Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

I have a hen that I believe has cancer somewhere in the reproductive tract. She hasn't laid an egg in over a year. She has slowed down quite a bit but she only occasionally has a bad day. She still enjoys scratching and digging and chasing the young birds. I don't think she will make it through summer.
It's sad isn't it. Even if vet treatment was a realistic option there isn't much that can be done. I'm in that position here. I just hope that I can tell when it is the right time to kill those that are suffering.
 
We have a Red Shouldered Hawk that has taken up residence and my girls are well aware of its presence and downright skittish. Today was the first day in over a month they actually wanted to venture out and enjoy their freedom. Made me VERY happy to see them be real chickens, and makes me realize I’d really like at least one rooster some day.
Don't expect too much from a rooster when it comes to predators. Most will give a warning call and run for cover with the hens. It's cover and the right kind that saves the chickens. Eventually if they free range they learn how to avoid, or not be seen by the hawks. There are still a few breeds that are too fast and wiley for a hawk to catch. The chickens that I know that have fought hawks have all been female. Mostly the males die by presenting the hawk with a better target because they warn before they run and they are slower than the hens.
 
Even though Flash (Crested Cream Legbar) is a hand raised, hatchery stock, backyard chicken, she is my most skittish hen by a long shot. Her counterparts, also hand raised and hatchery stock, are my most cuddly hens. I know you are rolling your eyes, Shad, but Sunshine voluntarily hops in my lap and tucks her head into my armpit while Flo will peck at me until I pick her up and will then coo at me.

Flash (named for her quick moves)
View attachment 2947335

Sunshine (named for her sunny disposition and fiery feathers)
View attachment 2947336

Flo (named because she goes with the flow… or did as a chick, anyway… now she’s an alpha in the making)
View attachment 2947338
I am rolling my eyes but not because of the reasons you may think.
I had two Ex Battery hens crouch for me yesterday when I lean't down to give them a gentle bum shove to get them out from under my feet.
What sort of hen does that. Never in my years in Spain or on my Uncles farm have I had a hen crouch for me. They all knew I was not a rooster and I guess they all though I was one ugly SOB as well:D

None of the Legbars here show any real interest in my unless there is a possibility of food. That is how they should be. It should take months, maybe years for a chicken to trust you enough to want any form of physical contact.
We are after all by far the worst predator the chicken has ever had to deal with.

I have had a few hens jump onto my lap, or a leg,or even a shoulder but the rule is quite apparent. I can be a climbing frame, a place of safety, or even a place of warmth or somewhere handy to wipe a beak clean, but go to touch one of them and it quite apparent that they are far from impressed. It took me years before Fat Bird would show she wanted me to carry her from one place to another. Even so, it was all to be on her terms.
 
That's good to know. Where I hope to locate is semi rural with foxes & hawks ~ something my girls have never had to deal with so a savvy rooster would be a bonus!
The type of hawk makes a difference. Talk to someone who knows about the hawks in the area.
 
I can't recommend any processed feeds as I'm not familiar with them. My advice is based on books, e.g. Thear Free range poultry (from the 1990s) or older. Their general consensus is that diet is a really important way to control things, and that whilst usually the aim is to maximise laying, it can also be used to achieve other things, including the opposite. Several recommend delaying the onset of laying for various reasons, generally by limiting the amount of protein. But if you have a mixed age flock with moulters, they need the protein; can you separate the youngster for feeding?
Edited to add this link to an online one I'm wading through at the moment
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003011545&view=1up&seq=7
Working my way though this. Thanks Perris. There's some interesting stuff in there. Well worth a read before one goes out and buys yet another bag of Vegan dust.
 
I am rolling my eyes but not because of the reasons you may think.
I had two Ex Battery hens crouch for me yesterday when I lean't down to give them a gentle bum shove to get them out from under my feet.
What sort of hen does that. Never in my years in Spain or on my Uncles farm have I had a hen crouch for me. They all knew I was not a rooster and I guess they all though I was one ugly SOB as well:D

None of the Legbars here show any real interest in my unless there is a possibility of food. That is how they should be. It should take months, maybe years for a chicken to trust you enough to want any form of physical contact.
We are after all by far the worst predator the chicken has ever had to deal with.

I have had a few hens jump onto my lap, or a leg,or even a shoulder but the rule is quite apparent. I can be a climbing frame, a place of safety, or even a place of warmth or somewhere handy to wipe a beak clean, but go to touch one of them and it quite apparent that they are far from impressed. It took me years before Fat Bird would show she wanted me to carry her from one place to another. Even so, it was all to be on her terms.
This was the first year I had birds crouch for me too. Nothing different in terms of raising them compared to other words, except that I might have crouched and been smaller around them more than usual because more were bantams
 

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