Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

Aloha kakahiaka folks,
It's 7:30am and I am not sweating but wearing a jacket! Went all winter without putting one of these on- the coolness up here feels wonderful.
Made it up last eve, very sure my chickens remember this spot from last year. They took to it happily & comfortable-ly.
20220722_190628.jpg

Bedtime bully aka door troll ☑
20220722_190653.jpg

Nest boxes with new material ☑
20220723_065639.jpg

Boundaries ☑
20220723_063221.jpg

Well, gotta get a coffee and do some work around here. Sorry for the prepaid taxes 😋 So, prepaid tax- tax. Have an awesome safe day all!
20220723_065405.jpg
 
Aloha kakahiaka folks,
It's 7:30am and I am not sweating but wearing a jacket! Went all winter without putting one of these on- the coolness up here feels wonderful.
Made it up last eve, very sure my chickens remember this spot from last year. They took to it happily & comfortable-ly.View attachment 3196945
Bedtime bully aka door troll ☑View attachment 3196955
Nest boxes with new material ☑View attachment 3197048
Boundaries ☑View attachment 3197083
Well, gotta get a coffee and do some work around here. Sorry for the prepaid taxes 😋 So, prepaid tax- tax. Have an awesome safe day all!View attachment 3197067
What a beautiful setting!
 
Took the girls out for more “landscaping” today. Their run is 20 feet long, and this is the gated walkway between the run & the garden. I have multiple spaces fenced/gated that I can put them out for short periods, including the very large garden once the veggies are pulled. So glad we designed it this way, free-range is out of the question with our dogs and the neighbors dogs. But having fresh grass/weeds/plants and time for ground to recuperate is the best I can do. They have 20 feet per bird in the run when I do have to put them in if no one is home.

1658605461444.jpeg
 
@Shadrach and all ex-batts followers, I'm dealing with another very unwell hen and hesitating whether to take her for a 1h45 ride to the vet. Would you have an opinion ? https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/is-it-wise-to-attempt-a-1h45-trip-to-the-vet.1539953/
I wouldn't have considered it if I hadn't lost Vanille on Thursday ...but I'm not being very rational at this time.
I think I would try. It sounds like something that won't fix itself , nor something that the sort of medications most of us keep on hand will fix. Something over the carrier to keep it dark will help keep her calm & if you have air con in the car, that will help keep her cool. Take her off the roost & crate her @ night so she won't be as difficult to handle. Will the vet give you any advice over the phone meantime? One word of caution, I've taken sick hens to the vet & after a lot of time & expense they have still died. Hens I have left alone have fought & lived to fight another day. I've not dealt with something like you're describing though. :hugs I hope Caramel makes it.
 
Aloha kakahiaka folks,
It's 7:30am and I am not sweating but wearing a jacket! Went all winter without putting one of these on- the coolness up here feels wonderful.
Made it up last eve, very sure my chickens remember this spot from last year. They took to it happily & comfortable-ly.View attachment 3196945
Bedtime bully aka door troll ☑View attachment 3196955
Nest boxes with new material ☑View attachment 3197048
Boundaries ☑View attachment 3197083
Well, gotta get a coffee and do some work around here. Sorry for the prepaid taxes 😋 So, prepaid tax- tax. Have an awesome safe day all!View attachment 3197067
It looks lovely there. It must feel wonderfull to feel cool.
 
@Shadrach and all ex-batts followers, I'm dealing with another very unwell hen and hesitating whether to take her for a 1h45 ride to the vet. Would you have an opinion ? https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/is-it-wise-to-attempt-a-1h45-trip-to-the-vet.1539953/
I wouldn't have considered it if I hadn't lost Vanille on Thursday ...but I'm not being very rational at this time.
I do have an opinion.

It rather depends on the vet. A livestock vet will tell you to kill her. A pet vet is very unlikely to know or care much about a chicken and may take your money but not tell you the truth..

If one can't see what is wrong (things like water belly and prolapse right down to mites you can see) then it's an internal problems which needs tests and equipment and experience in dealing with chickens. I was extremely lucky in Catalonia to find Gloria (vet) who specialised in birds when she was training. There was one other person she told me, an old man who used to bring his rooster, that had brought chickens to her since she had joined the surgery.
The best thing about Gloria is she told you the truth. She was able to say "I don't know and don't have the equipment to find out whats wrong. I could guess but I could be wrong."
So, there's the first consideration; do you trust the vet?

The probability is that whatever illness she has it's going to be terminal. From the little experience I have of Ex Battery hens they are fine and then within a few days they die. One gets to know when it's just an off day or two and whether they are going to pull through. I think I'm on death 10 or 11 now and most have died quickly.

So then there's can you and should you help them.
Given the life and the damage typical to the battery breeds part of me feels as I think Ribh does that a quiet death somewhere in familiar surroundings, with whatever friends and enemies they may have made while living together, is the more dignified death than what often means isolation and stress involved in trying while the keeper tries to get the chicken well.
We humans haven't embraced our relationship with death well. It effects our view in as much as we are often convinced everything is fixable.

I set out what I was prepared to do and what I wasn't at the beginning. I think it's something important for Ex Battery hen keepers to do once properly informed on life span and likely terminal illnesses. Even if I could find a vet who knew something about chickens, every one of these Ex Battery hens is likely to be dead by this time next year. That's an awful lot of vet visits.

I wouldn't take her to the vet. If you can bear it watch her die and if necessary intervene and help her on her way. Strange though it may seem it's good for you and I believe good for the chicken.
 
@Shadrach and all ex-batts followers, I'm dealing with another very unwell hen and hesitating whether to take her for a 1h45 ride to the vet. Would you have an opinion ? https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/is-it-wise-to-attempt-a-1h45-trip-to-the-vet.1539953/
I wouldn't have considered it if I hadn't lost Vanille on Thursday ...but I'm not being very rational at this time.
I usually give them Mercy, rather than let them suffer. Even with cats and dogs, Vets around here take your money, run a ton of expensive tests, don't have any more idea than I have... and I take home an animal to die
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom