Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

do you have a number for this? I think I read somewhere about 20 is the limit for a coherent flock, and I am reluctant to grow my flock beyond that partly for that reason, because as yet they clearly identify as a single flock, despite the presence of several males (who think they are related but some aren't, but they were all raised within) and multiple breeds with varied appearances.

I don't and I don't think there is a fixed number. It's a suck it and see thing in general.
I and many others over the centuries have found that one rooster with three hens works well. One to one works better with some breeds. Of course, each seperate group needs seperate housing and territory and this makes it difficult for most keepers.
This three to one ratio has been a breeders favourite for many years.

 

[Perris]

well, I'm about to put the c.20 to the test, as I can hear Eve clucking gently to her hatchlings... I do hope she won't keep me in suspense for too long... I can't wait to see them

 

[ManueB]

Rained here in sheets

Feeders are of PVC 3 inch Dad called them keyhole saws HB says round hole saw take your pick goes on drill
I cut hardware cloth over like a drape and 4 inch PVC cut in half to lay over to keep the blasted rats out.

Thank you! We don't have anything like it, i'll see if we can borrow one, the feeders seem to really limit waste.
I wish my dad would have been handy in such things rather than in non euclidian geometry.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

What can I say ? This is how I spend hours with my ex-batts.
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Frida Bakalow is really beautiful (and has a funky name)
Is she some kind of Australorp ?
Most of the black hens we have here are a sort of black sex link called harco and they don't have that glossy black sheen at all.

Frida's a hatchery Langshan from our very first group of chicks. As a newbie, I named many of them by beak color so I could tell them apart – BB for black beak, Pinkie for pink beak – and the names stuck. Frida had a stripe on her beak that looked like Frida Kahlo's mustache, so I added a "bakaw" to chicken up the name (with all respect to the artist who is her namesake).

Edited to add that yes, our Langshans all have a beautiful beetle-green sheen.

 

[Ponypoor]

I understand that when they are in your backyard! But living in a country where we don't have that kind of specie, I would be also amazed to see one!

One learns to live with predators, here there are fox, coyotes, wolves, bobcat, lynx, fishers, mink, weasels, and a couple bears.. then there are the aerial predators, bald eagles, all sorts of hawks, ravens as big as chickens, crows... And of course the locals who let their dogs run free (that is rare now as the neighbours know if I catch their dogs chasing my horses, and now chickens, they get sent to the animal control, and cost the owner big bucks to get them back).

 

[Ponypoor]

We're done with the structural work reroofing the old houses. The builders are gone and now we'll have to clear all the rubble, and do the plastering of the facades.
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It's been stressful having my stepfather over everyday and having to cope with his hateful, racist, conspirationist constant ramble. I had two moments of glee when my partner told him he would sue him for libel and negationism if he didn't shut up. And when I didn't eat the supermarket battery pork ribs he brought for the end of work barbecue, and my partner explained very seriously to him I was converting to Islam . I'm glad to be back on my own with the chickens.
View attachment 3125434

1) your roo is lovely
2) the newly roofed houses look very nice, well done!
3) you partner sounds like a good person, don't worry about your in-law just use his labour - petty people like him are generally lonely, you should feel sorry for him.

At the end of the day there are always you animals and those awesome views to enjoy

 

[RoyalChick]

that covers my situation pretty comprehensively. But I wonder also if having Swedish Flowers as foundation stock and dominant roos has something to do with it, as that breed lacks a standard: they are intrinsically variable in appearance, in colour and crest, and they can be more or less mottled. It's quite different from having a flock of say, all black, or all white, or all mahogany birds.

I think that is a factor in @Ribh 's flock where each one is different in every way imaginable but they still hang together. I think there is just too much variation for an individual hen to identify a group of 'like me' and 'not like me'.

 

[no fly zone]

Does anyone know of anything other than mareks that might cause leg paralysis?

 

[RoyalChick]

Does anyone know of anything other than mareks that might cause leg paralysis?

Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) deficiency. I have been treating a case of this for some time now. It is an almost miraculous cure over about 3-4 days.
My little lady went from completely paralyzed on her left leg to now normal left leg function. I eased up on the B2 supplements and her right leg got paralyzed. I re-upped and she is now more-or-less normal in both legs. I don't know whether I will need to maintain the supplements for her life.
The good news is B2 is very safe so you can put large amounts in feed and water and it does nobody any harm. It is bright yellow but it washes out easily.
I am giving Bernadette human dose levels - I just buy capsules at CVS and put them in the water, empty it onto her mash. I think she likes yellow so I don't even need to mix it in much she goes for the yellow sprinkled food first!

 

[GregnLety]

There is a further factor which I don't quite understand yet and that is the role the rooster plays in tribe identity.
The inter group relationships are different when a rooster is established in a group.
All the above is of course dependent on the chickens being able to carry out their natural behaviour.

I believe that a hen if given the option will choose between roosters. Silky was paired up with Cholo until Gorda displaced her so she took up with Red and now is his number one hen and even roosts next to him. Silky is always first on the roost and when Red comes in the coop he always hops up next to her. I've seen her physically remove big hens who try to take her spot on the roost. Gorda having chosen Cholo will fight any other rooster who tries to mate with her.