Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[RoyalChick]

My house in Catalonia was earth bermed. My larder/pantry/store was a deep hole dug into one of the terraces.
My first earth beremed house design was a two teir. The top tier was a greenhouse/sunroom essentialy that sat on top of the rest of the house which was below ground.

My first design for the Chicken Palace was an earth berm - based on root cellars which used to be common here.
But when it came down to it I wasn’t confident enough in designing it or in the help I could get to build it. So I went with a structure that is much more common here in agricultural buildings called a pole barn.
It works fine and I love it but in the very hot days I yearn for the kind of cool you can really only get underground.

 

[Shadrach]

Not that old by french standards, but very rural ! The part that's in the center in the photo was built in 1904, the two parts on both sides were added somewhat ten years later.

Here are photos of the four teenagers huddled up in the nest in the wall- don't ask me how they manage to still squeeze in there.
View attachment 3224252
View attachment 3224253

My friend in Catalonia had nest boxes like that in his hayloft/grainstore.
When I was building my house he said, "make holes in the wall for hens". At the time, my Catalan language skills weren't that clever and neither was his English. I must admit, I did what one does in such a situation and nodded as if I understood and hoped we would quickly move along to a topic I had a better vocabulary for. It wasn't until I saw his hay loft that I understood. He must haved had ten or more of these holes in the wall kitted out as nest boxes.
He did have outside steps too the hay loft but the hens that used these nests climbed a nearby tree and flew accross.

 

[Shadrach]

I had a day off on Sunday and for a change I made it a proper day off and went out with friends and family. We played paddle and pooh sticks.

 

[pennyJo1960]

@ManueB That is a coop I am jealus of ..
Your birds have a wonderful home.
tax is like 7 years old.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Here is one that makes me super happy. The gal who is interested in the cockerel asked how much I wanted for him and I ask that she make a donation to the humane society or donate to a favorite place of her choosing.
Isn't it nice when people shock the heck out of you for the better?! ♡♡♡ Just made my day ♡

 

[Sequel]

Here is one that makes me super happy. The gal who is interested in the cockerel asked how much I wanted for him and I ask that she make a donation to the humane society or donate to a favorite place of her choosing.
Isn't it nice when people shock the heck out of you for the better?! ♡♡♡ Just made my day ♡View attachment 3224457

That’s so great!!!

 

[Shadrach]

There is something wrong with Henry. I think he may have had the chicken equivelant of a minor stroke. The back and tips of his comb went almost black very quickly and he looked suddenly very tired. He was looking better when he went to roost but there was still a dark blueish tinge to the tips of his comb.

It rained for an hour or so this morning and for a couple of hours or more at the allotments. Sighs of relief all round. I got a lot of the mites in the small coop judging from todays inspection. After the next treatment I can see about getting at the surfaces with a scraper then giving it a final spray at the weekend. It could then in theory go back into sevice.

I don't know if C was there at roost time yesterday to know where everyone roosted. 15 in tonight. One carried and put on a roost via the human door because of the full door block.

It looks better than I expected with 15 in. I mention earlier in the thread that around 15 chickens would be closer to what I feel could live here. It would help if some of those on the floor got on the roost bars.
Everyone made it through the last heatwave fortunately. My sister tells me she knows people who lost chickens last week.

 

[no fly zone]

@Shadrach i sure hope henry is ok

 

[Shadrach]

How old is Henry.
I think Henry arrived at the allotments five years ago from what I've worked out from what C has told me; it might be six years ago. Apparently he came from someonewho lived in the area who could no longer keep him. C tells me they think he was with this person for "a couple of years." C doesn't know how old Henry was when the person who could no longer keep him, got him. At least seven years old, maybe as much as nine.

I mentioned I had a family member interested in the allotments and chickens. They cam again today and brought the chickens chopped everything in two large tubs! I had to ask them to take one of the tubs back with them and bring it another day there was so much. I almost took it home for my supper.
This person is going to be coming on a regular basis for a few weeks.

 

[MaryJanet]

@Shadrach i sure hope henry is ok

Me too. He's the anchor.