Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[pennyJo1960]

Hey all I am in fight for my life with hens wanting to be box sitters broody or not .. Seems some just have to roost there.. Yesterday I had all of 3 eggs .. 5 today.
Banty for tax

 

[Iluveggers]

I got distracted with pest control in the garden today and forgot to take some pics for tax owed earlier. So I put on my flash at roost time, and was pleasantly surprised to find my ladies had all found the roost bar without my help for the first time! (I usually have to usher most of them onto the roost as they tend to pile in a corner right in front of the human door…not the place I want them sleeping, especially if I have to go inside in the evening for any reason!)

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good evening one and all!

92 mostly csunny 50% humidity feels like 99 with rain possibly later.

Have a great day!

 

[Solanacae]

Do you think the crop bra helped?
I haven't used one but have thought about it with one hen in particular.

I think it did, but who knows if she would have recovered on her own? The fabric is somewhat stretchy, and it fit quite well. I did a fair amount of looking around before deciding to buy this one. I’ve included some pictures too. The neck opening is not adjustable but there’s Velcro so you can adjust the larger end that goes behind the wings.

It became a pocket for dirt, and I’m pretty sure Cordelia took extra dust baths trying to get it off, so I definitely wouldn’t want to use it long term, but after 6-7 days of a slow moving, saggy crop (post impaction resolution), the muscle tone in her crop got better very quickly once I started using it.

Looks like the hen in the middle picture has caught her foot on something.
If I see such cuts, and I often don't until a scab has formed, I put a bit of iodine on them.

Thanks for noticing! I’m not certain, but I’m fairly sure that was from a roosting kerfuffle before we moved. Both of my ISA’s are at the bottom of the pecking order and they sometimes made the mistake of trying to roost too early. When the more senior girls got up, they would peck at the ISA’s legs to get them to move. Whether it’s that or not that caused the scale to discolor, it’s been there for several months.

Don’t know if I owe tax, but better safe than sorry when it comes to that sort of thing. It was a pleasant, cool evening, had a bit of rain in the late afternoon to thank for that. Everyone was out and enjoying the breeze, and Cordelia found a worm in the grass next to me. She wasn’t sure she liked it, but Cannonball came over and slurped it right up. It was too fast for me to get a picture, unfortunately.

 

[ManueB]

I must confess circumnavigating some of the less pleasant hens at roost time does give me some very childish sense of pleasure.
The transition from the old coop to the new has gone surprisingly easy. I had expected more resistance from the Ex Battery hens at having the Legbars move in. Similie has a special relationship with everyone which I haven't worked out yet. She's the hen that stays close to the sick notes. She's the one who stuck by Lima as we got her well.
Fret! Everyone knows Fret frets and everyone puts up with it, including me. It's just the way she is. She was in about the same time as Similie.
There are two Ex Battery hens that get pushed around a bit by the others. I've put them in manually in the past. The Golden Comet now goes in on her own but leaves it late. The other rushes in and gets on a perch where she is less likely to get pecked.

They're finding Shadrach's palace suitable then . Are you hoping to get all of them in the coop, or do you think that when you're done with the new run, it will be safe enough for some of them to sleep in ?

Unfortunately we have to delay our run makeover (rainy weather is the happy reason, step mother in hospital the sad one) but I'm kind of hoping some of my chickens will chose to roost in it once it's done. Right now it really feels like I have two different groups in the same house and it makes things a bit hectic waking up and going to bed for them.
This would be a temporary solution before building a new coop.

I have just had a delivery of a large bale of linseed straw. I've not tried it before, but there was a guy delivering them from down south so I went for it. It's a large square bale, which is about the volume of 10-13 regular small bales. The intent is it will be coop and nest bedding, and garden mulch. I'll report back on how I find it.

Is linseed straw stiffer than say oat straw, or mixed grass?

I'm interested to know how you find it, we plant some linseed and I keep the dry plants for reseeding. I wouldn't have imagined it could be used as straw because it's very stiff!

Proof...here's Cookie
View attachment 3218593
This is ButterBean. I rehomed him recently. He was so sweet and smart, but the hens didn't love him like they do Goliath. They are half brothers.
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These babies are Goliath's offsprings
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& Big Papa Doris, Goliath's & Bean's father
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I have a soft spot for roosters, but as you can see, Cookie is so pretty that she outshines them all.

All so striking! Cookie is quite unique. I must admit I've never seen chickens looking like her or her brother and father. I think Olive eggers are just beginning to develop in France and we have brahmas, but they're not common.

I had company doing the chickens this evening. My daughters husband's mother is visiting from Poland. She's a Horticulturist (I think that's right) and she likes the chickens. I seem to have become uncharateristically talkative in my older years and ended up stopping there until full dark.

View attachment 3218759View attachment 3218762View attachment 3218763View attachment 3218765

This is a strange hen. Notice almost perfect neck feathers. Not on Henry's favourite list or too quick for him.
View attachment 3218764
View attachment 3218765
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This gives a better idea of what a mess her feathers are. But, her tail is up. She's quick and alert. Her wing looked a bit sore for a couple of days and I put a cream called Brulidine on it.View attachment 3218767View attachment 3218768
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13 in this evening. One of the hens sleeping in the small coop went into the new coop but came back out again. It should all seem more attractive when the temperature drops to normal.
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I think the small egg is from one of the Legbars. Matilda is the only hen that lays white eggs and Matilda's egg is next to the small one.
View attachment 3218769

It looks very peaceful and nice in the second and third photo, it must be really pleasant being there when the sun goes down and make quite a contrast going back to Bristol.
Did your company speak English, or did you talk in chicken ?

I got distracted with pest control in the garden today and forgot to take some pics for tax owed earlier. So I put on my flash at roost time, and was pleasantly surprised to find my ladies had all found the roost bar without my help for the first time! (I usually have to usher most of them onto the roost as they tend to pile in a corner right in front of the human door…not the place I want them sleeping, especially if I have to go inside in the evening for any reason!)

View attachment 3218891

Lovely ! Probably means they'll be doing it on their own from now on . I'm hesitant as mine are still roosting huddled high up in a wall nest hole. They're becoming really too big to fit in there but they aren't finding out by themselves that they could use one of the free roost.
I wonder if I should move them during the night or just let them figure it out.

 

[Perris]

They're becoming really too big to fit in there but they aren't finding out by themselves that they could use one of the free roost.
I wonder if I should move them during the night or just let them figure it out.

they'll put their big pants on and brave the roosts when they're ready

Glad to hear about your rain (news media here are full of stories about the dire water situation in France); sorry to hear about your MIL; hope she gets better soon

 

[ManueB]

they'll put their big pants on and brave the roosts when they're ready

Thanks. Once again I'll follow the wise advice that no interference is often the best course !

Glad to hear about your rain (news media here are full of stories about the dire water situation in France); sorry to hear about your MIL; hope she gets better soon

We have been very lucky to have a week of local storms, but yes, the situation is frightening.
And while the world is burning our Emmanuel makes headlines jet-skiing while your Boris flies away on honeymoon .

 

[Perris]

Once again I'll follow the wise advice that no interference is often the best course !

By coincidence, my June clutch took to the roost last night - no poo in their nest box They'll be 9 weeks old tomorrow, and that's the age at which Eve sent her last clutch away, so I suspect the same thing's in the offing, now they've shown they're all grown up

Meanwhile in another coop there's another lot just starting; Maria has a clutch hatching under her as we speak So that's one for each month of this summer. More home bred birds: 2 of Puffin's (as the best layer amongst the Penedesenca's - best in the sense of lays the darkest eggs, and doesn't hide them round the garden [found a hidden nest with 6 of Polka's when strimming the bank last week ]), and one each of Janeka's, Gigi's, Neath's, and Maria's. If there is a benefit to be had from true free ranging and keeping a mixed age and gender flock, it's the home bred birds that will show it, not the rare breed hatching eggs brought in to improve that same gene pool. Plus, since they all lay different colours/shades, I should be able to tell who's whose if any don't hatch. We can play the who's whose game with the chicks as they grow, as I'm doing now with the July clutch

Think some tax must be due for all those nested brackets, if nothing else: Maria emerging from a dustbath (about 3 years ago! must get more photos of her!)

 

[MaryJanet]

By coincidence, my June clutch took to the roost last night - no poo in their nest box They'll be 9 weeks old tomorrow, and that's the age at which Eve sent her last clutch away, so I suspect the same thing's in the offing, now they've shown they're all grown up

Meanwhile in another coop there's another lot just starting; Maria has a clutch hatching under her as we speak So that's one for each month of this summer. More home bred birds: 2 of Puffin's (as the best layer amongst the Penedesenca's - best in the sense of lays the darkest eggs, and doesn't hide them round the garden [found a hidden nest with 6 of Polka's when strimming the bank last week ]), and one each of Janeka's, Gigi's, Neath's, and Maria's. If there is a benefit to be had from true free ranging and keeping a mixed age and gender flock, it's the home bred birds that will show it, not the rare breed hatching eggs brought in to improve that same gene pool. Plus, since they all lay different colours/shades, I should be able to tell who's whose if any don't hatch. We can play the who's whose game with the chicks as they grow, as I'm doing now with the July clutch

Think some tax must be due for all those nested brackets, if nothing else: Maria emerging from a dusbath (about 3 years ago! must get more photos of her!) View attachment 3219120

What a great photo!

 

[Perris]

What a great photo!

thanks! I like it because it shows her shorts so well Not quite the owl legs that went viral, but she's got a great pair of legs nevertheless