Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

But even if there is understanding about how much calcium a laying hen needs, it seems like their physiology would not be adapted to processing that much calcium over their lifetime. What I am trying to say is that an animal like a male elk, which grows massive antlers every year and uses a ferocious amount of calcium to do so, is physiologically adapted to do so. Even giving a hen the amount of calcium she needs to lay without drawing from her bones, is she really adapted to processing that amount of calcium for her entire lifetime, coming from a species that doesn't lay that many eggs?

I don't think hens do adapt to this.

 

[LaFleche]

But even if there is understanding about how much calcium a laying hen needs, it seems like their physiology would not be adapted to processing that much calcium over their lifetime. What I am trying to say is that an animal like a male elk, which grows massive antlers every year and uses a ferocious amount of calcium to do so, is physiologically adapted to do so. Even giving a hen the amount of calcium she needs to lay without drawing from her bones, is she really adapted to processing that amount of calcium for her entire lifetime, coming from a species that doesn't lay that many eggs?

I read that they tried to up their calcium intake, but it did not work. Now they try to add some special fatty acids to help with the calcium uptake.

 

[Shadrach]

On a much much happier note it's very hard to believe that this fluffy butt in the picture belongs to that sickly looking death wish hen I had on my lap. This is Lima with her bestie Similie.
I think I may know in part why she has improved beyond the current state of most of the other Ex Batts. Lima spends a lot of time with the Legbars rather than with the RSLs. I've watched Lima watching the Legbars. The Legbars behaviour is noticably different to all but the Light Sussexes. All the legbars ran from the moment I started to let them out. They all dig. They all groom more than the RSLs. They all eat roots which most of the RSLs haven't dug to find yet.
All the Lagbars will take trips to the commercial feed when they are in the allotment run and Lima does the same. I often see her trot off to the feed holder and grab a few pellets before heading back out again. The RSLs tend to come out and stay out and only go back to the commercial feed just before roosting time.

 

[RoyalChick]

This is one sign of imminent problems. The shell is very thin. Thin shells are not something I'm seeing throughout. I think this is one of Slide's.
Golden Comets seem to be so badly bred that their life span is even shorter than the RSLs.
View attachment 2937871

I am unfortunately very familiar with that issue. That is what Elizabeth had and I assume she died because of some related reproductive issue.
Diana also had that issue but has stopped laying for a while and I am just praying she is able to put real shells on her eggs in the spring.

 

[Shadrach]

Most afternoons I take the chickens a container of treat food.
Today I took one apple chopped. Two tomatoes chopped. A handful of walnuts chopped. Two hadfulls of cooked peas. A handful of chopped cabage. A handful of cracked corn. This is for 20 chickens. I feed this to them in the run because of bird flu and wait while they eat. I spread it between one long plastic tray feeder, two ceramic bowls and keep some in my hand for the juniors who may get edged out from the bowls and tray.
I always give Henry some first. Fortunately this is fairly easy because the hens can't reach my hand without jumping, Henry is that much taller then any of the hens.
I am about to change my chicken time to mornings on some days so I can get them used to returninng to the run. So far I've made my life easy by getting to the allotments at around 2pm and staying until dusk, about 4.30 when the go to roost when Henry calls them in.
I'm doing this because of the weather mainly. Some days the morning weather is sunny and the clouds don't roll in until the afternoon. This seems to be a regular weather pattern here in Bristol.

 

[Shadrach]

It's an unfortunate reality that the Ex Batts and the Legbars will never be able to run around in the allotment run unsupervised. I think two hours a day out of the coop run may be enough for them at the moment. After two hours they tend to gather under the trees to preen and on the rare days when the ground is dry enough, dust bath.
The tribes in Catalonia settled into a routine where an hour or so in the morning was spent foraging. It didn't seem to matter much what the weather was. After this they headed for shelter, if not from the sun then from sight from the skies.
They spent most of their day under cover of one sort or another be it my house, a bush or in the car port or other animal enclosures. The exceptions to this were in general when a hen wanted to lay an egg and she and her rooster would head off to the nest site.

 

[MaryJanet]

When I touch the bellies of my broodies, they feel much warmer and even develop some reddish brood patches.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_patch

Anything chicken related is fine and yes there is a rise in temperature but I can't remember how much.

So, without the behavioural factors, would it be possible to mistake a broody hen's hot belly for something else? Eg an inflammation?

 

[Perris]

Here is another study that might be of interest:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210902124929.htm

going to the original study in plos one, it is disconcerting to find (in the methods section) that " The free-range flocks included were, due to housing restrictions imposed during an outbreak of avian influenza in the winter of 2016–2017, reclassified as free-range," because 'free range' therefore evidently means housed. The claim that ""We see these types of fractures in all production systems. That is, regardless of whether the hens are kept in cages, or they are organic or barn or free-range hens. In other words, it is a widespread problem in all parts of the industry," in the science daily summary is, therefore, very misleading. Free range is a meaningless term at the best of times. During an AI outbreak it is simply false.

 

[LaFleche]

going to the original study in plos one, it is disconcerting to find (in the methods section) that " The free-range flocks included were, due to housing restrictions imposed during an outbreak of avian influenza in the winter of 2016–2017, reclassified as free-range," because 'free range' therefore evidently means housed. The claim that ""We see these types of fractures in all production systems. That is, regardless of whether the hens are kept in cages, or they are organic or barn or free-range hens. In other words, it is a widespread problem in all parts of the industry," in the science daily summary is, therefore, very misleading. Free range is a meaningless term at the best of times. During an AI outbreak it is simply false.

Indeed!

 

[LaFleche]

So, without the behavioural factors, would it be possible to mistake a broody hen's hot belly for something else? Eg an inflammation?

Internal or external inflammation? I am not sure what you are driving at, is there a special concern regarding one of your hens?