Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

Henry looks good in those pics.

He's quite a handsome chap. If we could just get his legs sorted out he would look a lot better.

 

[Shadrach]

Those are good tips for managing in the dry heat, thank you! And yeah, summer here at work I wear long sleeves, pants, hat, sunglasses, and leather work boots. I actually think it's definitely cooler than being in short sleeves, I would prefer not to be wearing the boots though! We have a lot of staff from the pacific islands and their theory on heat management is to stay covered, sweat more and drink a lot of water. They're right. I shake my head at the uni students we get, in their crop tops and short shorts. I work in commercial orchards.

My appologies if I've asked before, but do you live on the North, or South Island?

 

[Shadrach]

I've found the perfect gift for the seriously antisocial.

 

[Sally PB]

Construction workers and other laborers who spend a good deal of time in the sun here will often wear long sleeves, hats, sunglasses,

It's been in the high 80s with 80-90% humidity here. I still wear long pants, long sleeved white T-shirts, and a big floppy white hat when I work in the garden. I have one of those micromesh "wet it and wear it" around your neck cloths around my neck and it makes a big difference. I can be drenched with sweat, but still able to work in the garden. Evaporative cooling is my friend!

The payoff for this: My doctor says how little sun damage I have on my skin. He says he'll see people half my age whose skin is in much worse shape.

Tax:

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

My appologies if I've asked before, but do you live on the North, or South Island?

Near the top of the South Island, in the Tasman region. It has been getting hotter and more humid over the past few years. Sort of the sub-tropical top of the north pushing its way southward. You haven't asked before

 

[Sequel]

It's been in the high 80s with 80-90% humidity here. I still wear long pants, long sleeved white T-shirts, and a big floppy white hat when I work in the garden. I have one of those micromesh "wet it and wear it" around your neck cloths around my neck and it makes a big difference. I can be drenched with sweat, but still able to work in the garden. Evaporative cooling is my friend!

The payoff for this: My doctor says how little sun damage I have on my skin. He says he'll see people half my age whose skin is in much worse shape.

Tax:
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That is one sweet shot Sally!

 

[ManueB]

I can't remember who posted the link to this, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579121005642?via=ihub
but thank you; it's the best article I've read for some time, and on a topic that affects practically every flock everywhere. As a recent review of other studies, it has lots of useful information on coccidiosis, and sustainable (i.e. non-antibiotic) approaches to dealing with it. I don't intend to rush out and purchase a bunch of novel and no doubt expensive herbal extracts, but I do intend to grow some of the efficacious herbs that I don't already have in the garden and that would perhaps grow here. I think that chickens, like a lot of other animals, are pretty good at self-medicating if they have appropriate stuff growing in their environment.

A funny anecdote about Artemisia annua which is cited amongst the useful herb. It's a very invasive weed here but we don't have any at our place. Last year I went to my elderly neighbour to collect some for my own medicinal use. My partner went in a state of emergency I can't describe, like I had brought back some highly dangerous exotic virus. He asked me to make a security perimeter around the wicker basket in which I left the plant to dry . So if you don't have any I would be careful about planting some!

This "chicken self medicate" (or at least find what's good for them) thing is certainly true ( it was also mentioned in the study I cited some time ago). However I still wonder how it works. I have quite a few herbs that are said to be of use to them and they never touch them, like oregano, rosemary, mint.
Also, I'm having fun watching what the "chicks" (how do you call 2 months old chickens by the way ?) chose to eat. My rhubarb plan was eaten up to the ground, but interestingly enough solely by Gaston. Did the younger pullets instinctively know that it stops them from assimilating calcium, being so high in acid oxalic, or did they just not like it ?

They all agreed this was really good for them, @Shadrach this may bring back some memories . I did try to mention it's not ripe yet but they don't seem to agree.

 

[Perris]

He asked me to make a security perimeter around the wicker basket in which I left the plant to dry . So if you don't have any I would be careful about planting some!

I have quite a few herbs that are said to be of use to them and they never touch them, like oregano, rosemary, mint.

same here. I don't know if any of the benefits survive the digestive tract of a mealworm, but I sometimes throw a herb sprig in the mealworm drawer, as it throws off a fantastic aromatic while they're munching it (another surprising benefit of having a mealworm farm!)

the "chicks" (how do you call 2 months old chickens by the way ?

'chickens' used to mean young birds; maybe it extended its range via commercial practice, whereby practically all birds are young birds. On current usage I don't know at what age we are supposed to switch from 'chick' to pullet or cockerel - as soon as we can identify the gender maybe?

They all agreed this was really good for them

what a gorgeous vine! Lucky you (assuming the chickens leave you some of course!). Table or wine grapes?

 

[ManueB]

Unbeknown to me, 2 chose to sleep out / got shut out last night Fortunately they both survived, and arrived for breakfast from different directions . Evidently the growing chicks are putting pressure on space in the coops; I saw Amadeo cwtched up with Sven night before last, while Eve and the other two filled a nest box to bursting, and I suspect that Paprika can no longer fit herself and her 7 into another one so there's some overspill there too at night. Crunch time is coming; I need either to move some birds on, or buy a 4th coop...

Am I understanding correctly that your mind isn't made up yet ?

The water here is alkaline and very high in calcium carbonate. Despite the high calcium levels, I deal with blossom end rot on my tomatoes, which is often caused by a lack of calcium. What happens is the other minerals in the soil react with the calcium (I’d have to ask my husband for the exact process, he’s the one with a soil science degree) and render it into an unusable form. The same thing happens with iron, resulting in iron chlorosis in plants and trees. It seems possible that could he what’s happening with your soil.

Thank you, this seems a very likely explanation as we also get blossom end rot, though only in the green house and only on that Specie which I can't find the english name for. I'll try to look up into this. I also got chlorosis this year on my strawberry plant before the roe deers gobbled it up, and I assumed it was because the calcium stopped it from assimilating iron. I usually cover it with pine needles to make the ground more acidic for it, but didn't do it this year.

I'm used to dry heat. I was once in Leicester when the temp was around 28 C (not at all hot) but the humidity made it incredibly oppressive.

I also prefer dry heat. In Nice we had a few degrees less but way higher humidity and I found it much harder to sustain a day of work in an office with no kind of heat regulation most of the day.
I also agree that covering up is best for you but unfortunately I didn't have the good sense to do this before coming here. I'm thinking of tuaregs. Then again there are other very warm regions in the world where traditional ways imply being almost naked.

Well, what I keep trying to explain to Henry is I don't have just one job and if he pulled his finger out and found his hens some food, that would take some of the pressure off me.
He's a total disaster at this foraging business. He's all nod and call and nothing worth eating.
Still, they got some scrambled egg and tomatoes this evening, we will pretend Henry got it for them.

Now, I really want to know how do you manage to trick the hens into thinking the rooster brought the scrambled egg ?

I'm asking seriously everyone who own rooster. Our hens always rush so quickly for special food that Théo is always the late comer and I think it's a huge part of why he doesn't like us, the fact that we bring special stuff to his girls and keep them away from him. I really want to find a way to make him get to the food first and call them.

 

[Perris]

Teifi was waiting for me by the back door this morning, so she slept out again

Am I understanding correctly that your mind isn't made up yet ?

Indeed. It's really hard to send anyone away but I know overstocking is the easiest mistake to make, so I prevaricate and procrastinate

Now, I really want to know how do you manage to trick the hens into thinking the rooster brought the scrambled egg ?

I'm asking seriously everyone who own rooster. Our hens always rush so quickly for special food that Théo is always the late comer and I think it's a huge part of why he doesn't like us, the fact that we bring special stuff to his girls and keep them away from him. I really want to find a way to make him get to the food first and call them.

Typically I distribute 'treats' in a fast walk, so that the bullies in the flock can't dominate access and everyone's strung out, completely oblivious to the source of the goodies until they're down to the last few morsels, which may well be in the beak of a roo who's been holding on to it, waiting for this moment . If I make the call and I'm stationary, they all come running and typically Chirk (in whatever position he arrives, not usually first or last) will come and stand right next to me and do his tid-biting there. You could perhaps try holding on and not distribute until Theo has arrived, so that you're not separating him from his girls, and see if he'll do the same?