Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[pennyJo1960]

Had a really rough nite. My cold has gone that extra step.
slept till noon guess I was up till 4 blowing my sinus out.
Will talk to Hospital tomorrow. Dr.s office is closed today.
Did recall tax.
Gee tables made from pallets for birds to roost on ..
Have given them tables since I was a kid .
Grandma believed we did not to roost on a board they should have to.

 

[MaryJanet]

That’ll be nice. A terminator lookalike that assists elderly or handicapped who like to stay @home.

I've seen some values sensitive design research on exactly this type of robot.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I actually did see the robots same thing but 2 years ago.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm going to be doing a bit of that overthinking stuff although some might say I'm procrastinating regarding the new run roof.
When the new coop is in it's proper position and the old coop has gone I will have a dug in skirt and a nailboard. The dug in skirt which of course is attatched to the main weldmesh hoop will greatly reduce the risk of wind damage, or at least prevent the thing blowing away. Until then I need it mobile. I think I can make for the short term a roost bar and rain shelter, enough to cover the roost bar below at least.

A bit grey this afternoon. It did rain for a few minutes, but not a lot. Yes of course I was caught out in it.
I'm not sure what is going on with Copy and her featherless rear end. She, or someone else is pulling the feathers out. In theory getting them all roosting on roost bars, rather than these piles they make in the coop, should make feather picking more difficult.
I've got two with shite on their rear ends that need some cleaning up.
I've been told that this feather problem mainly on their lower throat wasn't an issue until the Ex Battery hens arrived. I wonder if this has been a problem with others who have Ex Battery hens.

One of the the now five hens that go over the allotment run fence and tour the allotments. They don't seem to go far thankfully but they know there is better stuff on the other side of the fence.
I'm pleased about this even if it does mean carefull counting at dusk.
I found this one wandering along the path by the feed bins. Luckily she's very friendly and easy to pick up and carry.

There is a small spider here that some of the hens actively look for around dusk. I don't know if the spider comes out at dusk, or if the hens only spot it for some reason at this time. The hen on the right of the picture below is one of the spider hunters.

This has become my apple tree since I rescued it. It got blown over in the wind. The tree has a problem. It got planted above a shelf of rock/shale about 18 inches below so the tree cant make deep roots.

I find it incredible that anything ripens in the area given the lack sunshine.
These goosberries are ready to eat and I've tried a couple. They taste fine but the insides are not as full/plump as they should be.

Raspberries, Loganberries, and blackberries.

 

[Shadrach]

Had a really rough nite. My cold has gone that extra step.
slept till noon guess I was up till 4 blowing my sinus out.
Will talk to Hospital tomorrow. Dr.s office is closed today.
Did recall tax.
Gee tables made from pallets for birds to roost on ..
Have given them tables since I was a kid .
Grandma believed we did not to roost on a board they should have to.View attachment 3162003

Get well quickly.

 

[ManueB]

Had a really rough nite. My cold has gone that extra step.
slept till noon guess I was up till 4 blowing my sinus out.
Will talk to Hospital tomorrow. Dr.s office is closed today.
Did recall tax.
Gee tables made from pallets for birds to roost on ..
Have given them tables since I was a kid .
Grandma believed we did not to roost on a board they should have to.View attachment 3162003

I'm sorry it's being so painful and taking some time to heal
I also call these things a cold because that's how my mother called them but I suppose you got some kind of virus or bug ?

View attachment 3160407

My heart skips a beat everytime I see this face .

 

[ManueB]

I've been told that this feather problem mainly on their lower throat wasn't an issue until the Ex Battery hens arrived. I wonder if this has been a problem with others who have Ex Battery hens.

I think I mentioned before that two , sometimes three of mine have this problem. I took a picture of Vanille who is the only one of the three I can get to stay still. It's not as bad as yours, though.
I may be wrong but I think their feathers are more fragile than they should be, and they pluck them out because they are breaking.
She happens to also have a problem with her beak. It keeps breaking, and sort of patching up after a while. The other two who pluck their feathers don't.

 

[ManueB]

Chipie's family is showing me the difference between having chickens outside all time but contained in a rather large area, which is my actual setup, and total free range.

I can check on my chickens in less than two or three minutes most of the times.
Chipie and the chicks walk through the nettings and are going further and further away each day. Much further than any of the other chicken that sometimes escape has ever been. I never know where they are, and they are very mobile and quick.
It's taking up a lot of my time in the last mornings as I'm trying to make sure the cats don't eat them .
She has been trying to get them in the coop, but one is growing slower and still can't fly and get on the roost. I hope it's not a serious problem. And also, Théo is still chasing them. I take it as a good sign that he did let them shelter when we had a thunderstorm yesterday.

 

[Perris]

I've been told that this feather problem mainly on their lower throat wasn't an issue until the Ex Battery hens arrived. I wonder if this has been a problem with others who have Ex Battery hens.

Sven has had this issue developing all year. He's a 5 year old lifelong free-ranging Swedish Flower, and there are no rescues here, so it's definitely not limited or related to battery hens.

I have not yet worked out what's driving it, but there are 2 other symptoms that may or may not be connected: he does seem to be quite stressed by the young Penny cocks, and he's shivering on the roost and sometimes during the day (he's molting feathers elsewhere on the body too). And it's definitely him fiddling with the area; I am sure that this is not a case of feather pecking by others.

 

[Perris]

but one is growing slower

it's probably dealing with one or more of whatever's endemic to your patch. Hopefully it will make a swift recovery and gather some immunity in the process.