Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Sequel]

They are fine - what is the calf that they are engaged with? Some sort of deer?

Yes it is a deer fawn. They are called Blacktailed deer.

 

[Sequel]

Yes it is a deer fawn. They are called Blacktailed deer.

He or she would have been about 6 months old at the time. Usually the chickens would have been in their pasture so although they knew the fawn well, they were usually behind a fence. It was so interesting how unafraid the chickens were.

 

[Perris]

He or she would have been about 6 months old at the time. Usually the chickens would have been in their pasture so although they knew the fawn well, they were usually behind a fence. It was so interesting how unafraid the chickens were.

indeed; you can see the mutual interest - it's a great photo!

 

[Shadrach]

I'm begining to take this weather business personally. That rain and wind is right accross my allotment time.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/gcnhtnumz#?date=2022-11-02

 

[ManueB]

Mr. Bumble!View attachment 3308948

He's still the cutest rooster in the world but I think being a dad has kind of changed him- he looks more mature, like he has bigger wattles .

There must be thousands of breeds that are not registered with an official breed standard. It sometimes gets forgotton that the breeds one tends to see on BYC are officially recognised in American and British standards.

Yes definitely. I think that there has been quite a lot of exchange with Europe regarding poultry breeds though if you compare to Africa and Asia. I've seen some pictures of really beautiful chickens in Africa on Instagram, and there also seems to be a lot of differences in the way there kept.

Another try.

Great shot! A lovely situation and the Faverolles look great. Do you still have any ?

If it's of any use to you to have others' experiences, read on!
Initially I bought young stock in pairs or trios, and typically 1 is still with me and 1 or 2 succumbed to disease, predator or other issue. I can't say I can see a difference in survival between those from a national show winning breeder and those from less illustrious hands. I switched to buying in hatching eggs for new blood because there is a much reduced risk of bringing in disease, and zero integration issues, both of which can wreck the flock. If you buy grown birds, don't hesitate to refuse any that looks in any way ill. It is very easy to bring disease onto your property, and very hard if not impossible to eradicate it.

This makes a lot of sense. I'm beginning to think I should have let my partner have his way and make Chipie brood again, but I wasn't ready for another set of chicks. And I was afraid of the cold, but it turns out it's still warm like in summer . My chicks were not spared from integration problems but I think I will be confronted to those permanently - like you said, the bullied become bullies. I suppose we could temporize and aim for a hatch mid-May though it may still be cold. We can wait to make the decision.

I'm begining to take this weather business personally. That rain and wind is right accross my allotment time.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/gcnhtnumz#?date=2022-11-02

Please don't take weather personally otherwise you may need to leave England .

 

[Shadrach]

Please don't take weather personally otherwise you may need to leave England .

I tried that and got bounced back. It seems that those in power are determined to make me as grey and miserable as they are. Piss ridden little island.

 

[ManueB]

I tried that and got bounced back. It seems that those in power are determined to make me as grey and miserable as they are. Piss ridden little island.

I'm sure you could find some Syrian, Afghan or Sudanese ready to trade with you. And, England will become the new thing when half the world population will be lacking water ! And just imagine what Scotland would look like if it didn't rain.
I would be glad to take a day a week of your rain, but it doesn't work that way. Good luck for your travel to the allotment!

 

[Perris]

I'm begining to take this weather business personally. That rain and wind is right accross my allotment time.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/gcnhtnumz#?date=2022-11-02

sod's law that

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good morning one and all!

70 mostly cloudy 90% humidity feels like 69 rain 18% coastal flood warnings.

The pump guy is coming today.

Have a great day!

 

[Solanacae]

somebody laid a plum coloured egg yesterday! View attachment 3308453

Wow, heavy bloom on that one! It’s beautiful.

She looks tactical.

That’s what I thought too - she needed a battle axe or something to accessorize with.

That would be wonderful but there is no way any of these families would give us (or sell us) two or three adults laying hens, which is what we are looking for.

I agree with you that breed is not what will make a chicken suited or not to their environment. I want to get hens from a breeder at least once, to see how it compares to having ex-batts and hatching our own chicks here. I thought maybe chosing a local breed could be interesting, but if it turns out to be complicated or not applicable I'll just get whatever breed of chickens they have from one of the breeders around us of good reputation.

My ex-batts have not really molted the first fall they were here and only one molted the second fall. It's only this year that I'm seeing real molting from three out of four. The fourth one, Blanche, never molts in the classical sense but in early spring she loses feathers on her back completely and then grows them back three or four later, and her feathers are also very shredded. All that to say, I think their molting is disturbed, just like the fact that they don't stop laying in winter.

This will be the first year for my sex links to molt, last fall they were chicks. Their feathers look awful and ragged, completely opposite of Fuzzy, my head hen. She hasn’t molted yet either but still has gorgeous black glossy feathers.

Cold and blustery around here today. The chicks dashed out for a quick drink when I opened up the coop today and made a quick run back for their mamas. Sophia was up on the roosting bar last night and her little black chick was under Caramel instead. I wonder why that happened? I’m grateful the two of them share their chicks or it might have been bad news for the black chick. Yesterday had me running ragged and I didn’t go out to check on the chickens until late.

Tax: chicks snuggling under mama hens