Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

hey @ManueB - Theo did good! Congratulations!

 

[ManueB]

Well said, RC. Really. All of it. Thank you for taking the time.

Yep @RoyalChick a very thoughtful post, thank you for writing it at a difficult time.
I'm keeping the little vampire and you in my thoughts!

 

[Perris]

Most teenagers have no idea what it is that they are copying

Isn't that the truth!

not feeling quite so overwhelmed as before

Glad the move went well and things are settling down now. We missed you!

My end goal is to have the chicken area planted with fruit trees with shrubs and herbs in their understory - a permaculture approach to an orchard. I also plan to seed a forage mix to compete with/replace the grass so they have better quality forage available also

that sounds lovely. Do you have a recommended author for guidance on doing this? I'm currently involved in a forest garden project and looking for good advice on underplanting fruit trees.

 

[Perris]

And the one and only borage blooming now really doesn't like the heavy wind we have here, so I had to tutor it.

I love the idea of tutoring borage, but I think something got lost in translation here. Do you mean train it, as in stake or support? I have one in a windy spot and it was growing fantastically, but the big heavy flower spikes keeled over yesterday.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Vets for chickens is a very personal decision I think. I don't take mine, but I could see me giving in if it was my rooster and I thought there might be some hope.

Speaking of roosters, I am so pleased with my cockerel. He is my first I've been able to raise up with a fully mature flock rooster. Little dude Squeaky (temporary name while he might still end up as lunch) is very keen on crowing, and big dude Kowalski doesn't give two hoots about it. No crow battles here yet. But Squeaky is taking excellent care of his hatch mate pullets. He makes sure they are all in their coop before he goes in to join them, and will hunt them down if they're missing. He isn't showing any aggression or signs of mating with them (they're obviously too immature). I know it's early days yet but I am cautiously having high hopes for him. In the past big dude Kowalski hasn't had issues with cockerels 'practicing' their mating skills on the neighbor's hens, and the neighbor's hens seem to just appreciate the masculine attention, however inept. Kowalski certainly won't tolerate any ovatures towards his own hens, it will be interesting to see how he feels about the pullets as they get older.
I raised Kowalski with older hens, and he has turned out a fabulous rooster, but Squeaky so far is even better. Learning from older birds really seems to make a big difference.

 

[BDutch]

Just want to tell you all how great this forum/community is compared to another that exists in my own language.

Especially the question about Caramel, the answers and the little discussion we had on this issue, reminded me how wonderful the BYC community is. This would not have been tolerated on the Dutch chicken-forum.

The moderators on the Dutch forum don’t want people telling they choose not to go a vet if a bird is sick. Any argument or open discussions on witholding medical treatment is stopped and people can get banned for having another opinion.

All the fun people like @Kiki would get banned for posting threads that are not serious but hilarious.

I got banned too. Because I didn’t fit in for several reasons. At first I found this stupid. But now I’m glad I got banned. Participating here is much more satisfying for an open and eager mind.
Another plus: it took my English language to a higher level.

Tax with old pic, chickens sunbathing.

And a pic for those who want to see the tiling efforts I did in the cellar yesterday:

 

[Solanacae]

Happy to hear from you ! It sounds like you are enjoying you new place and have lots of projects. I hope Cordelia's crop returns to normal. And that your girls will fare with the heat- but that seems to be the case in so many places now! Seem you have some mountains in the background ?
I've been thinking about you because of my borages . Only one survived from all the seeds I started inside ! They were thriving at first but got eaten up by some kind of bug. And the one and only borage blooming now really doesn't like the heavy wind we have here, so I had to tutor it. I also had a few that grew among the vegetables reseeding themselves spontaneously, but when we started restricting watering, they all died! But I'm not giving up, now I know in which spot of the garden it survived I'll plant more there next year .

I moved from Northern Utah to another area of Utah, about 100 miles to the south. My old place was near the mouth of a canyon and the geography was such that it was sheltered from the high winds that came from the canyon. It was a much greener place than where the new place is, and a much more established neighborhood. The new house is just shy of 20 years old, and while I’m not particularly impressed with the construction or floor plan, it is perfectly functional, was within our price range and it’s a little further away from the heavily populated areas to the north and the east. The biggest bonus for me was that it had a generous yard. I do get a wonderful view of the mountains to the east.

It’s fascinating to me that your borage got decimated by bugs! Not much of anything bothers it here, but it’s not native to the area, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I’m glad one survived though! There’s a lot more wind around here so when I plant borage next year, I’ll probably need to give it some sort of support so it doesn’t flop over. And I love the phrase ‘tutor it’ - because I feel like that’s exactly what I’m doing when I’m redirecting my cucumbers out of my onions and back onto their trellis.

Isn't that the truth!

Glad the move went well and things are settling down now. We missed you!

that sounds lovely. Do you have a recommended author for guidance on doing this? I'm currently involved in a forest garden project and looking for good advice on underplanting fruit trees.

This article was helpful if giving me some guidelines, although I realized that as I was reading this and some of the links that it’s similar to how my dad has been gardening for years. He doesn’t do things entirely permaculture-style, in the sense that he doesn’t plan his plantings specifically with a nitrogen fixer, a bioaccumulator, etc., but he plants lots of things under and around trees, and does a lot of native/edible landscaping.
https://www.tenthacrefarm.com/how-to-build-a-fruit-tree-guild/

This is the company I plan to get my forage blend and wildflower meadow seed from. It’s a local company, though they have blends suited for all areas of the US. I doubt it would be practical for you to order from them, you possibly could look at the blends they have for the Pacific Northwest to get some ideas.
https://www.naturesseed.com/

Communal dust bathing pic for tax.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Good afternoon X Batts. Getting hotter than hadies here.
90's they say all week. Goal keep everyone hydrated, man and beast.
Tax.

 

[Sequel]

Just want to tell you all how great this forum/community is compared to another that exists in my own language.

Especially the question about Caramel, the answers and the little discussion we had on this issue, reminded me how wonderful the BYC community is. This would not have been tolerated on the Dutch chicken-forum.

The moderators on the Dutch forum don’t want people telling they choose not to go a vet if a bird is sick. Any argument or open discussions on witholding medical treatment is stopped and people can get banned for having another opinion.

All the fun people like @Kiki would get banned for posting threads that are not serious but hilarious.

I got banned too. Because I didn’t fit in for several reasons. At first I found this stupid. But now I’m glad I got banned. Participating here is much more satisfying for an open and eager mind.
Another plus: it took my English language to a higher level.

View attachment 3198991
Tax with old pic, chickens sunbathing.

And a pic for those who want to see the tiling efforts I did in the cellar yesterday:
View attachment 3198993

I’m glad you posted a pic of the tile! I Was going to ask you to yesterday but got distracted and forgot. It’s beautiful!

 

[Shadrach]

The pecking order shuffle begins! My chikcne are between 5-8ish weeks, and I have observed a few of them today after being let out to forage, fluttering around and puffing their chests out at each other. Wonder who is going to be the top? I was very surprised to see my Faverolles and Orpington “winning” a couple of the stare downs. A few of them don’t seem interested in thr scuffle, but those two look to be the top right now.

Any thoughts on what to expect? No violence so far, just chest puffing and a few air pecks while fluttering/scurrying around loudly.

Mostly ime it goes pretty smoothly. It's one of the most remarkable things about hens. How does a creature adapt from a tribal setting (one senior male and at times their progeny) to say living with ten of her own sex and do it in what has been ime a well organised manner with very little violence.
You need to be a bit smart to do this.
It is a bit different with a rooster present but even so given the space and the resources different tribes will coexist without going to war with each other.
Clever that. Maybe we should study the chicken more.