chickens don’t sweat.

At least they got this right, chickens don't sweat, they don't have sweat glands.

 

[Shadrach]

About two and a half hours this afternoon. I couldn't describe the afternoon as dry because everything is damp from the downpours yesterday and overnight. But, it didn't rain this afternoon and the sun shone.

Sylph so far isn't looking as distressed as her sister Mow did when she had her first hard moult last year; she was a pitiful sight. Early days. A few feathers in the coop, lots more in the coop extension.

Glais is growing spurs. The nubs have opened and little white spur tips are showing.
We had over two hours out and about. This area is a new area for Glais. He's slowly getting to know his territory.

Glais has started giving I've found food calls. So far Sylph and Mow haven't been impressed. He's going to need to find something really good if they're going to respond by checking what he's found out.

What Glais did find was a mushroom and he ate some of it. If he's sick or dead tomorrow that will be why.
I don't know much about mushrooms and there are a few of these growing. Apparently there are two similar looking types, one is poisonous the other isn't. This isn't the type that Glais ate some of. By the time I got to what he did try it was unrecognizable for identification.

They are still having some roosting disputes. Sylph likes the place Glais is in and went to roost early and settled there. Glais bullied her off. Nothing too aggressive I hasn't to add.

 

[kattabelly]

This is what I do.

Yes I thought remembered that both you and Perris do that.

I have been mostly but occasionally I'm not around for a day or two and I've noticed that even on bare plastic, within maybe 48 hours I can find droppings covered in mould.

 

[thistlewick]

I had to catch up on a lot!

I haven't read that paper yet, but I downloaded it, thank you for that Perris

Kattabelly; I have a Cockerel who would cuddle and sit on my arms and shoulders and I let him, because I wanted to test this theory that they "all become violent" and uhh, nope. He's a darling still. He's been raised in the flock though - and grown hens and older Cockerels give him a whatsfor all the time. He doesn't even clock that I'm around, he's too busy being a chicken.

As far as all my Cockerels right now, I have 3 sexually mature ones and 4 sexually immature ones and no one fights. The leader WILL tell them to leave hens alone. But that's a chase/peck at the back of the head. *Everyone* respects Cracker. He's becoming quite a lovely guy.

I heard a new sound from him today, I wish I got it on video, it was quite charming, they were all following me to the hen house (hopeful for some scratch, which I treated them with a couple days ago and they are always hopeful for a few days when I appear LOL) and he was jaunting up alongside me and making little bawk-coo sounds, very gentle, very soft and docile. It was charming. I wonder if he was saying hi! After all, I always say hi to everyone I am near, by name.

Or maybe it was the "hey, do you have the goodies??" sound, who knows lol

Tilly is going broody AGAIN. It's OCTOBER.

The only tax I have is my new kitten;

 

[Perris]

What Glais did find was a mushroom and he ate some of it. If he's sick or dead tomorrow that will be why.
I don't know much about mushrooms and there are a few of these growing. Apparently there are two similar looking types, one is poisonous the other isn't. This isn't the type that Glais ate some of. By the time I got to what he did try it was unrecognizable for identification.

There are quite a lot of different types here, and I think all of them get sampled by the chickens sooner or later; the amount consumed by any one bird is always very modest, and they just drop / spit out anything they don't like. The vast majority of fungi are not toxic, and some of them are really nutritious. I wouldn't worry about it.