Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Solanacae]

Curie is just too cute

She has such an adorable personality, I’m quite taken with her too!

 

[lightm]

My two ISA Browns, Ginger and Goldilocks, are growing new feathers here and there rather than taking a break from laying and getting them all at once. Their tail feathers are ragged, body feathers are all shredded, and if they get rained or snowed on, the feathers don’t repel water well. Goldilocks is always out foraging, she reminds me of Lima in terms of personality a little.

Same here. Our three production birds all have very bad feathers, and are exactly what you describe.

Honey (the darker feathers near her left wing is newish)

Poopy has the best shape of all three, but still not good.

 

[Shadrach]

Though the money explanation doesn't completely make sense- why keep the geese then, and take so little trouble to actually sell the egg ?

The geese were given to C by their deceased partner. That's one story.
C planned to breed them and sell them.
There is, or was, a market for goose eggs.

It depends on who one talks to.

 

[Shadrach]

They seem to be bonding well now. But poor Lima seems to demonstrate dramatically the efforts of the poultry industry to breed birds that put almost all of the nutrition they eat into egg production and as little as possible into body maintenance (which is why they are also susceptible to internal health issues and short lives).

Yup, she looks like a bag lady. Her back of neck feathers did grow in but while she's laying she's going to crouch for Henry and he's going to pull them out again. Some people would say she should be isolated. She wouldn't like that at all.
Out of all the hens that have come and gone, Lima was and still is the most active. She just looks well and happy from what I've seen. She's confident, socially adept, foraging, running and laying eggs all of which have good shells and shape. Poops good. She's mite and lice free and showing no signs of needing worming.
To isolate her because I think she should grow some feathers back would be an act of cruelty imo.

 

[BDutch]

Same here. Our three production birds all have very bad feathers, and are exactly what you describe.

Honey (the darker feathers near her left wing is newish)View attachment 3374676

Poopy has the best shape of all three, but still not good.
View attachment 3374677

Love that name: Poopy

 

[Shadrach]

The sun shone! It stayed dry until about half an hour after I had left the allotments.
There was food in the feed tray when I got there.
Henry and hens enjoying some sunshine.

Henry has shed most of his leg scales now and I need to get his legs Vasalined on a regular basis while the new scales grow in.

The only one who has a regular spot on the roost bar is Henry.

 

[Shadrach]

Same here. Our three production birds all have very bad feathers, and are exactly what you describe.

Honey (the darker feathers near her left wing is newish)View attachment 3374676

Poopy has the best shape of all three, but still not good.
View attachment 3374677

I think Ella has the best feather condition here. She is one of the four newest arrivals and having seen them all on their arrival whoever had them before fed and cared for them well as soon as they got them.

 

[BDutch]

We had a lot of rain and the weather forecast says tomorrow is even worse.
10 - 20 mm.

Kraai on the doorstep to the run.

It seems that Ini mini added the violet flower inspection in her daily routine.

 

[lightm]

Love that name: Poopy

When they were all babies, she was the only bird that kept pooping on us. She is a very cute and pretty bird in my mind. She makes very high pitch squeaky sound. She is very sweet. She wants to be on your lap, but she just flies to the chair arm and demands you pick her up and place her properly on the lap.

 

[kcan2]

Henry has shed most of his leg scales now and I need to get his legs Vasalined on a regular basis while the new scales grow in.

Henry's new legs look fabulous from here! I wish we could see a side by side photo of before and after! Wasn't this about a month or two of regular treatment?

When they were all babies, she was the only bird that kept pooping on us. She is a very cute and pretty bird in my mind. She makes very high pitch squeaky sound. She is very sweet. She wants to be on your lap, but she just flies to the chair arm and demands you pick her up and place her properly on the lap.

Pretty Poopy! Since she is a lap chicken, I do hope that her habits have improved, for your sakes