Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Windrider]

I haven't read the study and you don't mention what the objectives of the study were. On the face of it it seems like yet another of those science studies that go something like we took two chickens, chopped the head off one chicken and it died while the other chicken carried on living.
Suppose the chicken, having pecked the enlarger looked at the result and though, well that's not any more interesting then what I had so I may as well have a smaller space within which I feel safe.
If instead they had constructed a run of a very limited size that thhe chicken could see out of and then offered the chicken to increase the size of the run, I wonder if the result would have been the same.
The Ex Batts on the allotment show a distinct preference to the lager run than they do to the smaller. They don't have to come out when I open the gate.

No, I agree absolutely. I did say this was a study made for the California egg industry to find out, probably not how big an enclosure to give the hens, but how small they could get away with and still be considered "humane." It did lead to considerably bigger cages for the batteries until recently when California banned caged batteries entirely.

 

[Shadrach]

this paper https://www.researchgate.net/public..._blood_cellular_composition_in_chicken_breeds
argues that different traditional breeds have significantly different white and red blood cell profiles (independently of the 7 blood groups chickens have - we have 3 [ABO]), which may be more evidence for you Shad of physiological differences developed in different environments; they specifically sought out breeds from different parts of the world. One of the breeds, a Czech one, was a 'bears confinement well' type. The Araucana was not.

I'll see if I can get the full PDF and have a read. Thanks Perris.

 

[RoyalChick]

this paper https://www.researchgate.net/public..._blood_cellular_composition_in_chicken_breeds
argues that different traditional breeds have significantly different white and red blood cell profiles (independently of the 7 blood groups chickens have - we have 3 [ABO]), which may be more evidence for you Shad of physiological differences developed in different environments; they specifically sought out breeds from different parts of the world. One of the breeds, a Czech one, was a 'bears confinement well' type. The Araucana was not.
Edited to add a picture of Maria, Araucana and head hen here, proving the point by owning the whole garden (and paying tax at the same time) View attachment 2931220

In a way it would not be surprising to find that the ‘unnatural selection’ of a chicken breeder would select for traits that were helpful to survival in certain environments.
A chicken breeder in a cold climate is not going to breed birds that do badly in the cold. The breeders intent may be colored eggs or red feathers but in addition s/he may well be selecting in favor of physiological traits that help in the cold and therefore having a similar effect to evolution through natural selection.

 

[Windrider]

No, I agree absolutely. I did say this was a study made for the California egg industry to find out, probably not how big an enclosure to give the hens, but how small they could get away with and still be considered "humane." It did lead to considerably bigger cages for the batteries until recently when California banned caged batteries entirely.

My point was that it was an interesting way to come at the problem: let the chickens decide. You say a Jungle Fowl's forage territory is about an acre, but would all our domesticated breeds of chicken want a full acre? My cochins probably wouldn't. How about coop size? What would they decide and would it change depending on climate?

 

[Perris]

absolutely @RoyalChick

 

[Perris]

How about coop size? What would they decide

some nights my lot decide to pile into one or another coop till its busting at the seams while another one a foot away sits empty!

 

[DobieLover]

Do you know what the temperature was inside the coop DL. I remember when you built it warmth in winter was a consideration.

It wasn't particularly cold after that storm. Maybe high 20s (F).

 

[Ribh]

My point was that it was an interesting way to come at the problem: let the chickens decide. You say a Jungle Fowl's forage territory is about an acre, but would all our domesticated breeds of chicken want a full acre? My cochins probably wouldn't. How about coop size? What would they decide and would it change depending on climate?

My girls are on a 1/4 acre just now. They all use all of it. Only my Golden Campine is interested in expanding her territory by hopping the fence.

 

[Shadrach]

My point was that it was an interesting way to come at the problem: let the chickens decide. You say a Jungle Fowl's forage territory is about an acre, but would all our domesticated breeds of chicken want a full acre? My cochins probably wouldn't. How about coop size? What would they decide and would it change depending on climate?

I don't know. The tribes in Catalonia took up about an acre of territory each. But the tribes moved in and out of each others territory and when there were five tribes they still managed this work around each other bit and the total area only increased say about one third of an acre. The weakest/newest ribe being pushed out to new territory.
The Ex batts started off staying fairly close to the coop run. Some hens were more adventurous than others and ranged further. Now they are all at the limits of the allotment run. This is probably because they've worn out the best forage opportunities in the areas closet to the coop.

 

[Windrider]

My girls are on a 1/4 acre just now. They all use all of it. Only my Golden Campine is interested in expanding her territory by hopping the fence.

I am still reading your thread, but that is the little troublemaker, right?

Campines are a breed known for their foraging, aren't they? Not a breed who "takes confinement well."