Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[BDutch]

@ManueB My Dutch tend to go broody from early spring till halfway summer. It’s a bit like the natural birds do. But because humans have been breeding with chickens for the most peculiar reasons, some chicken breeds or individuals don’t go broody at all. Like the laying hybrids. They are bred to lay an egg (almost) every day, all year round. On the other side of the spectrum there are some breeds/ individuals even getting broody in autumn or winter.

Mine just switch boxes. Other hens need boxes to lay in or it's an Easter egg hunt

Normally , having a broody, I don’t shut the nest boxes until 6 pm. If the chickens need to lay an egg after they are closed in the run/coop they have another mini-cage in the run.

This small cage was used for 2 broodies once and is used as a nest box , with little success, having broodies.

If I take away all eggs, the hens prefer to lay their egg under the roost . So if I have a broody I prefer to put a box under the poop boards. To prevent poopy eggs.

But some do use the small cage.

This small cage is about 60x60x60 cm / 2*2* 2’.
Janice lays her eggs there since the last broody actions. My elegant queen seems to like this private spot where the other hens don’t go at the moment. I have no broodies right now.

But I do have snails if I leave feed in the run at night. The chicken feed is a perfect snail catcher.

 

[Shadrach]

that sounds like a very good idea. What sort of dog? Can you combine walking it with a spell in the allotments, or is it unreliable with poultry?

It's a Husky, so no, not chicken friendly. He's also old and deaf.

 

[Shadrach]

That was my thought when reading the article - we get a lot of clover up to mid may but none at all throughout the following months!
I would like to seed our chicken zone next year but we are very, very wary of invasive specie, which makes my partner hesitate. We have a huge problem with oxalis which we brought in ourselves, probably in seeds we bought or potted soil. The alternative to alfafa mentioned in the article, sericea lespedeza, is a also considered a very invasive specie. We have grass pea and Arabian pea which are native here so maybe we could seed those, but I'm not sure how nutritious they are for chicken.

We grew alfalfa, mainly for the sheep but leave a bales out somewhere and the chickens would spread it all over the place.

 

[Shadrach]

Well Paprika has certainly changed my mind about letting pullets sit. Like your Ceres, she 1st went broody when she'd barely laid a clutch, and she broke easily that time. 2nd time took a few days to break. 3rd time she went broody - and this is all within months of starting to lay at all - was days after Venka vanished, so I took the opportunity to preserve her genes and just hoped Paprika wouldn't mess it up. And she's been brilliant! And doesn't freak out when I come near, unlike the other Penedesenca hens. I think some are just natural broodies.

My view on preferring to let senior hens sit doesn't have anything to do with whether they'll sit and hatch okay. It's more about what happens when they leave the nest and any problems there may be with other hens. Senior hens also know more about staying alive than the juniors and this gets taught to the chicks.

 

[Shadrach]

Have you met some new chickens then ?
I'm sure your daughter must be glad you live close now. That way she can invite you for chickens sleepover and help you move coops around!
I don't really see my parents more than when we lived hundreds of km apart but it's nice to know I can go to their place and they to mine if needed.

So who actually changes the water, is it you ?
Everything about C. is sad it seems to me.

One of the people at the allotments who brought me a sick chicken to look at asked if I would take care of their chickens while they were away burying a dead relative. They live not far from the allotments and I'm a pushover.
The dog is my daughters. Can't really say no to her about much of anything.

 

[Shadrach]

Chipie has been and is still making some mistakes but on the whole it's been a wonder watching her interact with the chicks. I'm obviously not someone who believe it is essential to have children to give meaning to one's life as I'm so glad I don't have any, but in her case it's obvious she has found her calling. Yesterday I watched her explaining to the chicks that they shouldn't eat a lime sphinx caterpillar, it was incredible. I love how she's teaching them to hide and make no noise when the hawk flys by. It's completely fascinating to see how she's protecting them and at the same time preparing them for autonomy.
So it wasn't a very wise choice to have her sit as she just arrived six months ago and is hated by everyone in the flock, but I don't regret it up to now. I think she's doing her best.

and people tell you that chicks hatched in an incubator and kept in a broody pen are just fine. Obviously never seen just how much a mother hen teaches her chicks.

 

[GregnLety]

It's a Husky, so no, not chicken friendly. He's also old and deaf.

Our husky pup Lobo is 100 percent broke and doesn't pay any attention to our birds. But Maya was already an adult when we got her so it's a slow process. I'd say she's 90 percent broke but I don't trust her to be outside with the chickens if I'm not there.

 

[BDutch]

and people tell you that chicks hatched in an incubator and kept in a broody pen are just fine. Obviously never seen just how much a mother hen teaches her chicks.

This is probably the main reason I let a broody sit if I have room for more chickens.
Other pro’s. :

• Easy
• No need of a heat lamp
• I like to do things natural if convenient
• to see proud broodies

And you are right that it’s better to let the older hen sit. Bc if my senior hen sees my younger hens get a bunch of eggs to sit on , the senior wants to take over. I really got to much fuss last year when other hens started to interfere.

Maybe it’s not that the younger ones are less reliable. But we have to respect the pecking order if we let broodies hatch within the group/coop setup.

 

[Shadrach]

Our husky pup Lobo is 100 percent broke and doesn't pay any attention to our birds. But Maya was already an adult when we got her so it's a slow process. I'd say she's 90 percent broke but I don't trust her to be outside with the chickens if I'm not there.

I'm not a fan of Huskies mainly due to having a pair of completely out of control Huskies kill my lovely Ruffles and drag down a elderly ewe. These dogs were owned by someone I later found out was a dog trainer.
I had to drag one of the Huskies off the ewe by it's ears; reasoning being if I've got it's ears and hang on like grim death it's going to have a hard job turning and biting me.

 

[Shadrach]

A few pictures from yesterday.

The hen in the last picture is the strangest hen here. She arrived with the three others C took in a few weeks ago.
She's very people frinedly but doesn't fit in well with the rest. She's tried various roosting places and now some evenings she'll roost in the new coop.