Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

Paprika's littles, 3 weeks old tomorrow, are growing in confidence to venture further from her, and she's still got all 7; not bad for a novice who's only just turned 1 herself!

 

[ManueB]

Tax for the show trash: Chirk is positively glowing in the morning sunshine
View attachment 3194224

He is stunning! ( I may have said this several times before).
Is it Sven in the background ? Do they come close to one another ?

 

[Shadrach]

There is something about your body attitude, or the chicken's trust, or a bit of both, to be able to take care of hens like this.

I spend a lot more time with the hens than my partner and I do most of the feeding and cleaning. However when we have to hold one, most will stay on my partner, but not on me. (No, I'm not jealous . )

We had to handle a bit Caramel when she was sick (gave her a dewormer for five days with a syringe). She was already a bit skittish, but now both of us can barely touch her.

I don't know what it is. What I do know is it exasperates C and used to do the same to the people I lived with in Catalonia. When I applied for the job I had on a Hertfordshire chicken farm I got the job because I was able to pick up the roosters and hens without much fuss.

All of the chicken keepers I knew in Catalonia had the same ability/gift/whatever. All bar one were male and a pretty rough looking lot at that. See them with their chickens and you would pass your new born child over to them without a second thought.

I'm sure experience makes a difference as does confidence which often comes with experience.

 

[Perris]

He is stunning! ( I may have said this several times before).
Is it Sven in the background ? Do they come close to one another ?

That's Phoenix in the background, the heir apparent, and yes he and Chirk get on absolutely fine. For now. Chirk and Sven come close only in the sense that Chirk sometimes catches Sven and gives him a wallop Chirk will probably get the same treatment from Phoenix when the latter is ready to challenge for the top spot, and I'm hoping that the two old boys, father S and son C, then reconcile their differences, and keep each other company on the fringes of the flock. Mine hasn't subdivided into 'tribes' as Shad's did. They stay as one flock, with subordinate younger males retained and only the grandfather driven out.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Dogs and Chickens use to be horses also ...
I understand what gift it is.
Tax.

 

[Shadrach]

Chicken moving again tonight. 7 in there I think. Nobody in the main coop. They are on, or underneath the coop run bar, in the smaller coop, or in the new coop.
As you can see, the duatbath has dried out.

Matilda.

"Nope, he's not on it."

 

[Shadrach]

I've got a doorway sitter.
For those of you who may be unfamilier with the term. doorway sitter, it is one of the most irritating facets of chicken behaviour. A hen goes early to roost and then plants herself slap bang in the middle of the doorway.
There are hissy fit doorway sitters. I don't care if you clamber all over me doorway sitters. There are those that peck anyone more junior if the try to get in the coop doorway sitters. All are complete pain in the arse. This one is a clamber all over me type.

One of the things I learnt while building small coops is to run the roost bars either side of the pop hatch from front to back (pop hatch front)
The idea is assuming you have hight enough roost bars is when the chickens are on the roost bars they have to really strain to peck a chicken walking towards the back of the coop to find a spot. All the Ex Battery hens and the Legbars can also go under the roost bar. Of course, this relies on chickens actually getting on the roost bars.

There were three on the roost bars when I left this evening. Those that have been roosting in the main coop have got into the habit of sleeping on the floor and are doing it in the new coop.

 

[no fly zone]

I've got a doorway sitter.
For those of you who may be unfamilier with the term. doorway sitter, it is one of the most irritating facets of chicken behaviour. A hen goes early to roost and then plants herself slap bang in the middle of the doorway.
There are hissy fit doorway sitters. I don't care if you clamber all over me doorway sitters. There are those that peck anyone more junior if the try to get in the coop doorway sitters. All are complete pain in the arse. This one is a clamber all over me type.

One of the things I learnt while building small coops is to run the roost bars either side of the pop hatch from front to back (pop hatch front)
The idea is assuming you have hight enough roost bars is when the chickens are on the roost bars they have to really strain to peck a chicken walking towards the back of the coop to find a spot. All the Ex Battery hens and the Legbars can also go under the roost bar. Of course, this relies on chickens actually getting on the roost bars.

There were three on the roost bars when I left this evening. Those that have been roosting in the main coop have got into the habit of sleeping on the floor and are doing it in the new coop.

Skeksis loved to peck junior birds at bedtime when she lived in the small coop. She stopped upon transfer to the big coop.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

My birds are doing fine. The coop has a high ceiling and plenty of ventilation, plus shade cloth.

Florida gets plenty of wind (hurricanes yay).

There is always wind except when you need it.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good evening one and all!

93 partly sunny 41 % humidity feels like 97 with rain off and on.

Have a great day!