Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

I had a couple of texts from C this morning banging on about some pigeons. I didn't really understand the messages and when I arrived at the allotments this is what I found. They are very young and afaik the plan is to release them once they put on a bit more weight and got used to being outside. I guess they must have been hatched inside or rescued as chicks.
They're very cute btw.

 

[Sortacountrychicken]

I had a couple of texts from C this morning banging on about some pigeons. I didn't really understand the messages and when I arrived at the allotments this is what I found. They are very young and afaik the plan is to release them once they put on a bit more weight and got used to being outside. I guess they must have been hatched inside or rescued as chicks.
They're very cute btw.
View attachment 3028190

Do they fly yet?

 

[Shadrach]

It's taken some time but Henry has decided that I'm okay. I can give him a bit of a stroke now without him edging away and he will perch on my hand should I want to move him once he's roosted. Before, if I stroked his wattles he would give me a warning peck or two. He doesn't do that any more. He'll also come and stand on my foot when I'm in the chair. I'm half expecting him to jump onto my lap. He's looked like he was going to a couple of times now.

Fret.

Carbon (I think)

That's Lima down some hole as usual with her bum in the air.

Cloud.

 

[pennyJo1960]

@Shadrach new they would learn to trust you in time . Curious C has bought pidgeons now also ?

 

[Shadrach]

Do they fly yet?

I don't know.

 

[Iluveggers]

It's taken some time but Henry has decided that I'm okay. I can give him a bit of a stroke now without him edging away and he will perch on my hand should I want to move him once he's roosted. Before, if I stroked his wattles he would give me a warning peck or two. He doesn't do that any more. He'll also come and stand on my foot when I'm in the chair. I'm half expecting him to jump onto my lap. He's looked like he was going to a couple of times now.
View attachment 3028201View attachment 3028203
Fret.
View attachment 3028204
Carbon (I think)
View attachment 3028207
That's Lima down some hole as usual with her bum in the air.
View attachment 3028199
Cloud.
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What breed is Cloud?

 

[Sequel]

It's hard when you've known them for a few years.

Thank you! It really is! I’ll find a pic of her and put it up for tax.

 

[Solanacae]

Thanks, that's really helpful because even though the product is not available here, it seems it can be replicated very simply, the main active ingredient is easy to find and to use.
My hives are not next to the coop but some bees do hang around, they love the mint bush in front. Also last year a bumble bee colony nested in the coop. We're happy that the number of various species of pollinator insects has considerably improved since we have the bees, I don't want to risk causing them harm.

I’m glad you can find something similar where you are! I’ve planted a lot of bee friendly plants since I started beekeeping 7 years ago, the most popular ones here are hyssop, caryopteris, salvia, borage, and echinacea. I’ll have to plant some mint for them.

Is it possible she has something lodged in an airway?

That was my guess. @Perris, is she doing better?

 

[Perris]

I’m glad you can find something similar where you are! I’ve planted a lot of bee friendly plants since I started beekeeping 7 years ago, the most popular ones here are hyssop, caryopteris, salvia, borage, and echinacea. I’ll have to plant some mint for them.

That was my guess. @Perris, is she doing better?

I've got hyssop and borage seeds coming up now; good to know they're good for bees

Maria's breathing is all quiet now; it'll be dawn within the hour, so I'll try to get a good look in her throat then, though I'm sure she'll fight me all the way It's such a pity that most of them don't just assume that I'm trying to help them, and only recognize the fact if they need help for a whole day or more - and even though they see those that I've helped in the past dash into the house at any opportunity, and emerge again unscathed (and usually wiping their beaks on the doormat, just, I'm sure, to let everyone else know they had some extra treat while there )

 

[ManueB]

I was stuck. I didn't want to buy chicken feed through Amazon. I really wanted to support either a local pet/livestock supplier or a feed manufacturer preferably local. I've found a couple but they are quite a distance and to ensure the stuff gets delivered I have to be at one place or another for what is often an unspecified period of time. There is a pet food place in the village close to the allotments. I am so not interested in carrying a 20kg bag of feed half a mile or more!
I've used a rucksack before. Even that is hard work.
My best friend offered me her shopping trolly. She needed it for a while when she couldn't drive. I hummed and errrd a bit. Shopping trollies; they're for old frail people aren't they? Well, I slipped past the pride bit and said okay I'll give the trolley a try.
View attachment 3028149
Yes I know it's pnky red. Yup I know it looks odd in a field. Yes the bag does come off and one can strap bulkier items than the bag will hold.
I'm getting to know a few of the bus drivers now and did I get some strange looks when I got on the bus dragging the trolley behind me.
Anyway, despite my reservations t worked. The trolley is rated at max load of 20kg but I could move one of my loudspeakers with it and that weighs 35kg. The trolley wasn't happy but it didn't break.
I picked up a 20kg bag of feed at the village pet supplies. After a bit of a struggle I got it in the trolley bag and headed off to the allotments. It did the job and some. It managed the rough field too.
End result.
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Even stranger, I think C must have come up on the lottery or stolen someones debit card. There are mealworms in the feed bin! and bird seed and some other stuff.
There hasn't been that much food in the bin since I've been doing the chickens.

Quite an adventure but if the food is ok I think it's wonderful that you will buy at the local shop. Is the trolley a gift, or is it a loan? In which case you should have to set the rest of your pride aside and go buy one .

Tax for all the weather posts. Everyone is up by the barn as it's the only dry ground right now. The young boys have been terrorizing the hens a bit. Jackdaw is starting to figure things out and is starting to spend more and more time with a couple of the hens in the barn although they all rejoin the group to roost. I have one hen that will occasionally sleep in the barn but so far Jackdaw has returned to the coop each night. Jackdaw and Chickadee in the barn.

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The blue girl here is Chickadee. She is getting ready to go broody. She was hatched last May and this would be her first time. She considered going broody late last summer but never did. She has been picking fights all day and has mostly been beat to a pulp. She is still laying currently. View attachment 3028159View attachment 3028160

They don't seem to be too upset, for the time being. Hopefully Chickadee will wait until things dry out to go broody!

I’m glad you can find something similar where you are! I’ve planted a lot of bee friendly plants since I started beekeeping 7 years ago, the most popular ones here are hyssop, caryopteris, salvia, borage, and echinacea. I’ll have to plant some mint for them.

Almost exact same story here! Though we didn't plant the mint, it's growing like crazy everywhere on it's own.
The best thing for us was using lacy phacelia as a cover crop, this is our pollinators paradise, it helps our soil and it has a long flowering season. Only downhill is that it's kind of ugly .

Maria's breathing is all quiet now; it'll be dawn within the hour, so I'll try to get a good look in her throat then, though I'm sure she'll fight me all the way

If it's not something stuck, also wondering maybe it's allergy season with all the pollen flying ?
That's typically the kind of situation where I wouldn't know what to do and would probably give them a thyme infusion with honey..like I would on myself. Doesn't hurt if it does nothing!