Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Ribh]

Poor Shad, do I look and "like" or look away and miss the chickens? Such a dilemma.

He's a big boy.

 

[Shadrach]

We keep a lot of roosters and have had only one that needed culling and a dog eventually got him. Currently have 8 roosters and about 2 dozen hens.

What are the ages of your roosters? The most I had at one time was nine males. A few of these were cockerels.

 

[Shadrach]

I let him go where he pleases. The first day I put it on I brought him inside and put the harness on one step at a time. Put his head through the front, piece of bread. Clip it, piece of bread. Attach leash, piece of bread. I brought him outside and got him to walk around with a piece of bread. He still backs out of it, but with correction he rights himself and keeps on eating. It is kind of like his free range time, because where we are I do not let them out, all of my chickens would be gone in a day.

A young contributor to BYC wrote what I thought was a wonderful article on how to fit a chicken harness.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-use-a-chicken-harness.75209/

 

[Shadrach]

What about this one....?
View attachment 3006192

That four legged chicken looks a bit nervous.

 

[GregnLety]

My hens strongly disagree with me having brought in a cockerel !

I think it's very much a cultural thing, this dislike of crowing. Here people love roosters crow. There's at least 30 rooster in a village of 100 people. The old timer farmer that gave us the cockerel kept asking us every day if he had started crowing and even offered to give us another one in case he didn't. Which he did in time, of course!

I must admit if he hadn't dropped Théo on us, we wouldn't have taken a rooster, even though we have enough space. We were hesitant because of all the stories of mean roosters, either with their hens or the humans, and I was scared of having to eventually need to cull a rooster because of his temperament.

We keep a lot of roosters and have had only one that needed culling and a dog eventually got him. Currently have 8 roosters and about 2 doze

What are the ages of your roosters? The most I had at one time was nine males. A few of these were cockerels.

My oldest, Red is 3. We have 3 of his sons whom are less than 1 year. Cholo, our lavender orpington is almost 2. Viejito, our silkie is on the older side but I don't know exactly how old he is. We have a red cochin that is the same age as Cholo. Another young rooster about 8 months old from our neighbor's Japanese bantam. Only the Cochin is foolish enough to pick a fight with the older roosters.

 

[Ribh]

That four legged chicken looks a bit nervous.

He is. The Vorwerks give him curry.

 

[Shadrach]

C was at the allotments again today when I arrived. The chickens and geese were out in the allotment run. C put the geese back in their run when I arrived. They tend to bully the chickens away from their food given the chance and the chickens feel a bit intimidated by the geese.
This is all the chickens at treat time. Henry looks very pleased with himself yet again for providing his hens with some mixed grains and dried shrimps. He's such a fraud!

 

[Ribh]

I appreciate your educational (and they are) posts on chicken keeping. I don’t take it personal because I happen to keep my chickens in what has become the usual model for modern small flocks. Even though I am limited in what I can do, it is always useful to know what the ideal would be. It is always possible to implement to even a small degree, changes that enhance life for a chicken.
And as for commercial egg production, the more we consumers know, the better the pressure we can put on them to treat chickens better.

Ditto. It's the philosophy for me ~ an ideal to strive towards even when the full potential is not possible.

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

Ditto. It's the philosophy for me ~ an ideal to strive towards even when the full potential is not possible.

Exactly!

 

[Anime2lover]

What a hair do ! Must be a pain to dry when they're wet though?

Nope. Dries all on it's own.

C was at the allotments again today when I arrived. The chickens and geese were out in the allotment run. C put the geese back in their run when I arrived. They tend to bully the chickens away from their food given the chance and the chickens feel a bit intimidated by the geese.
This is all the chickens at treat time. Henry looks very pleased with himself yet again for providing his hens with some mixed grains and dried shrimps. He's such a fraud!View attachment 3006472View attachment 3006473

love seeing a flock all together like this

Here is my hedge tax.