Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[ManueB]

Is it true that 'real French bread' (assuming there is just one, not lots!) is just flour, water, yeast and salt? I have some recipes that include e.g. butter or sugar.

Real french bread would either be baguette or standard yeast pain de campagne. Definitely no butter or sugar! The only bread which would have those is pain de mie, same as sandwich bread, but that's not real bread imo.
However the wheat used in most baguettes is now an industrial mix with way more gluten than what it used to have.

your broody looks so tiny! Everso pretty, but barely bigger than the chicks!!!

There are three standard chicks and a black bantam that isn't on the picture, so the three will quickly be bigger than she is. As far as I know she is about 9 or 10 months only.
She seems very happy to be a mama. I hope the other hens will not make it too hard for her and the chicks.

 

[NatJ]

Now I have to ask why not?

Mostly personal preference and lack of photos.

 

[Perris]

the wheat used in most baguettes is now an industrial mix with way more gluten than what it used to have

why? has that changed the flavour or texture? I find French bread (sans sugar etc ) more variable than most other types of loaf I make, maybe because there are so few ingredients that each one really matters, and they vary in freshness, and the weather varies in temp and humidity during proving etc.

I'm not a fan of sandwich bread either, but apparently a good bacon sandwich really needs it.

 

[no fly zone]

The mighty Skeksis in profile:

 

[ManueB]

The mighty Skeksis in profile:
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I think I'll dream of her tonight .
Everyone in the flock still doing all right ?

I'm not a fan of sandwich bread either, but apparently a good bacon sandwich really needs it.

I will be polite and refrain from telling you what we think of English cooking since no one mentioned that champions league Liverpool incident .
I'm lucky the local sandwich, pain bagnat, does not require either sandwich bread or bacon.

 

[no fly zone]

I think I'll dream of her tonight .
Everyone in the flock still doing all right ?

So far only Achilles is showing signs of illness.

 

[Perris]

another attack here, and this time the culprit was seen: a neighbour has a new young dog. Seeing her in action I think it may have been her rather than an assumed fox 2 weeks ago. Anyway, 3 mature birds, 2 of them winged last time, have still not reappeared after the best part of 4 hours, and my anxiety levels are rising. Needless to say I can't find them anywhere. I do hope they're not trapped somewhere or injured.

 

[Perris]

My main problem with bread is what it does not have (total protein content, certain amino acids in particular, many vitamins and minerals). A chicken will only eat so much food in a day, so eating more bread means they eat less other stuff. Depending on how much of what other stuff they are eating, they may not get enough of the things bread lacks.

Is it not the case that every food lacks something? So I don't see that bread is different from anything else in that respect. Also, I'm not sure about only eating so much in a day. My lot seem to have variable appetites, and some definitely have days where they eat less than on other days. So the fixed volume assumption may be irrelevant too. Of course, I note your qualifying 'may' not get enough, and your concluding point seems entirely valid even if the legs it stands on aren't.

I have a lot of faith in the chickens' instincts to know what they need, and as long as I can provide a diverse and informed menu of options, I trust them to take what they need, even if neither of us understand why they want it. Like pica in pregnancy - or my body telling me I really need some chocolate (iron depletion is my excuse if challenged, and I'm sticking with that , but the urge to eat it comes from an instinct not a lab test). And yes I do know they eat things that are bad for them too, like polystyrene balls and rat poison. I consider my job is to try to get as many of those things out the way as I can.

 

[Perris]

Sven's back! He is such a wonderful old warhorse.
Still waiting on Venka and Maria...

 

[TropicalBabies]

another attack here, and this time the culprit was seen: a neighbour has a new young dog. Seeing her in action I think it may have been her rather than an assumed fox 2 weeks ago. Anyway, 3 mature birds, 2 of them winged last time, have still not reappeared after the best part of 4 hours, and my anxiety levels are rising. Needless to say I can't find them anywhere. I do hope they're not trapped somewhere or injured.

I hope they appear soon. Sorry for you and them, it is awful.

We don't have fox, coyotes, hawk etc and I am glad. Dogs are the worst IMO. Well, bad dog owners make dogs the worst.