Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

Most times people would eliminate predators and have an outdoor dog to guard the livestock.

Why do you think that? It's not the case here.

And they would be there working around the place

This is true. Being retired, I am around most of the time.

It makes a world of difference for me to be at home all day with the chickens

Yes, I think this is a key factor, rather than a cage, the presence of dog(s), or the killing of any potential predator. Our chickens are really not far genetically from jungle fowl, and they manage to survive eating whatever they want, going wherever they want, and dodging whatever predators there are, in their bit of the jungle.

 

[Perris]

they have won you over then because I remember a debate about them not being real chickens.

I was thinking that too!

 

[Solanacae]

Matilda has gone as have two Legbars (not Fret) and two of the larger Ex Battery hens. I have seen some pictures of where they've gone and from what little I can see it looks okay.

Removing the top hen from the group is not the way I would go about it. The remaining hens were much more aggressive than usual and I had to break up a couple of fights. Henry was a bit subdued I thought.

Didn't get above freezing. C has broken the water containor I assume by smashing the ice. The allotment tap is frozen solid. Feed all over the ground. Rats running under the pallet C chucked in there.
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Slightly more acceptable.
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I sincerely hope that Matilda and the other four have a lovely new chance on life, and that there is a chair she can claim as her own.

Something about your last few posts remind me of the story Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. For those not familiar with the story, it was written to illustrate the horrible conditions that many carriage horses were subjected to in Victorian England. The book was successful in changing peoples’ view of horses - it is told from the perspective of the horse and helps to illustrate that horses feel pain and emotions and are more than pieces of machinery, which was the common school of thought at the time. I look at the way chickens are perceived/treated today and see parallels.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

https://assets.publishing.service.g...f-practice-welfare-of-laying-hens-pullets.pdf
There is not one single aspect of the conditions at the allotment that meet these codes of practice.

I didn't expect this to be so thorough and respectful of chickens' mental wellbeing, with the awareness around stressors like change and noise--introducing human contact early to reduce their stress around people, strict scheduling construction projects so as to reduce noise and not disturb their sleep. It's very specific about keeper conduct and knowledge, down to having a headlamp (head torch) for night inspections. Definitely not congruent with whatever C has going on. Not even close, yowza.

 

[Molpet]

Why do you think that? It's not the case here.

This is true. Being retired, I am around most of the time.

Yes, I think this is a key factor, rather than a cage, the presence of dog(s), or the killing of any potential predator. Our chickens are really not far genetically from jungle fowl, and they manage to survive eating whatever they want, going wherever they want, and dodging whatever predators there are, in their bit of the jungle.

I have predator attacks even when I am outside.
I just finished processing cockerels years ago when I heard an alert and seen a flash of brown a couple hundred feet away. I immediately ran down the hill and found a hawk on a barred pullet. I thought she was dead , blood coming out eyes and mouth....but when I picked her up by the leg she cheaped. I held her thinking she was going to die but she didn't. I thought about dispatching since I had the plucker out and everything set up. But I didn't. Lucky lived in a parrot cage in the living room watching TV all winter. She just sat in the cage like she was in shock for months. She started laying in the spring but it Took about 5 months before she wanted to go outside ... she would stay on the outside of the flock and go to the gate and wait for me to bring her back in. Finally about 8 months after attack she went into the coop at night. The next year she went broody and raised her chicks. She died the next year.

Also had a coyote jump the fence and kill a turkey hen on a nest when I went inside to get something.

Another time I came out from lunch and heard a broody hen yelling. I found her co broody sister being eaten by a hawk. The yelling broody raised her sisters chicks.

My great great grandparents cleared this property for farming. They killed the wolves and other predators off. They didn't feed the chickens, the other livestock got fed and the chickens ate what was left. Not saying these were good things but at the time this was how they survived.

 

[Perris]

I have predator attacks even when I am outside.

Yes I do too, as does ManueB - though mostly aerial predators during the day here and there I think. But then so do people with coops, and when a predator gets in, it can be utter carnage because none of the flock can escape, unlike when they're free ranging.
There is no guaranteed way to protect a flock of chickens, it's a balance of benefit in the circumstances at hand I think. But we should also factor in the downsides of coop living; too often it is presented as an unqualified good thing preserving the health of the flock.

Besides the boredom and stocking density issues Shad raised, I would be really uncomfortable with the health risks arising from standing around in each other's feces for all or most of the day. I only recently learnedthat so called poultry 'dust' is mostly dried feces, and that it is normal practice in US commercial units to reuse the litter when raising chicks, up to 8 times . I also have grave qualms about the deep litter method, which apparently makes a virtue out of them standing in their own feces for 6 months or so, and gives keepers permission not to clean the coop very often even if, knowingly or unknowingly, they don't follow the method properly.

Given the dominance of the standard coop and run model it's no wonder to me why so many threads on BYC are about sick chickens.

 

[Iluveggers]

I am starting to question my ethics of keeping chickens. The town does not allow roosters. So I have 10 pullets. Their coop is almost double the recommended 4sq ft, same with double the 10sq ft run recommendation. It is a covered run because of snow in my area, and hw cloth to make it predator proof. I have 2 dogs that patrol the property & chase off/hunt any animal who comes near (they’ve gotten bunnies & snakes…bunny I was happy about as it destroyed my garden peas…snake not so happy as they eat rodents….but the trade off is worth it. They are good dogs).

I let them out daily into the big vegetable garden. Since snow has hit the ground, they will not leave the run. They seem happy, they have food & water from sunup to sundown, I have dried leaves in the run to forage through, and a big bin of sand and wood ash to dust bathe in, along with a high and low roost.

I know they are not living like “natural” chickens. They are well taken care of. I spend time with them every day. I can see their run through my back window, so even on days where it is frigid, I can sit at the window and keep an eye on them to make sure no one is acting weird. My birds are loved and cared for. Do you all think that it is ethically ok to keep them this way? I could lose them as the town will only hear complaints if they are on someone else’s property if I let them range free completely.

 

[Molpet]

Do you all think that it is ethically ok to keep them this way?

I started keeping chickens for several reasons. The main one is that they have a better life than the grocery store chicken products.

 

[Iluveggers]

I started keeping chickens for several reasons. The main one is that they have a better life than the grocery store chicken products.

Thank you. You’re right. I needed that perspective, sometimes I am too hard on myself. I was vegan for quite some time because of the way farmed animals are treated in the industry. I now eat animal products, but only ethically raised ones. If I don’t know where it lived and who raised it, I don’t eat it.

I also like that I will eventually be able to share eggs with people so they aren’t supporting “big egg”.

Sorry to take the thread off-topic.
Tax. My newest layer, squeaker. She squeaks rather than bawks.

 

[bruceha2000]

My birds are loved and cared for. Do you all think that it is ethically ok to keep them this way?

Yes