Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

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Shadrach said:
It's a bit of an eye opener isn't it.
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I can't help wonder if it's really put to practice in all aspects. I imagine it would regarding biosecurity. I don't know of any holding here that would meet all the standard.
Shadrach said:
Yes of course it's ethical and it would be hard not to adopt this model living in the USA. What can be difficult on BYC because this is the promoted model is advocating an alternative. As Perris has mentioned, this is not the model much of the rest of the world use and it's not necessarily the best model in every circumstance.
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The coop and run model does exist in France especially in suburban areas. In the village I live in it doesn't. The usual practice is free range for the whole day or a part of the day, usually in the morning, and then locked up in shelters that are either similar to what's called open air type coops on BYC or huge sheds made with sheet steel. It's not all sunshine. The farmer I got Théo and Chipie from is called a fox feeder by some of his badmouth neighbors. The sheds or coops are very rarely cleaned, and sometimes the chickens spend part of the day in them.
I suppose the coop and run model's idea was to let the chickens be outside with no risk when both people are working full time. It's better than being locked inside the coop all day, which is still the case of quite a few backyard chickens in France. I don't think it's a bad model if the numbers of chickens kept is reasonable, and if they get some hours of free range during the day.

We have a run that we use to lock the chickens when we both leave. Last year I used to lock them in the run for less than two hours at least three times a week and they complained about it like they were in jail. This year it almost never happens, we lock them up once every six weeks for the day, but they have decided they want to stay in the run when it's cold or if they are afraid of aerial predators. We had a few days of snow and rain during which they did not even come out of the run. And they are the same hens that I had to lock in during storms two years ago because I was afraid they would get hurt.

So I'm coming to think total free range isn't maybe the best model in all cases or the ones the chickens would choose.

no fly zone said:
Well, the NJ deal is nixed. The lender wants proof that I have a job lined up in NJ. The plan was for me to stay working in FL until we sell the current house, but they are not accepting that. Job searches take weeks, if not months. And that's just if local. We are talking 1200 miles away. :he
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I'm sorry for the stress. But I'm not sure I understand: does it mean you will only be able to borrow money if you have a secure job in the state you're moving to ? I don't even think that would be legal where I live, it would be a case for discrimination. Would another lender put up the same conditions ?
 
ManueB said:
I'm sorry for the stress. But I'm not sure I understand: does it mean you will only be able to borrow money if you have a secure job in the state you're moving to ? I don't even think that would be legal where I live, it would be a case for discrimination. Would another lender put up the same conditions ?
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Yes, and it is quite legal. I imagine every lender would have the same criteria.
 
Breakfast time here is becoming a bit of an orgy. The 3 cockerels want sex then food. And they don't want their rivals getting any sex, so interrupt them if they catch them at it. Thus far nothing has turned nasty or injurious; the treader just gets shoved off by a two-footed thump broadside or front or back. The interloper may try to take over, but usually the female has got up and moved off before he's gathered himself to climb on.

The hens want food then maybe sex. Maria, the oldest, doesn't even come out the coop till the excitement has died down and she has a chance to eat in peace. The next oldest (Venka) also delays her appearance, but is actually testing/ teasing the young bucks when she does emerge. Her summer clutch of mixed paternity shows she is inclined to hedge her bets and not put all her eggs in one cock's basket, so to speak. The next oldest (Eve) comes out immediately, and doesn't brook any of their nonsense; she chases them instead of vice versa. And Janeka stays by Chirk; they have always been devoted to each other, and none of the cockerels is ready to challenge him yet, so he provides a safe zone for any who wish to use it, which most of them do once breakfast is over.

Chirk wants food, and maybe sex but later. And his dad the ex-dom Sven comes to the back door to eat in peace. I don't think he gets any action these days, though he did last summer.

The pullets don't know what they want, and run hither and yon following different examples at different times. It's so interesting to see their different personalities emerge as they mature and start to face the challenges of the opposite sex, and choice of partner.
 
RoyalChick said:
Would you count what mine do as ranging? They go out of their coop/run but only within an area enclosed by an electric fence.
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Ranging is a broad term.
Free ranging is unconfined. In theory free rangers are able to leave the property on which they live at will. Their range is undefined by human built constraints.
Coop and run is fully confined. The chickens rarely/never leave the human built enclosure.
Ranging covers everything in between apart from tractor systems and coop only such as the large batteries.

I can't support either the battery coop system or the fully confined coop and run system. There are of course exceptions. My friend in the next county ranges his chickens because his property is fenced but the fenced area is over an acre and the chickens rarely roam far from the coops, feed stations and human habitation. They are opened up at dawn and closed in at night.

The tribes in Catalonia were free range. Their were no restrictions on where they went during the day. All the fences used to contain other creatures had chicken walk through points. Most could fly over the fences if they wanted anyway.

There are quite a few fully free range keepers on BYC but one doesn't read much about them.
 
Checked in at the vet's and waiting to be seen.
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