Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

Spring has sprung; the juices start flowing in people with green fingers and the days are longer. I expect you'll see a lot more about from now on.

I don't know if I want the peace disturbed by a bunch of avid vegetable growers discussing the size of their marrows.

 

[Shadrach]

What’s going on with this gal’s feet? Just mud or the mites you’re talking about?

She had minor SLM which got treated but the scales stay up until they are shed as you may know. Many of them have mud around the ankle but with fairly clean and dry feet.

 

[Shadrach]

For the past few nights Henry has wanted to stay on the perch that's in the corner of the coop mesh walls. He was on this perch the first night I saw them. Matilda likes to perch on one side and Fret on the other of Henry.
I've been taking Henry off the perch and putting him in the coop with the rest of the hens the past few nights. Matilda and Fret and any others on the roost bar follow Henry in.
I let him stay out tonight. He seems to think it's warm enough and he has three hens with him.

 

[Solanacae]

She had minor SLM which got treated but the scales stay up until they are shed as you may know. Many of them have mud around the ankle but with fairly clean and dry feet.

I actually didn’t know that the scales stay up, thanks for teaching me!

 

[pennyJo1960]

This tax I have needed to pay Smudge is getting tail feathers back and a ferw of his girls. Last photo is the frame of the new coop.

 

[ManueB]

Absolutely no doubt about it. It's what shortens the high production hens life span.

I'm sure I've posted on this before. Very roughly, there are so many eggs in a hen. She can lay them quickly and wear herself out, or she can lay them slowly with rest inbetween and live longer.

A hen that lays 100 eggs a year and lives to be ten years old lays exactly the same amount of eggs as a hen that lives to three and bit years old but lays 300 a year for three years and 100 in her fourth year.

Jungle fowl lay from 15 eggs a year up to around 30.

Sorry for making you repeat this, as my question wasn't clear. I had read your explanations, and the discussions in this thread.
When I wondered why you prefered less eggs at the end of the day, I wasn't thinking of the whole process of laying almost every day, and the way humans have turned hens into egg factories. I was wondering if you thought the action of laying one egg was in itself a difficult or painful thing for a hen, regardless of the hen's type and the number of times she will lay in a year.

3 of my ex batts seem to pass off the egg in less than 10 minutes (not counting the time to make up their mind choosing where to lay). 3 take 30 minutes to an hour and sometimes makes noises as if they were in pain, or struggling. Sometimes, one will act as if she is going to lay and then leave the nest for say 45 mn later with nothing in it ; and those times get me worried.

I have the exact opposite reaction to yours and tend to feel reassured when my hens have laid, because I know two of them are prone to being egg bound and laying soft shells, so when I find their healthy egg I feel like they've made it through the difficulty of the day.

That's why I found surprising that you prefered when you didn't find too many eggs . I guess you have a long term perspective , when I see day to day.

 

[ManueB]

This tax I have needed to pay Smudge is getting tail feathers back and a ferw of his girls. Last photo is the frame of the new coop.View attachment 3034559View attachment 3034560View attachment 3034561View attachment 3034562

Glad brave Smudge is growing up a tail!

 

[ManueB]

I don't know if I want the peace disturbed by a bunch of avid vegetable growers discussing the size of their marrows.

It's hard to be a lonesome chicken keeper amongst avid vegetable growers. You will have to learn their language, as you become one of them!

 

[RoyalChick]

It's hard to be a lonesome chicken keeper amongst avid vegetable growers. You will have to learn their language, as you become one of them!

Then there are those of us who grow vegetables for our chickens. That 'big marrow' Shad referred to sounds like days of chicken fun to me!

 

[RoyalChick]

Sorry for making you repeat this, as my question wasn't clear. I had read your explanations, and the discussions in this thread.
When I wondered why you prefered less eggs at the end of the day, I wasn't thinking of the whole process of laying almost every day, and the way humans have turned hens into egg factories. I was wondering if you thought the action of laying one egg was in itself a difficult or painful thing for a hen, regardless of the hen's type and the number of times she will lay in a year.

3 of my ex batts seem to pass off the egg in less than 10 minutes (not counting the time to make up their mind choosing where to lay). 3 take 30 minutes to an hour and sometimes makes noises as if they were in pain, or struggling. Sometimes, one will act as if she is going to lay and then leave the nest for say 45 mn later with nothing in it ; and those times get me worried.

I have the exact opposite reaction to yours and tend to feel reassured when my hens have laid, because I know two of them are prone to being egg bound and laying soft shells, so when I find their healthy egg I feel like they've made it through the difficulty of the day.

That's why I found surprising that you prefered when you didn't find too many eggs . I guess you have a long term perspective , when I see day to day.

I know exactly what you mean. Diana has now totally given up any attempt to put shells on her eggs and every time I find one I feel some relief in that I know she is OK for another 24 hours. I do also watch her behavior very closely.
Conversely Maggie, who really has no business being alive let alone laying (she had a run of Lash eggs about 18 months ago), is going through a frequent laying for spring phase, and every day I beg her to take a break!
Minnie is the only one of mine who seems to have mastered the whole process. She lays a teeny, tiny egg roughly every 4-5 days. You need about 4-5 of them to make a halfway decent-sized omelet but they are worth waiting for.
It is so sad what we have done to the genetics of these lovely creatures.