Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

I didn't get as much done as I would have liked mainly because of the poor goose and all the help I got from the chickens.
This is what's I take the chickens each day. The top three are layers pellets and the bottom one was rice, tomatoes and tuna. The bottom one is about half full.

I got the tunnel up after a fashion. The screwed in P Clips work well.
I will clip or tie the section where the two pieces of fencing overlap in the middle.
The half inch mesh should arrive by Friday.
None of the chickens seemed remotely concerened by the new structure.
The ground isn't level which isn't helping.

 

[Shadrach]

Of course I talked to the chickens as well.

Making their way to bed. Little to no drama.

13 in the new coop this evening. One from last night went and joined the hens in the small coop.
Absolutely no interest in roosting in the old coop. Yep, that's the door way sitter.

 

[Shadrach]

So much for guard geese

Quite.
I think it's the humans that find them scary.
They do make good alarms though.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I am sorry for the loss of a really good Rooster ...
Hello X Batts Home finally. This picture is a very small part of their yard here. The end of the dirt is the end of new coop also.

 

[Perris]

I found one of the geese dead when I got to the allotments. She had been dead a few hours. C lets the geese out in the morning and I put them in when I arrive to let the chickens out. So the geese are out in the allotment run during the day.

Spoiler

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I sent C a text, they weren't working and arrived 15 minutes later. We think fox.
It's happened before.

Poor goose. So you're saying it was a daytime attack? Any indication that she wasn't well before? Why did the fox not carry her off? I dimly remember you talking about a fox living at the allotments but can't remember the details. Will C tolerate it henceforth?
How were the other geese? scared? nonchalant? I'm just wondering how much of this gruesomeness is due to the rats there.

 

[ManueB]

It's not easy; any of it.
Different breeds and different circumstances make it still more complicated.
If for example I was dealing with a senior chicken in Catalonia with my knowledge of their lives and of their state of health my decision making would be different.
One of the things I have tried hard to make clear in this thread is that Ex Battery hens are not going to live long. All the damage has been done long before some kind soul decides to take them on.
The industry calls them "spent hens". Many have cancers and reproductive problems before they even leave the batteries. Essentially what those who take such hens on are providing is palliative care. The terminal illness the keeper is dealing with is how they've been bred. There is no cure for this.

If the keeper and the hen are lucky they will seem to thrive given the right circumstances but for most it's short lived. I find this the heartbreaking part. For a while you see them as how they should be and all the Ex Battery hens I've met so far are sweet natured, trusting and life loving.
My view is I'm giving them a home rather than a berth in a ship from hell.

This is a good article to read if one is going to home Ex Battery hens.

https://mikethechickenvet.wordpress.com/2017/02/16/euthanasia-for-backyard-birds/

I read this article some time ago, it is very helpful and thoughtful. Should anyone need it one day and be able to watch it, May Blooms Acreage on Instagram makes videos of "humane" euthanasia and processing.

I love these little guys so much.

They are really lovable! A hairdresser's nightmare though.

They're hardy and smart, but they're like bombers compared to the Batams and crosses.

What does it mean, that they are too big ?

I hope no one will mind if I sort of document the run build. I don't thin it would make an article and some reference to how I built it might come in useful.
The coop is pretty much sorted. I'm just waiting for a couple of bits to arrive.
The run's primary purpose is to give Henry and all his hens if they wish a secure way of roosting outside.
It is not to keep them contained.

I'm building the basic hoop with this stuff;
https://www.ultimate-one.co.uk/galvanised-welded-wire-mesh-90cm-125m-100x100mm-10-swg3mm-p-1178
The run will use two 90cm hoops (joined) to make a legth of 1.5 metres.
(It would be easy to extend the run by adding another hoop and base board.
The 3mm diameter wire I'm going to attach to base boards and door frame I'm going to attach with these.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/sourcing-m...p/B07F5VZF2W/ref=psdc_192414031_t2_B07JDF3W87
https://www.amazon.co.uk/SEQUAL-Passivated-Countersunk-Chipboard-Woodscrews/dp/B0973GTP3L/ref=sr_1_3?crid=OJ5PX288EQ62&keywords=m4+x+25+wood+screws&qid=1659336786&s=diy&sprefix=m4+x+25+wood+screws,diy,79&sr=1-3
The base board is a box with no top and no bottom made out of reclaimed decking planks.

Once the main frame is built and attached to the coop (the coop has predrilled holes around the edge for exactly this purpose I'll fit these at the two front corners of the run. Wind is what I'm concerened about.
https://groundbolt.co.uk/erdanker-ground-anchors.html
These should at least stop the run from being lifted by the wind.
Then this stuff is going over the 3mm mesh frame.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hardware-G...5ca-82fe-1332dcc2fb8a&pd_rd_i=B07P9ZX6BF&th=1

I don't want to buy anything better until I've seen what happens to them in action.
https://www.tarpaflex.co.uk/acatalog/Black---Silver-Tarpaulin-1-2m-x-1-8m---Single-STP1.html
I can, if it last that long, use the reflective nature of the silver side during the summer.

Tax.
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Thank you for all the links, this is really helpful. I'm interested by the clamps, how difficult was it to screw them in, and do you think they will last ? Would it be easy to change one if needed ?

That has been my approach with most inter chicken disputes.

It was an advice you gave several times on this thread and one I'm trying really hard to follow now. I have to admit that often interfering actually make things worse. I will let a little blood be drawn when they peck their faces and crests because I've noticed it heals very quick, but it's not real injuries.

It really does depend on the bread.
Supermarket packaged bread is full of crap.
Some of the independent bakers put stuff in I would rather they didn't.

Most bakers here, independent or not, buy pre mixed wheat with added gluten and flavourings. This in the country of bread .

Exactly.
It seems to be that half the point of having chickens, no matter what your relationship with them is, is lost in the coop and run keeping model. Put 20 chickens on your veg plot after the growing season is over and they'll dig it over for you and eat many of the pests.
We had a compost heap much like the other farms and small holdings. First port of call after unlock in the mornings. If I told the chickens they couldn't eat the kitchen scraps and just the bugs they would tell me I had sunstroke.

My compost heap has been taken over by the chicks and Chipie! So has the sheep manure heap, they've managed to throw Grochatila out and take his sleeping spot .

I didn't get as much done as I would have liked mainly because of the poor goose and all the help I got from the chickens.
This is what's I take the chickens each day. The top three are layers pellets and the bottom one was rice, tomatoes and tuna. The bottom one is about half full.
View attachment 3210676

I got the tunnel up after a fashion. The screwed in P Clips work well.
I will clip or tie the section where the two pieces of fencing overlap in the middle.
The half inch mesh should arrive by Friday.
None of the chickens seemed remotely concerened by the new structure.
The ground isn't level which isn't helping.
View attachment 3210677View attachment 3210678View attachment 3210679View attachment 3210680View attachment 3210681

It looks great!! I'm so impressed I never thought it would turn out this well!

 

[ManueB]

We love sheep poop.

 

[Shadrach]

Poor goose. So you're saying it was a daytime attack? Any indication that she wasn't well before? Why did the fox not carry her off? I dimly remember you talking about a fox living at the allotments but can't remember the details. Will C tolerate it henceforth?
How were the other geese? scared? nonchalant? I'm just wondering how much of this gruesomeness is due to the rats there.

Yes.
Not that I've noticed but I don't do much with the geese. That's C's responsibility.
I don't know what C is going to do.
The others were pleased to see me and I let the geese and the chickens mix while we waited for C. I wanted C to see the strike location etc.
Once we had removed the body the geese went back into their run without fuss.
I haven't seen a rat in the goose enclosure.

 

[Shadrach]

What does it mean, that they are too big ?

Basically yes. More to the point they are not quick enough.

 

[ManueB]

It's been a week today since the vet called me to say Caramel didn't survive. When she was in full health she sang a gorgeous baritone egg song every day. This is a short clip of her song a year ago, before we had the rooster.

In her last month of life she was spending an hour every morning in the nest box singing with a completely different small, high pitched voice, but never laying.

Someone with more experience would maybe have thought that her trouble breathing and her behaviour in the nest box were linked and adding to probable reproductive problem. It is very well explained in this video @MaryJanet posted once.