Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

Hmmm, that looks like a mixed flock to me...
A little tax to pay now I think: here's Aber, triumphantly looking down from the top of the washing line pole. That girl can really fly!

 

[Shadrach]

Hmmm, that looks like a mixed flock to me...
A little tax to pay now I think: here's Aber, triumphantly looking down from the top of the washing line pole. That girl can really fly! View attachment 2949078

Oh it is a mixed flock but there are, or were, four distinct groups.
I realise those with mixed flocks will sieze any pictorial opportuntiy to point out I'm wrong but do come round to the allotments for a few days and you'll see my point.
There is nothing so inconvenient as a self evident truth.

 

[Shadrach]

More mixed flock pictures just for Perris.

But, this lot could easily be mistaken for a mixed flock but they are two distinct tribes.
That's Tribe 3 in the dust bath spot and Tribe 1 waiting for them to move on further up the bank.

 

[Shadrach]

While Henry hasn't shown the sightest animosity towards me he has beeen until the last couple of days what one might call stand offish.
I haven't made an issue of it and let him get on with doing what he does.
What I have done is make sure when I give out any treats, is give some to him first, and then spread the treats around so everyone has a chance of getting some. I also keep some in my hand and lots of the more, erm, forward hens, peck out of my hand. Some still have a bit of a problem in their over enthusiastic pecking and try to rip a finger or two off, but in general everyone gets something. While the hens are barging each other out of the way to get what they consider to be their entitlement, I hand feed Henry.
Even so, when I get get close enough to reach out to touch Henry he has tended to move away.
Two days ago, when I went to my rucksack to get the treats, Henry came over and gently pecked my boot. Yesterday he did the same and I leant down and stroked his wattles. He didn't back away. I did it again today and as you can see in the last picture (I was sitting in my chair) he came over and stood close enough for me to be able to stroke his beak.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I think males like the feeling of their wattles being rubbed gently. I have a few Cochin males that will stand still and let me do. They're near the bottom of the totem though, so they might just know to put up with it

 

[Solanacae]

I'm still reading through it and evidently it's more complicated than just the protein levels. Do read it; there's lots of info and advice for different circumstances. I have't yet got to specific advice for delaying onset of lay.

I read through chapter 2 today. I wish there was a way to bookmark where I am. What I’ve read so far seems very well researched and comprehensive with regards to how the conditions in which we keep chickens has drastically changed over the past century.

 

[Shadrach]

I read through chapter 2 today. I wish there was a way to bookmark where I am. What I’ve read so far seems very well researched and comprehensive with regards to how the conditions in which we keep chickens has drastically changed over the past century.

That's what I'm finding interesting.

 

[Shadrach]

I think males like the feeling of their wattles being rubbed gently. I have a few Cochin males that will stand still and let me do. They're near the bottom of the totem though, so they might just know to put up with it

They do and better still is they have hens that will groom them.

 

[Solanacae]

One of the ISA chicks, Goldilocks, has a much bolder and inquisitive personality than her ‘sister’, Ginger. Ginger still sticks pretty close to mama Caramel, though Caramel doesn’t protect either chick from getting pecked by the other flock members anymore. She does cackle for the chicks when she finds a good pile of scratch or something tasty from the vegetable bucket, but it seems like she’s decided they’re old enough to learn manners from everyone now.

Goldilocks has figured out that when I come outside to check on everyone, I will scatter a little scratch on the ground outside first, then I’ll also toss a little inside the coop for the ladies who don’t like coming outside in the cold as much while I check for eggs. The ‘inside ladies’ have run outside because that’s where they see everyone else furiously scratching, and Goldilocks will follow me into the coop to get some directly from my hand instead of trying to find some in the melee outside. Cordelia seems to have caught on to my routine also - I think she noticed Goldilocks going into the coop and followed her to see what she was up to.

 

[Perris]

They do and better still is they have hens that will groom them.

Your comment reminds me of very sweet scene I witnessed about a month ago: Chirk stood with head down while Venka pecked the wax coatings off the new feathers coming in on the back of his neck, an area that they can't reach themselves of course. It was obvious the pecks were picking off the wax and that he was enjoying it not enduring it.