Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[no fly zone]

Nom nom nom

 

[Shadrach]

I'm inspecting Henry in the first four pictures. He's on his roost bar outside the main coop. It's light enough for the camera flash not to fire. He fidgets a bit but there are no warning pecks and he fidgets less each time.
He's pretty good apart from his legs. He looks clean. No build up of mite shite or eggs in sight on the feather shafts. Lots of soft feathers. Clean quills. Clean bum.
I've been a bit concerend about the colour of his comb while he roosts. The tips go grey and his comb doesn't look as firm as it should. But, during the day when he's up and moving about his comb looks good.

One of the early warning signs of heart problems is the hearts inability to pump blood at suffcient pressure to fill the comb. It can also be a sign of liver failure but I don't know why it effects the comb. Nitrate poisoning can produce similar indications but they are there day and night.

Henry is a middle aged rooster and as such his heart isn't as efficient as it was.
When he roosts he is calm and the blood pressure level drops and this I believe is what the grey tips show.

It's taken from me since September 2021to date, to get this degree of tolerance from Henry. I've shown a great deal of respect for his position and his dislike of being handled. He's never shown me any kind of aggression but he didn't bend over backwards to be my friend either.
I think we have come to a working arrangement at last.

 

[Shadrach]

One more.
It's Fret.
I dropped an egg. Fret got off the perch to get some egg.
When Fret got back her place next to Henry had been taken.
Fret on the ground looking for a gap on the roost bar.

I can't work the camera quickly enough! Fret's knocked the first one off.
Next one not so easy. Fret getting pecked.

Yep, she's done it again. She's on the perch.

 

[Perris]

I got home at about 23.00 this evening having left at 18.30

that's dreadful for what should be a 1hr journey. Hopefully the rail strike will not continue to impact you so badly.

Nitrate poisoning

what's that? causes? I've not read anything about that to date - probably because I spend too much time with old sources of poultry info!

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

that's dreadful for what should be a 1hr journey. Hopefully the rail strike will not continue to impact you so badly.

what's that? causes? I've not read anything about that to date - probably because I spend too much time with old sources of poultry info!

Nitrate poisoning is caused by an animal consuming something either contaminated with nitrates (usually from leaching of nitrogen fertilizer into a water source) or by consuming a plant that is in a 'nitrogen flush' such as bright green fast growing grass in the springtime.
Humans are usually affected by contaminated water, grazing animals by the grass. Chickens could be poisoned either way but more likely in water, as they don't consume their entire diet as grass.
Nitrate poisoning causes the blood to not be able to pass oxygen to the tissues. Or possibly to not be able to oxygenate in the first place. The mechanism I'm not 100% sure on but the outcome is a lack of oxygen.

 

[ManueB]

I'm inspecting Henry in the first four pictures. He's on his roost bar outside the main coop. It's light enough for the camera flash not to fire. He fidgets a bit but there are no warning pecks and he fidgets less each time.
He's pretty good apart from his legs. He looks clean. No build up of mite shite or eggs in sight on the feather shafts. Lots of soft feathers. Clean quills. Clean bum.
I've been a bit concerend about the colour of his comb while he roosts. The tips go grey and his comb doesn't look as firm as it should. But, during the day when he's up and moving about his comb looks good.

One of the early warning signs of heart problems is the hearts inability to pump blood at suffcient pressure to fill the comb. It can also be a sign of liver failure but I don't know why it effects the comb. Nitrate poisoning can produce similar indications but they are there day and night.

Henry is a middle aged rooster and as such his heart isn't as efficient as it was.
When he roosts he is calm and the blood pressure level drops and this I believe is what the grey tips show.

It's taken from me since September 2021to date, to get this degree of tolerance from Henry. I've shown a great deal of respect for his position and his dislike of being handled. He's never shown me any kind of aggression but he didn't bend over backwards to be my friend either.
I think we have come to a working arrangement at last.

View attachment 3165801View attachment 3165802






View attachment 3165803View attachment 3165807

It really seems you've gained his trust. Why are you concerned for his legs, has he still got the scaly leg mites ?
Have you already seen him napping during the day to see if his comb also changes colour ?

Must be pretty exhausting to get home so late after a long trip back and I suppose it is crowded. If it lasts maybe you could ask your daughter for a sleepover ?

My rooster also sometimes has the tip of his comb that changes colour but his goes dark and on the opposite of Henry it's at time when he gets really "eager". I hope it's just too much blood and not some health problem.

 

[Shadrach]

Nitrate poisoning is caused by an animal consuming something either contaminated with nitrates (usually from leaching of nitrogen fertilizer into a water source) or by consuming a plant that is in a 'nitrogen flush' such as bright green fast growing grass in the springtime.
Humans are usually affected by contaminated water, grazing animals by the grass. Chickens could be poisoned either way but more likely in water, as they don't consume their entire diet as grass.
Nitrate poisoning causes the blood to not be able to pass oxygen to the tissues. Or possibly to not be able to oxygenate in the first place. The mechanism I'm not 100% sure on but the outcome is a lack of oxygen.

It's nitrates in the water that is the usual cause, or was years ago, here in the UK. It's most commonly seen in free rangers on or close to farmland.

 

[ManueB]

Some cleaning action. Théo scratched around a bit and declared the soil too dry for a proper bath.

The chicks : next to the black bantam, is the one I suppose a cockerel. Next to him, the one that doesn't fly because it hasn't grown wings yet. He's as small as the bantam but very active. The black bantam caught a praying mantis this morning and hid from the others to eat it almost whole, he was unwell after.

 

[BDutch]

….
. The black bantam caught a praying mantis this morning and hid from the others to eat it almost whole, he was unwell after.
View attachment 3166285

That’ll teach the black bantam to be too greedy.

 

[no fly zone]

You can see his muttonchops from behind