Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Marie2020]

Mine like the feathery green carrot tops, so I grow them out from the top of the carrot for them.
I am willing to modify my life for the sake of my princesses, but I refuse to give up eating carrots personally. So that is the best we have managed to figure out so far.
We have completely failed to come to an accommodation on the topic of leeks which I also refuse to give up and which they despise.

I got hold of carrots with tops from the market today. I'm not sure where they are from and aware they may of been sprayed so I washed them and left them too soak in water with a drop of acv, I'll leave them too dry later and hang them outside so they can have a nibble in the morning.

 

[alwaystj9]

Are there No tax free threads left on this site? You disappear for a few months and everyone starts charging taxes! What is the world coming to??? Tax: Chunk (Roostie’s boy!)View attachment 2988570

I don't understand: In the US right now, with feed prices as high as they are, anyone with chickens is now a non-profit so should be tax exempt...

 

[NatJ]

I don't understand: In the US right now, with feed prices as high as they are, anyone with chickens is now a non-profit so should be tax exempt...

Not making a profit, probably true.
Official status as a "non-profit," not true for most people.

Most pets (dogs and cats and so on) do NOT make a profit, but supplies for them are not tax exempt, so I don't see why pet chickens would get an exception either.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Special Shad tax.

Feral cockerel keeping a weather eye on me as I do this thread lol

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Special Shad tax.View attachment 2988724View attachment 2988720
Feral cockerel keeping a weather eye on me as I do on this thread lol

Oooo, chicken tree. I want one!

 

[Shadrach]

Off subject question : I'm a total ignorant about roosters and I'm discovering things now that I have a backyard mix bantam cockerel (since end of November). Théo is growing up , I have no clue what age he is. He is beginning to make all kind of new sounds that I've never heard my hens make, other sounds than crowing I mean.

One in particular is intriguing me : it sounds like something between a bark, and a growl. It's very brief and urgent. I am wondering if this is some kind of alarm (he does make my hen's usual alarm sounds also) or agression. Can any of you shed light on this ?
View attachment 2988225

I've been very interested in chicken language for many years. I've identified over 30 different calls. It's fraught with problems. Each chickens has a different voice. It's very difficult for a human to differentiate many of the calls. Part of this is because we can't replicate them. Chickens have voice boxes essentially while we have vocal chords. Chickens will make vocal responses to vibrations which they pick up through sensors in their legs. We don't feel or hear these.
What I found made identifying calls easier was not by listening to the call or watching the the chicken that made the call, but watching what the rest of the flock do when a particular call is made. If one sees the same response from a tribe for a particular call one can often work out with a high degree of certainty what the call means to the chickens.

For example, many people think that awful racket chickens make when a predator strikes is the a warning call. But, if you watch and listen to a rooster who spots a predator, the call he makes to his hens is comparativley quiet; this might be what you are hearing. The roosters warning call is meant to be heard by his tribe, not the entire world. He gives a quiet warning, the tribe look up, if the threat is imminent they run....and then they make all that racket. So, there is a warning call and then there is a general alarm call.

There are many other calls one can identify by watching what happens which I won't go into here.

You might find this article helpful when it comes to understanding your rooster.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

 

[Shadrach]

It is funny how much their tastes differ. I've learned to bring kale stems for the roosters and one Langshan hen and kale leaves for all the others. Our hen named Carrots likes raw carrots more than anyone else, though she was named Carrots long before we knew that. Funny how their names work out.

The cutest thing is our rooster with a sweet tooth. Hand him nasturtium flowers or pumpkin, and he'll tidbit all day, but it torments him to share ripe pears or little bits of banana. He'll do it, but only until each girl has had a bite. After that, it's game on.

Tax: Sweet-toothed Stilton herding Frida Bakawlo, a.k.a., the One-Wattle Wonder, after she wandered too far from the flock.
View attachment 2988330
Look how proud he is when she listened to him. That's what a smiling chicken looks like.
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What a lovely couple. Is she the roosters favourite?

 

[Shadrach]

Tax:
Goldilocks and Ginger. Ginger is in front in the two pictures with both of them. Now that they’re finishing up their juvenile molt, I’m better able to tell the difference between the two. Goldilocks has always had more white on her neck, and she also has a little white mottling on her wings. Ginger is looking like she’s going to be a bit bigger than Goldilocks.

Love that first picture.

 

[MaryJanet]

Special Shad tax.View attachment 2988724View attachment 2988720
Feral cockerel keeping a weather eye on me as I do on this thread lol

That. Is. Awesome!

 

[Shadrach]

Are there No tax free threads left on this site? You disappear for a few months and everyone starts charging taxes! What is the world coming to??? Tax: Chunk (Roostie’s boy!)View attachment 2988570

You know how it is Kris. Lovely to see you. Read your post on Bob's thread.