Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[ManueB]

I hope everyone here is doing well. We have had some wretched storms lately but everyone is alive. Lots of hail, wind and rain. The chickens have been enclosed. They currently have access to the goat pastures and so far have not strayed from them. They are perfectly capable of escaping as they are jumping part of the fence to access them. As long as they stay in the goat pastures they will be left be. If they decide to come up to the house they will be locked into a roughly 50' by 70' area. With 33 chickens right now it would be a muck pit very quickly.

I have 3 broodies right now, one of which is a hatchery bird from last spring. I will have to get a picture of them but I haven't been out to the coop lately while its light enough to take a picture. The other two are Queen and Sundew. Queen sat last year but none of her eggs were fertile. She does not willingly let any of the boys mount her but I do think someone chases her down every once and a while. The other is Sundew who raised Chickadee, Magpie, Jackdaw, and Grackle last summer. They are all sitting on a mixed clutch of eggs as they are all in the main coop. Queen started sitting 5/8, Sundew the day after, and this hatchery hen just started 3 days ago. I had been taking her eggs because she didn't seem very serious but I gave her eggs yesterday and she is doing well.

I don't know who can deny climate changes anymore with that crazy weather, here we are having ten days with 30 degree celsius.
I'm glad your chickens have found a way of escaping flowerbeds induced captivity !

I wonder if your hen that were broody and molted, didn't do that due to light restriction. I can see my first broody who stays in a dark place turning pale and her comb also fading colour.

 

[Perris]

During the best forage seasons the chickens in Catalonia ate a very small amount of commercial feed. I used to get the piss taken at the chicken club for feeding them any commercial feed at all.

so what did the other members of the chicken club feed their birds, especially in winter when forage is poorest?

 

[Perris]

I can see my first broody who stays in a dark place turning pale and her comb also fading colour.

being broody really takes a toll on their bodies; most of mine (with the exception of naive pullets) don't go broody unless/until they are in great shape physically.

 

[ManueB]

being broody really takes a toll on their bodies; most of mine (with the exception of naive pullets) don't go broody unless/until they are in great shape physically.

She was a naive pullet, I guess . Now she is an underground thing that once a day rises screaming from hell.

 

[Perris]

She was a naive pullet, I guess . Now she is an underground thing that once a day rises screaming from hell.

well, let's be optimists and hope she's a natural Like for all 1st timers, it's probably quite scary for her how hormones have taken over her body.

 

[ManueB]

well, let's be optimists and hope she's a natural Like for all 1st timers, it's probably quite scary for her how hormones have taken over her body.

She comes from a long line of farm bantams bred for the sole purpose of brooding. I don't know if it has to do with genetics but hopefully she will manage!

 

[MaryJanet]

She comes from a long line of farm bantams bred for the sole purpose of brooding. I don't know if it has to do with genetics but hopefully she will manage!

She is a very beautiful hen. I love her colouring.

 

[Perris]

She comes from a long line of farm bantams bred for the sole purpose of brooding. I don't know if it has to do with genetics but hopefully she will manage!

she looks in fine fettle, and with those genetics I would trust her instincts - I'm sure she knows more about brooding than I do!

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Does that mean Merle is now in the same coop as Stilton, or do you have several coops ? And are Merle and Andre from the same hatch ?

Regarding nutrition and seasons I have heard it said that cold weather should mean giving more fat and less protein, but this doesn't go well with the idea that molting hens should be given more proteins, as from what I understand most hens tend to molt when it starts getting colder. Though I can't say this has been true with mine.
Poultry nutrition is like human nutrition I guess, a bit of science, hard facts, but also fads and hardcore beliefs .

Good questions. We have multiple coops and yards. Stilton does not abide male chickens.

When we brought home straight-run chicks from a breeder last year, including hatchmates Merle & Andre, we actually built them a whole new coop and yard, then upgraded another small coop to a mobile tractor in case we needed a bachelor pad (which we did). We make up for chicken inexperience by building them more space.

So, Merle moved back into his group's coop with "Merle's Girls." Andre lives in the bachelor setup, maybe one day with "Dre's Baes." Stilton kept his yard with "Ton's Hons" (still working on that title; not much rhymes with Stilton).

Here's a picture. Hard to see, but Stilty's yard is on the left, split from Merle's by a 6' fence. The newer coop is just visible in the back. The netted area on the far right is the bachelor setup. The net to the left encloses a big area for the birds to safely be on grass, in shifts and supervised, since neither net's electrified when they're out. In the foreground is Carrots, our biggest flirt, making eyes at Andre.

We thought the roosters would need visual barriers on the fences, but they just puff up and run back and forth a few times a day. They know they can fly over so must not be too set on killing each other. Each coop has a large, covered run where the birds stay if we leave, in case anyone did ever decide to fly over, and because predators may be emboldened to find a way around the electric fence or hawk strings when we're not there.

For the record, I dislike telling chickens where their territory is, and it's expensive to make all this room for them, but they wouldn't last a month without the protection. We're in a jungle of predators.

Chipie's absolutely adorable, btw.

 

[Iluveggers]

Just pronounce Stilton as Stil-TENS Hens. .

I think you are doing a lovely job at growing and adapting your chicken space as needed!