Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[bruceha2000]

A century or two ago, bread crumbs and hard boiled egg probably was one of the best possible chick foods (compared to what else was available at the time). But something is only "best" until something better comes along, like modern chick starter.

I suspect bread crumbs a century or two ago were likely better for a chick than what someone might buy at the store and use today.

Also, just saw the post that said the suggestion was for day one, hen would have them out eating regular "wild" chicken food soon. I agree.

 

[Shadrach]

Well. A couple of weeks ago I was looking on BYC for some info on fatty liver in chickens and stumbled into this thread. I have been a BYC devotee for slightly longer than I’ve had chickens, but am at a point now where I tune in more often for specific information rather than diving in for a daily ration. There’s a lot on BYC that is far removed from anything even remotely avian and I find it hard sometimes to sift through it all in search of information relevent to my situation.

Out of respect for the rest of you here, I felt that catching up was the thing to do, so I’ve been reading feverishly every spare minute! I could barely hold myself back from just jumping in sometimes (the anthropomorphism discussion, for instance!) What a read. Thank you all.
I may owe serious fines if lurking is a taxable offense.

I have followed Shadrach’s missives since early on, especially his graduate course in Rooster Relations, and it is with gratitude that I say his insight has changed my relationship with all my animals.

I do have one hen who technically qualifies as an ex-battery girl. Maizie is, I believe, a red sexlink who we aquired from our neighbor when most of his unsecured flock was slaughtered one night last fall by a trio of young bobcats. She and Bertie, an Austrolorp mix, were the only survivors and were going to be left to their own devices by their idiot of an owner - and that’s when I said how about they come over and hang out with us until you get your shit together?

And so they did.

Until delving into Sharach’s thread I never thought much about Maizie being an ex-bat. I’m familiar with the facility she came from, a local organic farm where the chickens probably have it pretty good, all things considered. Layers live on the ground and actually spend their days rotating through real pasture. That said, they are hatchery birds bred to be daily layers and tend to be “retired” around the age of two and a half. My neighbor worked there for a while and acquired four of their hens when that generation was being ”phased out”.

Even after that unimaginably terrifyiing night, Maizie hasn't missed a day of laying the largest egg in our basket - consistently 72-74 gms, jumbo according to the USDA (though I believe UK standards are higher). I‘m guessing she’s going on three years of age now.

Maizie isn’t the type of bird I would have intentionally sought. She isn’t particularly attractive or interesting. We are limited coop-wise to a small flock, 10-12 birds, and red sexlinks never seemed like anything special to me (I am ashamed to say now). That said, I don’t know if it was the timing of discovering this thread, or something else, but I have a whole new appreciation for Miss Maizie, and it is good.

Let me see if I can find a picture of her.

View attachment 3118118View attachment 3118120
In addition to Maizie, this second photo includes Bertie, the other surviving flockmate, and Mr. Aegis, our rooster, who I must say did roll out the red carpet for the new girls!

I think Maizie is a lovely looking hen. I really like the look of the RSL and the Golden Comets.

 

[Shadrach]

This was a very sensitive way of putting it and I recognize my own thoughts in most of this.
Are you certain about the "not in my lifetime" bit? They have made I believe huge progress from September to now. Look back at your posts : you were saying they weren't able to stay outside more than two hours at a time and that they would never learn dustbathing..

Wonderful pictures of happy chickens. How are the three that had water belly / soft egg?

The three on the watch list are doing okay. They are not close to death yet.

 

[Shadrach]

Yesterday broody Chipie didn't come out as usual in the morning to eat/drink/poop/dustbathe. I waited until 7 pm and carried her out myself in the small pen she usually goes to. After making loud strange noises and hissing at me she threw herself on the food and water but didn't dustbathe and went back in after 10 mn. Hope it was just a mishap and that there is no problem with her or the eggs.

Btw, people here have been telling us not to feed baby chick starter but to mash breadcrumbs with boiled eggs. Any informed opinion ?

Depends on the type of bread. Egg is fine.
What may be missing from such a diet is vitamines and minerals. The protein content will be good.
I've never fed just anything. Mum tells them what to eat, not me.

 

[Shadrach]

Old timers farmers just like @Perris says I've come to discover the old ways should sometimes be taken with a grain of salt but my partner falls for it every time.

Are your bookmarks saved on your navigator/browser (Firefox, internet explorer , chrome?...) If that is the case, most navigators offer the possibility of creating an account, and saving the bookmarks to that account, which you will need to do on the old computer. You will then need to synchronize on the new computer by logging into that account on the same navigator. Hope this is not a lot of jumble, it's easier to show than to explain!

My view is it is the other way around. The more recent advice to feed commercial feed only is what needs to be taken with a large pinch of salt.
A proper explanation is long and a contraversial.
Commercial feed was developed for commercial hens; not even commercial chickens. Just the hens.
Commercial feed was developed to provide the basic essential nutrients to keep a hen laying eggs for a limited lifespan.
You can strip a diet down for humans in much the same way. We can live for quite a while just on bread and water. Add an egg regularly and the diet becomes more balanced and the person who eats it is likely to be heathier.
Add a small amount of vitamin C with an apple or greens say and health improves even further.
So on and so on.
The best advice for all creatures is a varied and balanced diet.
Commercial feed doesn't really give the varied bit and I have my suspisions about the balanced with some feeds.

 

[Shadrach]

A century or two ago, bread crumbs and hard boiled egg probably was one of the best possible chick foods (compared to what else was available at the time). But something is only "best" until something better comes along, like modern chick starter.

That reads as very reasonable but I'm not sure better bit is true; cheaper way of providing the basic nutrients maybe. Better? I don't think so. Not for an omnivore.

 

[Shadrach]

Are you sure this is a laying hybrid exbat? Looks more ‘natural’ with a kind of partridge colouring to me.

I'm sure. I know exactly where she came from.

 

[Shadrach]

The broody Ex Battery hen gave up after 39 hours of sitting.
It's a start.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

That's quite a setting. Did I understand correctly that you only put the electricity when you're not there to supervise them ? I like netting too because it's convenient to move around if you need to switch something. However if a chicken is determined to go out the netting will not stop it I find .
I'm happy to discover there actually is a thing officially called hawk strings because I and everyone around teased my partner quite a bit when he came up with this (it's clothesline) :
View attachment 3116990
It unfortunately only keeps away the bigger birds but our bigger scare have come from smaller hawks and they still land.

Nice strings! Not sure if "hawk strings" is an official term or just what comes out of my head when I describe them. We also hang Christmas ornaments and CDs from the strings. So far, so good, but there are roosters, dogs wandering around, us waving our arms at the sky, and a lot of other things to eat around here.

It's true chickens can pretty much hop over the 4' netting – and fly over the 6' fence, too – but it's extremely rare. They seem to know where they're safe and where their stuff is.

We turn on the electric when we're not outside with them, as an additional measure against predators who would otherwise just hop the fence (or push it down, in the case of black bears).

 

[HiEverybirdy]

The broody Ex Battery hen gave up after 39 hours of sitting.
It's a start.

I find it incredibly unfair that, in 2 years, I've seen barely a whisper of broody behavior, even after rolling out the red carpet for our "broody" breeds (whatever that means). We have roosters and leave strategic piles of eggs in nesting boxes. We leave an entire coop vacant just in case...but nobirdy will take me up on it. And you have an ex-batt going broody??