Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

Because I probably owe tax & if I don't I eventually will.
This is my Vet's rooster free ranging round the surgery.​

Does he do the injections?

 

[Shadrach]

I think I'm correct in writing these were this years intake. I believe one died, one was put out of it's misery. one other was the one I found under the coop.
Accurate information is hard to come by.

 

[Shadrach]

Henry keeping an eye on the red/golden ones.

The others.

 

[Shadrach]

You may have noticed the view in the picture above and the picture in the post before that are a similar view. That's the gate in both pictures.
The place was so overgrown when I started. I weeded the entire side and left the patch on the right under the trees to provide shelter/cover.
In many places in the allotment run the weeds have just been cut back with a brush cutter. This just makes the weeds grow back stronger. I prefer to weed by hand if I want the area to stay reasonably clear.

 

[RoyalChick]

oh dear, tax already due! OK, enjoy Sven, taking full advantage of his camouflage
View attachment 2915372

That is a wonderful picture. Have you entered it for POW?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

He's spectacular.

Oh! Thank you! At the moment he's separated into the bachelor pad with the Dom cockerels until the pullets reach maturity. They will be 16 weeks old next Monday. Five are Doms, seven are EEs. He seems like a jewel so far.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@Shadrach, in an earlier post you said in passing that chickens do not dust bathe to manage lice/ mites. Please could you tell us then, what is their purpose in dust bathing? I had always assumed it was. Thanks.

 

[Shadrach]

@Shadrach, in an earlier post you said in passing that chickens do not dust bathe to manage lice/ mites. Please could you tell us then, what is their purpose in dust bathing? I had always assumed it was. Thanks.

This article explains it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/why-chickens-bath-in-dust-and-not-in-water.74441/

 

[pennyJo1960]

I was alway taught use the wood ash in the dirt to
stop bugs. Never had lice or pests.

 

[MaryJanet]

all stages of the mealworm lifecycle are edible for chickens, and so are their shed skins and their frass. I don't know about quantities - presumably @MaryJanet can advise on that - perhaps including on any differences we should observe between live and dried mealworms...?

I give live mealworms once or twice a year. Lettuce maybe twice a week, and we all share an apple most days.

Keeping the treats to a minimum makes sure the hens tank up on proper food.

There's been discussion about grains and pellets.

I don't want hens with fragile livers grazing selectively through grains, so they eat the highest protein pellet I can find on the market. It's available 24/7 in 4 different feed stations (one for each hen).

Once a day, before roosting, the hens are offered their usual pellets in a mash with the dietary supplements added.

This dietary routine wasn't easy to establish among hens who were used to tanking up on treats and snacking on grain. They weren't happy. I stayed tough and they adjusted over a long time.

Now they're healthy as can be.

Janet and Mary are 3 and a half, Peggy and Ivy are 2 and a half.