Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Iluveggers]

I do have a question to all of you regarding food spilled. My chickens also spill a huge amount, because they don't like the fine and try to sort out the grains. Because of this, I got smaller feeders, and put some of them in buckets. I also give wet mash a lot but not all of them eat it. How do you handle spilling and waste ?

My feed is not pelleted (most locally milled feeds by me don’t have pellet machines.) I put my feeder on top of some bricks pushed close together, & each night brush the bricks into the top of the feeder. If I am home during the afternoon, I remove the feeder for a few hours and they will pick at the ground to eat what’s left. I would like to find a large rubber bowl to put the feeders indo spilled food would fall into that, but haven’t tried that yet!

 

[Solanacae]

They think Food comes from a store. They are horrified that I raise for meat and process myself.
I have friends that will not eat non commercial eggs. They are looking at that factory eggs are inspected and somehow better.

My sister in law recently had twins and was extremely paranoid about all of the dietary recommendations her doctor gave her. One being eggs and handling them safely. She was skeptical about some egg noodles I was making (because I keep my eggs on the counter, I think) but said that it would be fine because the noodles would be boiled. Eggs less than a week old from healthy hens that have daily access to dust bathing are far less likely to be harboring disease than what you find at the grocery store. She was really nice about it, and to her credit, she acknowledged that she was being paranoid but was just wanting to be careful to make sure her babies were safe. I still had to figuratively shake my head a little.

When I looked in on him to say goodnight this evening he had his head tucked under his wing and was sleeping. Last winter when he and the hens were sleeping in the old coop it was hard to work out how he slept with various hens trying to wedge themselves underneath him.

Maybe he enjoys having the bed, er, roosting bar to himself for a bit so he can catch up on his sleep!

One of my chicks has developed an overgrown beak. I filed it down a little yesterday, which the chick tolerated until it decided I’d been scraping its face long enough. I still have a little ways to go before I reach the quick, and even then will have to work it back a little further so the beak is even. @Shadrach and anyone else who has dealt with this before, how often should I file it? Daily, every few days . . . ?

 

[Shadrach]

My sister in law recently had twins and was extremely paranoid about all of the dietary recommendations her doctor gave her. One being eggs and handling them safely. She was skeptical about some egg noodles I was making (because I keep my eggs on the counter, I think) but said that it would be fine because the noodles would be boiled. Eggs less than a week old from healthy hens that have daily access to dust bathing are far less likely to be harboring disease than what you find at the grocery store. She was really nice about it, and to her credit, she acknowledged that she was being paranoid but was just wanting to be careful to make sure her babies were safe. I still had to figuratively shake my head a little.


Maybe he enjoys having the bed, er, roosting bar to himself for a bit so he can catch up on his sleep!

One of my chicks has developed an overgrown beak. I filed it down a little yesterday, which the chick tolerated until it decided I’d been scraping its face long enough. I still have a little ways to go before I reach the quick, and even then will have to work it back a little further so the beak is even. @Shadrach and anyone else who has dealt with this before, how often should I file it? Daily, every few days . . . ?

Can you post a couple of pictures of the beak?

 

[Shadrach]

Hi Shad and ex-batts. How many chickens are still alive at the allotments? They look great, and you’ve done a nice job with the coop!

18.5 left now Michelle. There is a sick looking Legbar that I don't think will live much longer. She's got crop problems and ascitis and that means liver problems plus probably other organs.
Best estimate is she is 6 or 7 years old. She was a rescue.
They've done well over the summer. I was pretty sure there would be a few deaths. The only surprise was the last Legbar that died.

 

[Shadrach]

Was about to provide similar link. Climate in Iran is Continental not Mediterranean and even at low altitudes gets very cold in winter. Even more so in the winter.

Now that country has got some interesting chickens.

 

[Shadrach]

My feed is not pelleted (most locally milled feeds by me don’t have pellet machines.) I put my feeder on top of some bricks pushed close together, & each night brush the bricks into the top of the feeder. If I am home during the afternoon, I remove the feeder for a few hours and they will pick at the ground to eat what’s left. I would like to find a large rubber bowl to put the feeders indo spilled food would fall into that, but haven’t tried that yet!

I've been thinking on similar lines concerning feed spill.
I would like to change over to a mash but there isn't a chance that C will be bothered with the extra work.
The problem with the assortment of feed trays there are at the moment is they all tip over when a chickens stands on the edge. Some hens just have to get their feet in the feed and scratch it out.

I'm going to try a couple of these I think. I'll find something to put in the middle to weigh it down.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trilanco-P...p/B0085737AA/ref=psdc_340841031_t1_B0060IRPA4

 

[Solanacae]

Can you post a couple of pictures of the beak?

You can see it a little in the pictures I attached, but I’ll try to get some better ones.

 

[Molpet]

I've been thinking on similar lines concerning feed spill.
I would like to change over to a mash but there isn't a chance that C will be bothered with the extra work.
The problem with the assortment of feed trays there are at the moment is they all tip over when a chickens stands on the edge. Some hens just have to get their feet in the feed and scratch it out.

I'm going to try a couple of these I think. I'll find something to put in the middle to weigh it down.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trilanco-P...p/B0085737AA/ref=psdc_340841031_t1_B0060IRPA4

That looks tippy to me.... hopefully the weight would offset that

I have what I know as a hog pan. ... Similar to this, but was cheaper at local farm store.
Little Giant Farm & Ag HP-3 3 Gallon Rubber Feed Pans https://a.co/d/7qfzhpl

 

[Perris]

Now that country has got some interesting chickens.

e.g....?

 

[Shadrach]

We got lucky and had the only dry period of the day. It started raining again just after they went to roost and by the time I had walked to the bus stop it was pissing down. It still is a couple of hours later.

1000 litre bag of hardwood woodchip £140.00. They used to give it away!
I'm going to have to speak to a couple one of the allotment holders and see if we can raise some money towards a bag.