Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

They're just like kids.

I prefer chickens.

 

[Shadrach]

Update on Maya the husky and her successful integration. It has been a slow but fruitful training for both me and her. Once I removed her leash and let her first become a member of our pack breaking her from chickens was no problem. I first tested her with my most unfavorite rooster and after she paid him no mind I let her wonder free among any chickens as long as I'm present. She now would rather play and run with her dog friends than chase chickens.

Poor unfavourite rooster.

 

[TropicalBabies]

I like to sit under my live oak and watch my dogs and chickens. They all have their own personalities. They're just like kids.

Hehehehe... ♡

 

[TropicalBabies]

Hey, I'd like to give a shout out to this lovely lady who took her time to coach me via text on my bag making project.

This gal uses her time and talents to help the homeless of Whidbey Island. I was able to purchase a few of her bags via donating to her awesome cause.
Thank you Janet for being one who makes this world a better place! ♡♡♡

 

[Shadrach]

Another dry and pleasant afternoon. Everyone was hungry. They demolished 1.2kg of feed and stood around looking at me expectantly. Bad day for great expectations. I didn't have anything else except apples from the trees. C arrived while I was there and they had noticed the chickens were unusually hungry. There were a few feathers on the floor of the new coop but I think they've had a scrap in there which was reinforced when two went to roost in the old coop. I took them out and put them both on a perch and nothing kicked off. They are going to have to learn to roost together for the time being.

Henry usually walks right past the new coop and heads straight for the outside roost bar in the old coop run.
This evening it looked for a moment like he was going to go in. He got as far as sticking his head through the pop door. It's not even remotely chilly by Henry's standards. Did Henry hear the hens kick off and was considering roosting in the new coop because of this.

I didn't see what it was that Henry found or hear him calling the hens. There was a bit of a stampede.

Matilda comes here quite a lot when I'm there and the sun is shining. There are planks of wood leaning against the wire cage and my chair is half a metre from her rear end. This is where Matilda comes to nap. It doesn't get any safer than this.
There have been a couple of posts recently that led to what is it that makes a senior hen, apart from age. The above is an example.

Henry."He's going to try and stroke my wattles again isn't he."

 

[GregnLety]

I prefer chickens.

Certainly less drama than teenage kids

 

[GregnLety]

Poor unfavourite rooster.

He's my wife's favorite and to a certain degree he is jealous of me. He'll dance around her like he does for his gals. He talks to her but has a growl for me. In all honesty he's the most secure rooster we have being the bosses favorite. Lety has her favorites and I have mine so I guess that's why we have nine roosters and 20ish hens.

 

[no fly zone]

I prefer chickens.

Agreed.

 

[Shadrach]

Lima.
Lima has gone from that poor wretched creature you may remember from some of my earliest posts to being a very successful hen. Yep, she looks a bit of a mess; she always has. She has filled out and is very active. She is probably the fittest hen here if running around is any measure. She is very alert and aware of who to avoid which she does with a nimble ease.
With me she's been a completely calm hen to handle since before she fell asleep on my lap.
I wrote many pages back about the day she backed down a goose having found herself with little option. A goose mind you, three times her bodyweight and a longer reach.
Most of the hens seem to like her. She has some bond with one of the legbars which I don't understand that lets her mingle in with them and she does.
Henry likes her as you can see from the back of her head.
It's Lima you've seen roosting with Henry, Mtilda and the Legbars in earlier pictures. I've put her in the new coop and she comes straight back out. There's no fuss or drama about it. I pick her up, open the back of the coop and put her ona perch. By the time I've secured the door and got to the front of the coop, Lima had come out of the pop door and was heading for Henry and the others. I could see us doing this routine all night. Sometimes it's better to go with the flow...
Most nights she roosts next to Henry on one side or the other.
She eats well. She a very active forager and eats things that some of the others wont.
She can dig and knows how and when to do it. She's very quick. It's dig, check, dig, check, and on to the next site.

If I was a breeder it's this hens genes I would want go forward.

 

[Shadrach]

Certainly less drama than teenage kids

Yep, and chicks make such better looking babies