Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Ribh]

You need the rain there though don't you?

No, not really. They are releasing water from the dams so we have too much.

 

[Ribh]

Hens need roosters and roosters need hens. Chicks need both and until this sinks in to the average chicken keeper I can't see much hope.

It's not just the keepers, Shad, it's the idiots who make the rules & know nothing about anything. I would have a rooster ~phoenix for choice~ but not only would my neighbours be unhappy, my council would crucify me. Everyone understands why I brought the cats out with me; no~one understands why I didn't just leave the chickens to be killed but they are are as much my pets & companions as the cats are.

 

[Ribh]

Wet chicken tax.​

 

[T-R-O-U-B-L-E]

I have been catching up on this for quite a while. I better pay some tax:
My whole flock!

Little Big Shot: The rooster in the pic above.

My new chicks being silly while sunbathing under the heat lamp.

 

[micstrachan]

It's a problem for lots of people but in the long run the current coop and run chicken keeping model will be a long term problem for the chicken.
I've mentioned elswhere in a few posts that it took about three generations for the tribes to relearn how to be chickens. Worse still, they were not completely clueless when they started.
I was reading that for the more pregressive pasture raised commercial concerns the lack of knowledge in the chicken on how to free range was causing problems. If the chicks come from those deadfull incubator and broody barns they don't receive the knowledge from their mums and from watching how the adults go about it.
So the current coop and run model is likely to do as much harm to the heritage breeds as the batteries have done to the high production breeds.
Hens need roosters and roosters need hens. Chicks need both and until this sinks in to the average chicken keeper I can't see much hope.
I would wager that if Perris say was to post a sequence of videos of his tribes the difference in behaviour would be pretty obvious compared to a group of hens who got let out of their run for a few hours a week.
There is a further complication. Until one has seen/kept/observed what a breeding rooster and hens flock behaves like one can't really understand just how intelligent and social the chicken is. In part, because of this, people do not have a grasp on how important mixed groups that breed like feral chickens and jungle fowl is to the health and welfare of the chicken in general.

Oh yes, I am quite certain there would be a difference between chickens who free range full time, reproduce naturally and live in tribes, vs. mine who only get about 15 hours a week during the shortest days of the year and about 30 or so hours a week during the summer months. I already know where you stand and you know what my limitations are. But I have no problem with you pointing out what you don’t like about my arrangement if it helps serve your cause.

Dogs weren’t meant to be domesticated, either. Yet they live on our farms protecting our livestock, and live in our homes protecting our families. Mine even sleeps on my bed!

 

[micstrachan]

I'm curious, does she acknowledge how well they're doing?

Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[Anime2lover]

Yes. See below.

Glad they are improving. Here is my tax.

 

[micstrachan]

It's not just the keepers, Shad, it's the idiots who make the rules & know nothing about anything. I would have a rooster ~phoenix for choice~ but not only would my neighbours be unhappy, my council would crucify me. Everyone understands why I brought the cats out with me; no~one understands why I didn't just leave the chickens to be killed but they are are as much my pets & companions as the cats are.

THIS. Mine are companions and pets, too. Sorry about how much that makes you cringe, Shad.

 

[T-R-O-U-B-L-E]

THIS. Mine are companions and pets, too. Sorry about how much that makes you cringe, Shad.

Um yeah. Mine too.

 

[Iluveggers]

Hens need roosters and roosters need hens. Chicks need both and until this sinks in to the average chicken keeper I can't see much hope.

My town doesn’t agree.

It's not just the keepers, Shad, it's the idiots who make the rules & know nothing about anything. I would have a rooster ~phoenix for choice~ but not only would my neighbours be unhappy, my council would crucify me.

I would love a roo or two as well! I wish chickens & roosters were as accepted as dogs. I think a rooster would be quieter than the dog down the street!