Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[no fly zone]

As all of you know AGE IS JUST A NUMBER!

Remember you are only as old as you feel.

I'm 77 now and would not ever want to go back in time.

I'm 43, but did 21 yrs in the army. One year of military service is like three civilian years.

 

[bruceha2000]

I bet, especially if you are in a combat zone. Hard on your body and hard on your psyche.
Thank you for your service

 

[Perris]

I found red mite in the nest boxes of one of the coops today, so a good clean was called for. I thought it'd be a good opportunity to show how easy it is with a Green Frog/ Nestera coop. It takes about 10 minutes to remove lynch pins to disassemble this far (which was as far as I thought necessary; complete disassembly of the nest boxes, partial disassembly of the coop) and sweep out the litter

Here the back left corner of the coop is closest to us. The entire back comes off for ease of access. The nest boxes fit to the two arched holes facing us. The roosts go through the small square holes in their bottom right sections, across to a matching hole in the opposite wall. The inside is perfectly smooth, which means no hiding places for parasites except the cut-outs where pieces slot together, and very easy to clean.

After a blast with the power washer it's left in the sun to dry & disinfect

and then another 10 mins to reassemble and fill with new shavings

I also smear petroleum jelly around the small square holes where the roosts go through the coop wall either side, to trap any of the little buggers that I might have missed with the power washer when/if they attempt to get on the roost. I made the chain curtain for the pop hole; it keeps flies out and apparently deters foxes.

 

[Ribh]

Heck I am 62 but certain Shad nows that.
tax.View attachment 3237431

And he knows I'm older than you. Luckily age is no barrier to chicken keeping.

 

[Ribh]

I agree with you. Although I believe we should eat less meat, raising a war between organic cattle raisers and vegans, as sometimes seems to be the case in the US, is just a way of again not addressing the real problems of delocalized mass production in monocultural systems.
Not having all eggs in the same basket is the one thing that would seem common sense now!

People are being forced to address this in part here with food shortages & the escalating price of groceries. My entire extended family has thought me mad for keeping chickens. Now they are @ my doorstep begging eggs because eggs are not to be had @ the supermarket. I have 1 DIL about to ask her landlord if she can keep a couple of chickens. I told her if she was prepared to wait I would be doing a hatch & I was prepared to give her a couple of pullets, if I have them. My neighbour is also after a 2nd hen as a mate for her lone 1. And if the pandemic is anything to go by pullets, chicks & POL will be impossible to acquire shortly as demand exceeds availability.

 

[Shadrach]

I found red mite in the nest boxes of one of the coops today, so a good clean was called for. I thought it'd be a good opportunity to show how easy it is with a Green Frog/ Nestera coop. It takes about 10 minutes to remove lynch pins to disassemble this far (which was as far as I thought necessary; complete disassembly of the nest boxes, partial disassembly of the coop) and sweep out the litter
View attachment 3238030
Here the back left corner of the coop is closest to us. The entire back comes off for ease of access. The nest boxes fit to the two arched holes facing us. The roosts go through the small square holes in their bottom right sections, across to a matching hole in the opposite wall. The inside is perfectly smooth, which means no hiding places for parasites except the cut-outs where pieces slot together, and very easy to clean.
View attachment 3238040
After a blast with the power washer it's left in the sun to dry & disinfect
View attachment 3238042
and then another 10 mins to reassemble and fill with new shavings
View attachment 3238045
I also smear petroleum jelly around the small square holes where the roosts go through the coop wall either side, to trap any of the little buggers that I might have missed with the power washer when/if they attempt to get on the roost. I made the chain curtain for the pop hole; it keeps flies out and apparently deters foxes.

The Solway coop I bought doesn't come to bits so easily. One can lean into the back and reach the front corners. The floor is bolted in but it will come out.
As you've seen some of, the Solway requires some alterations to get it to work properly. I did look at the Frog coops but they don't make one as big as the Solway. From what I can see, the Frog coops are a better design and look better made.
I'm still happy with the Solway. See how it does over the winter.

 

[Ribh]

I practically have to beg people to save me their egg cartons... and they still toss them in the rubbish...

I used to write in BIG LETTERS: please return carton ~ & no~one ever did. Then a lovely lady @ church saved all the cafe cartons from where she worked & my neighbours have twigged so now I have more cartons than I can possibly use. Changing people's habits can be really hard.

 

[RoyalChick]

I used to write in BIG LETTERS: please return carton ~ & no~one ever did. Then a lovely lady @ church saved all the cafe cartons from where she worked & my neighbours have twigged so now I have more cartons than I can possibly use. Changing people's habits can be really hard.

I have a little stamp that says to return the carton and I stamp it on the lid inside.
Generally people do and some have started giving me the ones from the grocery store too so I am inundated!
Good thing is they compost down easily and make good pots for seedlings, I also use them as fire lighters in the winter.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I used to write in BIG LETTERS: please return carton ~ & no~one ever did. Then a lovely lady @ church saved all the cafe cartons from where she worked & my neighbours have twigged so now I have more cartons than I can possibly use. Changing people's habits can be really hard.

My solution to that was to offer $1 off when bringing me a carton and it works great! I sell my eggs for the same as Costco and that is a good deal. I just want it to be my town neighbors etc who get the deal.
It does not solve the leakage of give aways though and that breaks my heart a little. Bottom line is people should feel horrified tossing out their plastic like it is bathwater. That part is what I have the biggest problem with.
I did purchase a fancy stamp and sticker and am hoping it helps...

I started sewing bags

And with the selling of chicks I am feeling super inspired today. Thinking about a website... lol. Obviously I forgot to take my meds....

 

[Shadrach]

I wasn't expecting much I admit. I've tried a pop up, right on, sustainable, renewable, natural, environmental market before. Lots of good intentions but not a lot else going for them. I counted 35 visitors between 9.30am and 5pm. I will have missed a few because I went and did a bit of shopping with my youngest.
This is Bristol, not some small country town. The venue was in a high traffic area for independant shops. There is something very wrong with a venue that can't market itself well enough to only attract such a small number of people.