Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

Wow.
I am dealing with a predator for the 1st time ever but am pleased to say my girls are showing every sign of being really predator savvy ~ thanks mostly to my Campines who are super alert & very skittish. My lead hen is pretty calm but my Wyandotte Frizzle was having hysterics the other morning & all tangled in crab pots with everyone going off like car sirens all around her. I have a mix of standards & bantams & interestingly the bantams will usually run between a standard & cover of some sort so they have the most protection possible. The big girls have to take a greater risk crossing open ground.

what sort of predator?

 

[Perris]

the bantams will usually run between a standard & cover of some sort so they have the most protection possible

I think mine must have all gone their separate ways because they each came back alone.

 

[Perris]

my Wyandotte Frizzle was having hysterics the other morning & all tangled in crab pots with everyone going off like car sirens all around her.

sounds very funny as you tell it but I imagine it was very ear-piercing in reality!

 

[Ribh]

what sort of predator?

I have some sort of raptor likes to sit in the frangi~pani @ the side of the house where the girls like to congregate. Not sure if I have a hawk, a goshawk or a falcon. It's pretty small. I can't get a good look @ it as it shoots off as soon as I appear. I'm hoping it's not a falcon or goshawk as they're fast.

 

[Ribh]

sounds very funny as you tell it but I imagine it was very ear-piercing in reality!

Very earpiercing. The Wyandotte is loud & sounds like a mutant cross between a duck & a goose according to @Marie2020.

 

[ManueB]

Well. A couple of weeks ago I was looking on BYC for some info on fatty liver in chickens and stumbled into this thread. I have been a BYC devotee for slightly longer than I’ve had chickens, but am at a point now where I tune in more often for specific information rather than diving in for a daily ration. There’s a lot on BYC that is far removed from anything even remotely avian and I find it hard sometimes to sift through it all in search of information relevent to my situation.

Out of respect for the rest of you here, I felt that catching up was the thing to do, so I’ve been reading feverishly every spare minute! I could barely hold myself back from just jumping in sometimes (the anthropomorphism discussion, for instance!) What a read. Thank you all.
I may owe serious fines if lurking is a taxable offense.

I have followed Shadrach’s missives since early on, especially his graduate course in Rooster Relations, and it is with gratitude that I say his insight has changed my relationship with all my animals.

I do have one hen who technically qualifies as an ex-battery girl. Maizie is, I believe, a red sexlink who we aquired from our neighbor when most of his unsecured flock was slaughtered one night last fall by a trio of young bobcats. She and Bertie, an Austrolorp mix, were the only survivors and were going to be left to their own devices by their idiot of an owner - and that’s when I said how about they come over and hang out with us until you get your shit together?

And so they did.

Until delving into Sharach’s thread I never thought much about Maizie being an ex-bat. I’m familiar with the facility she came from, a local organic farm where the chickens probably have it pretty good, all things considered. Layers live on the ground and actually spend their days rotating through real pasture. That said, they are hatchery birds bred to be daily layers and tend to be “retired” around the age of two and a half. My neighbor worked there for a while and acquired four of their hens when that generation was being ”phased out”.

Even after that unimaginably terrifyiing night, Maizie hasn't missed a day of laying the largest egg in our basket - consistently 72-74 gms, jumbo according to the USDA (though I believe UK standards are higher). I‘m guessing she’s going on three years of age now.

Maizie isn’t the type of bird I would have intentionally sought. She isn’t particularly attractive or interesting. We are limited coop-wise to a small flock, 10-12 birds, and red sexlinks never seemed like anything special to me (I am ashamed to say now). That said, I don’t know if it was the timing of discovering this thread, or something else, but I have a whole new appreciation for Miss Maizie, and it is good.

Let me see if I can find a picture of her.

View attachment 3118118View attachment 3118120
In addition to Maizie, this second photo includes Bertie, the other surviving flockmate, and Mr. Aegis, our rooster, who I must say did roll out the red carpet for the new girls!

I like your introduction! Maizie seems in great health. My six ex-batts are about 30 months now and I'm hoping they will all get to 3 years.
You were wise to read everything. I skipped the last 10 or 15 pages when I joined and rambled on subjects that had of course been extensively discussed in those pages.

 

[ManueB]

My view on rescue chickens swings one way and then the other.
Some days I'm just so angry that such a creature exists and other days I love them dearly for what they are.
I keep hoping that observation and one day the evidence from such observations regarding their ability to recover from the horrors we've inflicted on them will provide me with a more stable view. Not likely to happen in my lifetime though.
I'm still holding the view that it is my responsibility to do what I can for them while I can and hope that what I do makes a positive impact on their lives.
The only conclusion I have come to is that the current method of rescue needs reviewing and if necessary regulation to prevent further exploitation.

This was a very sensitive way of putting it and I recognize my own thoughts in most of this.
Are you certain about the "not in my lifetime" bit? They have made I believe huge progress from September to now. Look back at your posts : you were saying they weren't able to stay outside more than two hours at a time and that they would never learn dustbathing..

Lovely sunny afternoon. Guess who trotted down the path to greet me on my arrival.

View attachment 3117747
One and ahlf kilos of feed and a bit of pasta later.View attachment 3117737
Ideal dustbathing conditions for hens it seems.
View attachment 3117738
A bit of foraging for the more adventurous.
View attachment 3117740View attachment 3117741
Look! Brown ones having a go. This dust bathing is catching on. The two on the edges of the hole haven't quite got the hang of it yet.View attachment 3117742View attachment 3117744

Wonderful pictures of happy chickens. How are the three that had water belly / soft egg?

 

[ManueB]

I made a little experience to test the wet /dry earth preference dustbathing for roosters, and your hypothesis was not verified.
The hens have two favorite dustbathing spots. I humidified one of them with the hose in the morning and left the other dry.
Théo stood guard until five of the hens had finished dustbathing in the dry spot and then bathed himself with the last hen Brune.
I'm aware this has no scientific value as it was just once and it may have been just that he wanted to stay with the hens. I'll try to repeat the experience regularly throughout Summer .

 

[ManueB]

Something - probably a fox - attacked around 6 when I was gone a mere 20 mins to get a few items at the corner shop. No-one was anywhere to be found on my return, and 5 separate clumps of feathers suggested that Maria and Venka had been taken. I completed two circuits, unable to find anyone, before the first bird showed itself - Phoenix, the heir apparent. And over the course of the next 2 hours every single one reappeared .

Maria has lost some of her tail feathers and Venka some wing feathers, but both seem otherwise ok. They are both 5 years old, and evidently still fit and agile enough to have dodged that bullet . Fox deterrents have been placed, but it's going to be a difficult few days, for me if not them. Maria went to roost soon after tea but otherwise everyone behaved normally, so I'm optimistic that there will be little or no shock exhibited tomorrow -or rather, today.
My new computer needs a cable, so I am posting on a tablet. Photos to follow when I am properly back online.

Must have been really stressful for you, I'm happy everyone made it safe ! Kudos to Maria and Venka especially. It's very likely the fox will be back unfortunately , so I hope they'll be very careful in the next days. What kind of fox deterrent do you use ?

Very earpiercing. The Wyandotte is loud & sounds like a mutant cross between a duck & a goose according to @Marie2020.

Maybe she's acting like the rooster would ?
The only time Chipie my bantam was considered part of the flock was when they experienced several hawk attacks. I found them many times all huddled together hiding one on top another, under the laurel tree or in the coop. Normally Chipie would never be able to get close to the ex-batts.

I wonder if the huddling vs scattering has to do with facing a predator from the sky vs one from the ground ?

 

[Ribh]

Maybe she's acting like the rooster would ?

No. That's how she is. I've had several crowing hens & it's quite a different sound.